I met Brian at a meet ‘n’ greet about 35 years ago. I asked him about the pickup configuration for the Bohemian Rhapsody solo. He told me neck & middle pickups on and out of phase. It doesn’t matter which pickup’s phase switch (either middle or neck pickup) is switched. You got a pretty good approximation of his tone.
I believe the treble booster he uses is a Dallas Range master, very hard to find now, copies are there but the original ones sell for £2000+ I had one in 1961, cost me £12 wish I'd kept it.
I use an MI Boost 'n Buff V.2. With the Gain set just above noon, the pedal "transforms" into a treble booster of sorts. IF I could afford it, I would get an Analogman Beano Boost. The EHX Screaming Bird is an ok treble booster for under 50 bucks.
He uses a fryer one now, one he can strap onto his guitar strap and the out goes into his wireless. The fryer one is quite pricey, something like 240 pounds or something.
Hi my friend! About Play the Game, it was named as the one of the song with "the greatest guitar tone of all time" by the UK's Guitarist Magazine! The top five are as follows: 1- David Gilmour - Comfortably Numb 2 - Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 3 - Eddie Van Halen - Sinner's Swing 4 - Brian May - Play The Game 5 - Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand The Weather So...that's why you like so much ;) Thanks for your useful and nice reviews!
I actually did hear some good Brian May tone in there! I see someone mentioned the treble booster. Its not an eq thing, but Brian May put it before the amp as a boost. Since distortion naturally compresses, volume before distortion does not add volume, but increases sustain. And that treble booster is a huge boost, so thats how he got that singing tone. EvH used an echoplex for boost and also reduced the power supply to his marshall's power amp. Those 70s amps never got that heavy sound without help.
Jesse Breuer Actually he does use it for EQ as well as a gain boost, he mentions in his Red Special book that his own homemade pickups were far brighter than the Tri-Sonics currently in the guitar, but they unnaturally fed back in live situations so he got rid of them in favour for the Tri-Sonics. they're inherently warmer but they lack high end, so Brian bought a Range Master Treble Booster after he bought a couple of AC-15s to brighten them and push the amps harder. Hope it helps :)
Yeah he definitely used it to focus and "clean up" his cranked AC30s. It's an unfortunately named effet. Should be called an "Upper-Mids Boost/Shaper" or something.
I remember seeing this years ago and finally bought that Joyo pedal. My Joyo is incredibly noisy that it's not that enjoyable and I wasn't anywhere close to your great sound using a strat but perhaps a treble booster would help greatly if I can cut the noise of the Joyo pedal. But thanks for taking the time to post this years ago. Really enjoyed it as well as your playing.
I have this pedal and i love it so much. Nails the sound i was looking for. I use high end gear, too but i am not too proud to use this awesome cheap little sleeper pedal.
Great playing. I've had this pedal for a while. Amazing value. I've actually 'pinched' your settings. I never realised how great it sounds for some Brian May licks till I saw your vid. I'll maybe get a treble booster soon. Cheers
My favorite pedal for Brian May sound is the Catalinbread Galileo mk1. I had a mkii and sold it. The mk1 is a double pedal consisting of the naga viper which is their treble booster clone, and the cb30 which is their ac30 in a box pedal. I like to use just the boost side into other pedals. The mkii lacks many of the controls of the mki and is very shrill. I believe your supposed to have your guitar controls turned way down to use it.
While the Galileo pedal mk2 is good for BM sound... That's it. The AC Tone can get BM plus many other tones. Yes, you do need a treble booster or EQ along with it, but a cheap treble booster is between $30 - $40. Add the AC Tone at $35. The total is $65.-$75. vs. The Galileo at $170. !!!! Of course you do need two pedals rather than one, but I'll keep the $100. in my pocket and just make room on my pedal board.
Can you recommend a couple of good, but cheap treble boosters? Most of the pedals now say "boost" but they have their own gain tone and distortion, or they boost all frequencies. I just want a treble boost ONLY for under $50. Is there such an animal?
Sorry to comment on such an old video, but been looking into a "cheap" pedal to help give my Blackstar Fly 3 some variation. Your demo of the British Sound was great, and wanted it for the AC/DC like tone. I have a 2010 BMG Red Special myself, so of course the AC Tone interests me. Your comment about EQ; is it something a pedal could handle? I'm saving up for a Boss MS-3 as it is just such an incredible box of tricks, it has a "fixed" graphic EQ, and a customisable but more limited parametric EQ. Could that do a similar job? Any pedals that may suit the bill? Or is it really just something you gotta do in Amplitube or similar program?
If you have a red special the only thing worth buying is a treble booster similar to Brian's