built a partscaster from 2 donors, ordered a pickguard cut for this set up. Damn thing wont fit. Now I have to buy a Fender Strat, and yes I will be yanking that pickguard out faster than you can say wtf.
The pickup combo/phase switches is essential to getting the right sound for the right solo. Here it looks like you're playing Bo Rhap with all three pickups in phase, which is an entirely different sound than the pickup combo he used. Try it again with the fingerboard and middle pickup out of phase (bridge pickup off) and you'll immediately hear the sound.
What i find weird is that there are basically 3 shapes that the majority of guitars come in. Why not have another shape (imho a BETTER shape) with the ability to span the sounds of the other 3, combined?? The BMG really deserves to be as mainstream as the Big 3, if guitarists could stop being so tribal.
People always say this guitar is weird because it is not like the average fender or gibson, which are the most common guitars in the world, but for me it was my first electric guitar and I must say that for me it was the best decision due to its versatility in terms of sound and comfort when playing. People always play Queen on this guitar, however, you may be surprised by the varied sounds that you can get with this guitar.
Excellent demo! I just played one last night, hanging way up high at Guitar Center. It's an amazing and quite beautiful instrument. Built solidly, with a good weight and easy to play. The neck plays slimmer than what I thought I heard about it, that it was beefy...not to me. The pickups are excellent, you definitely have lots of different combinations of tones. I may pick this one up since I am a huge Brian May fan.
The BMG Special doesn't have a neck as thick as the original Red Special. It differs in some details to make it fitting for a wider range of customers and also more affordable.
Well, I've just watched this video (don't always get around to watching everything immediately on TH-cam - there's so much stuff!) and found it interesting. I can accept that you personally didn't find it suited you, and I think people should allow you to express your opinion without taking offense. For the record, I have one of these Brian May guitars - I bought it back in May 2018 - I am a Queen and Brian May fan (saw them with Freddie 4 times and always found them to be awesome live) - but I'm also a semi-pro musician, and I bought this guitar to add to my collection because it has several differences to everything else in my (now 16 guitars) collection - I haven't got any other 24 fret guitars, and I don't have any other guitars with pickups connected in series. In addition, when I bought it, it was amazing to be able to get an ebony neck for this price point - if I wanted another Gibson Les Paul Custom (my first proper guitar, bought in 1983 - and still the best guitar I have IMHO) with an ebony fingerboard, I'd be paying over £4000. Brian actually hoped that people would use their BM guitars for general playing and not just for Queen stuff, so to put that to the test, I took mine along to a Jazz group that I'm part of - it suited the music we were playing beautifully. In fact, I usually take a different guitar along to each practice so that I am used to different scale lengths, fretboard radii, neck sizes and so on. I also play bass guitars, and I find that I can switch between all of them with ease. Personally, I didn't find anything about the BM guitar difficult to cope with - but then again, I feel that about all of my guitars because I'm blessed with a good selection that all serve me and the music I'm making well. Sorry for the lengthy comment...
The way Brian May plays is also ‘weird’ so to speak. He doesn’t follow any kind of convention, no traditional positioning or strumming or single note picking. No surprise then that his homemade guitar follows the same unorthodox nature. It’s also one of the reasons why Queen sounded so good.👑
I've always wanted to get one of these, I remember playing one of the original Burns manufactured ones back in the early 2000s and thinking they were really cool! The only issue is that everyone who sees you play is just instantly going to pidgin hole you as a Brian fan boy! 😂
And how few others would you want to be a fan boy of. Just the term reaks jealousy, insecurity and small boyness. Really fuck em it’s a great versatile instrument. Would you rather have a take or strat or lp oh maybe a prs or Ibanez which all are one in a gazillion and sound unique only by the pickups that you choose. No style no creativity no originality. Come on man! I build guitars as a hobby and the red special is my primary shape because it’s cool and unique. Sometimes I design them for other pickups but really the burns Brian Mays do pretty much all that you need them to do.
I get what you mean by weird. It's completely it's own thing but I'd still love to try one out of curiosity as I'm a big Brian May fan, but I guess I'm just a Fender guy at heart. Great video either way. 🤘
For me it was a form factor thing. The guitar just didnt feel right as someone whos used to more ergonomic design and at the time strats in particular haha. My opinion on it doesnt matter in the slightest i just shared how i found it, thanks for watching 🤘🤘
I have one, the ce is amazing,quality control is flawless.I. live in Las Vegas ad it got here quicker than most I have bought here in the states.and Remember ,Brian stayed true
It wasn't the sound I didnt like, it was cool sound to scratch the surface on I just didnt like the form factor at all. Felt awkward in my hands to the point id never pick it up over my others. But like 99% of the guitars on here, I went and bought it with my own cash to see what it was like, and moved it on :)
Thats fair, perhaps your more versatile with your technique then i am haha. Have to remember all the guitars i show here i go out and find and buy with my own money and then discuss what my personal veiws on them is. The more i do, over 100 at this point the more varied experiance and hands on feel i get to share. But its only ever my opinion and only ever on that particular example of the guitar sort of thing.
Nice that you played a bit of non-Brian May on it. If you want to play a funny game, try looking for demos online of the Red Special NOT being used for Queen music. It’s hilarious to think of all those guitars that have been sold, and apparently NO one using it as just a regular guitar, which it really is. The sound of Brian May is actually 99.9% the sound of three cranked Vox AC30s run wet/dry/wet. I’ve heard people get his exact tone with that setup and a non-Red Special guitar. I’ve never heard anyone get his tone right with a Red Special and any other amp set up.
Haha i guess so many of the red special buyers are staunch bryan may fans (as ive found out on some of the comments haha). And yes so true about the amps. You would need some pretty thick walls and ears made of stone to really hear what his rig was like on full chat haha.
It really does tbf. And i dont stick to playing one guitar either so should be used to it. A mustang or a jag manage to make the short scale lengh feel fine to me 💁♂️💁♂️
I'm in a queen tribute and I have a full fat red special and to be honest, I don't enjoy playing it, I find the neck uncomfortable and the pickups are horrible, especially after playing my Suhr MK1.
I guess the fun of knowing those songs and performing them to what I assume is a pretty receptive audience makes up for it, hopefully haha. Ive had some right stick on this vid (I even deleted some very off comments!) for not really liking this guitar too much. IM the one who bought it to at least try haha! Thanks for watching
Everyone is so defensive about this guitar 😅 i didnt explicitly not recommend it BUT if your comparing it to a more common design its not as ergonomic to play in my opinion. I play different guitars literally day in and day out and this shape fought me the whole time. So i think its fair to say approach with caution if youve never tried it....
I own and play one - every day - since 2004. There Is nothing weird. There is everything different from all other guitars. And it's better, because it's thought through painstakingly. And not an accidental construction like the Strat. ("Build a guitar that costs 25$ manufacturing so we can sell it for 50$ to truck drivers." Leo Fender) And I wanted that guitar since 1974 (Killer Queen), never thought I wouod get one. So that guitar wasn't really new to me. Best electric guitar ever. (BTW: You know that the Shadow's Hank Marvin played a similar guitar with exactly this pickup combination on nearly all iconic Shadow-hits? Namely Burns guitars? Take a close look at the pickups ... and the tremolo.)
I totally get for some people its a great design, I just didnt bond with it. Id take the 50$ truck driver Strat haha. Yeh I had a Burns 'Apache' come through the shop a while back although that was a little different, sold for quite abit too so theres definitely people out there that appreciate that sort of thing!
As an owner of a brian may red special i can honestly say that once you pick one of these up, all other guitars fail in comparison afterwards.
built a partscaster from 2 donors, ordered a pickguard cut for this set up. Damn thing wont fit. Now I have to buy a Fender Strat, and yes I will be yanking that pickguard out faster than you can say wtf.
The pickup combo/phase switches is essential to getting the right sound for the right solo. Here it looks like you're playing Bo Rhap with all three pickups in phase, which is an entirely different sound than the pickup combo he used. Try it again with the fingerboard and middle pickup out of phase (bridge pickup off) and you'll immediately hear the sound.
What i find weird is that there are basically 3 shapes that the majority of guitars come in.
Why not have another shape (imho a BETTER shape) with the ability to span the sounds of the other 3, combined??
The BMG really deserves to be as mainstream as the Big 3, if guitarists could stop being so tribal.
People always say this guitar is weird because it is not like the average fender or gibson, which are the most common guitars in the world, but for me it was my first electric guitar and I must say that for me it was the best decision due to its versatility in terms of sound and comfort when playing.
People always play Queen on this guitar, however, you may be surprised by the varied sounds that you can get with this guitar.
Excellent demo! I just played one last night, hanging way up high at Guitar Center. It's an amazing and quite beautiful instrument. Built solidly, with a good weight and easy to play. The neck plays slimmer than what I thought I heard about it, that it was beefy...not to me. The pickups are excellent, you definitely have lots of different combinations of tones. I may pick this one up since I am a huge Brian May fan.
Go for it, it wasnt for me but thats the fun in trying things out yourself 🤘
The BMG Special doesn't have a neck as thick as the original Red Special. It differs in some details to make it fitting for a wider range of customers and also more affordable.
Well, I've just watched this video (don't always get around to watching everything immediately on TH-cam - there's so much stuff!) and found it interesting. I can accept that you personally didn't find it suited you, and I think people should allow you to express your opinion without taking offense. For the record, I have one of these Brian May guitars - I bought it back in May 2018 - I am a Queen and Brian May fan (saw them with Freddie 4 times and always found them to be awesome live) - but I'm also a semi-pro musician, and I bought this guitar to add to my collection because it has several differences to everything else in my (now 16 guitars) collection - I haven't got any other 24 fret guitars, and I don't have any other guitars with pickups connected in series. In addition, when I bought it, it was amazing to be able to get an ebony neck for this price point - if I wanted another Gibson Les Paul Custom (my first proper guitar, bought in 1983 - and still the best guitar I have IMHO) with an ebony fingerboard, I'd be paying over £4000. Brian actually hoped that people would use their BM guitars for general playing and not just for Queen stuff, so to put that to the test, I took mine along to a Jazz group that I'm part of - it suited the music we were playing beautifully. In fact, I usually take a different guitar along to each practice so that I am used to different scale lengths, fretboard radii, neck sizes and so on. I also play bass guitars, and I find that I can switch between all of them with ease. Personally, I didn't find anything about the BM guitar difficult to cope with - but then again, I feel that about all of my guitars because I'm blessed with a good selection that all serve me and the music I'm making well. Sorry for the lengthy comment...
I think theres ALOT to be said for having a decent arsenal of gear and therefore not getting too used to certain things. Thanks for watching
The way Brian May plays is also ‘weird’ so to speak. He doesn’t follow any kind of convention, no traditional positioning or strumming or single note picking. No surprise then that his homemade guitar follows the same unorthodox nature. It’s also one of the reasons why Queen sounded so good.👑
I've always wanted to get one of these, I remember playing one of the original Burns manufactured ones back in the early 2000s and thinking they were really cool! The only issue is that everyone who sees you play is just instantly going to pidgin hole you as a Brian fan boy! 😂
Yup that is very very true haha. Id like to try one of those ones see if it feels abit less unusual then this one. Thanks for stopping by DR 🤘
Well I’m a 71 yr old black American who plays one thru an ac15. Pieonholing is for the weak minded
And how few others would you want to be a fan boy of. Just the term reaks jealousy, insecurity and small boyness. Really fuck em it’s a great versatile instrument. Would you rather have a take or strat or lp oh maybe a prs or Ibanez which all are one in a gazillion and sound unique only by the pickups that you choose. No style no creativity no originality.
Come on man! I build guitars as a hobby and the red special is my primary shape because it’s cool and unique. Sometimes I design them for other pickups but really the burns Brian Mays do pretty much all that you need them to do.
@@Paul-D ive modified mine to be more exact to the original with parts from rs conversions in the states. they also do the full tremolo mod too.
I get what you mean by weird. It's completely it's own thing but I'd still love to try one out of curiosity as I'm a big Brian May fan, but I guess I'm just a Fender guy at heart. Great video either way. 🤘
For me it was a form factor thing. The guitar just didnt feel right as someone whos used to more ergonomic design and at the time strats in particular haha.
My opinion on it doesnt matter in the slightest i just shared how i found it, thanks for watching 🤘🤘
I have one, the ce is amazing,quality control is flawless.I. live in Las Vegas ad it got here quicker than most I have bought here in the states.and Remember ,Brian stayed true
What’s weird? It’s an amazing instrument. Not familiar because it’s a one if a kind!
I agree. But i still found it abit weird haha
@@Paul-D If you say this woman is weird, you should see a psychiatrist 😂
If you don’t find it inspiring for your own music, feel free to send it to me!
It wasn't the sound I didnt like, it was cool sound to scratch the surface on I just didnt like the form factor at all. Felt awkward in my hands to the point id never pick it up over my others. But like 99% of the guitars on here, I went and bought it with my own cash to see what it was like, and moved it on :)
you are spot on about the neck you can get lost where you are compaired to a strat
Didn’t throw me off and I have a bunch 👍🏿
Thats fair, perhaps your more versatile with your technique then i am haha.
Have to remember all the guitars i show here i go out and find and buy with my own money and then discuss what my personal veiws on them is. The more i do, over 100 at this point the more varied experiance and hands on feel i get to share. But its only ever my opinion and only ever on that particular example of the guitar sort of thing.
Great looking/ sounding guitar. Good compromise compared with the "super" which is like 5k and a 5 year waiting list 🥺
Ebony fretboard, lad. These are nice. I do enjoy playing mine, but out of all my guitars I don't find myself using it much. Versatile though
Nice that you played a bit of non-Brian May on it. If you want to play a funny game, try looking for demos online of the Red Special NOT being used for Queen music. It’s hilarious to think of all those guitars that have been sold, and apparently NO one using it as just a regular guitar, which it really is. The sound of Brian May is actually 99.9% the sound of three cranked Vox AC30s run wet/dry/wet. I’ve heard people get his exact tone with that setup and a non-Red Special guitar. I’ve never heard anyone get his tone right with a Red Special and any other amp set up.
Haha i guess so many of the red special buyers are staunch bryan may fans (as ive found out on some of the comments haha). And yes so true about the amps. You would need some pretty thick walls and ears made of stone to really hear what his rig was like on full chat haha.
The fretboard is ebony👍🏿
This is a one of a kind guitar , from a great musician, and a very smart man & humanitarian, soooo stuff your opinion dude😊
😅😅😅
Knob
That is interesting that it would feel so different to play. How does it compare to something like a Mustang?
It really does tbf. And i dont stick to playing one guitar either so should be used to it. A mustang or a jag manage to make the short scale lengh feel fine to me 💁♂️💁♂️
Nice playing :-)
Thanks dude. It was a tricky one to play 😅
I'm in a queen tribute and I have a full fat red special and to be honest, I don't enjoy playing it, I find the neck uncomfortable and the pickups are horrible, especially after playing my Suhr MK1.
I guess the fun of knowing those songs and performing them to what I assume is a pretty receptive audience makes up for it, hopefully haha. Ive had some right stick on this vid (I even deleted some very off comments!) for not really liking this guitar too much. IM the one who bought it to at least try haha! Thanks for watching
It's a single coiled pickup guitar but sounds like a humbucker
you mean weird but good ;p
Ebony fretboard
Not recommending it because it didn't fit you?
Everyone is so defensive about this guitar 😅 i didnt explicitly not recommend it BUT if your comparing it to a more common design its not as ergonomic to play in my opinion. I play different guitars literally day in and day out and this shape fought me the whole time. So i think its fair to say approach with caution if youve never tried it....
Your playing is without expression and cringey. Just my opinion
You could atleast come and shoot me down on a recent video 😅
I own and play one - every day - since 2004. There Is nothing weird. There is everything different from all other guitars. And it's better, because it's thought through painstakingly. And not an accidental construction like the Strat. ("Build a guitar that costs 25$ manufacturing so we can sell it for 50$ to truck drivers." Leo Fender) And I wanted that guitar since 1974 (Killer Queen), never thought I wouod get one. So that guitar wasn't really new to me. Best electric guitar ever. (BTW: You know that the Shadow's Hank Marvin played a similar guitar with exactly this pickup combination on nearly all iconic Shadow-hits? Namely Burns guitars? Take a close look at the pickups ... and the tremolo.)
I totally get for some people its a great design, I just didnt bond with it. Id take the 50$ truck driver Strat haha. Yeh I had a Burns 'Apache' come through the shop a while back although that was a little different, sold for quite abit too so theres definitely people out there that appreciate that sort of thing!
Its an awful guitar, i only play because I have too because I'm in a tribute, I'd much rather play my Suhr if I could get away with it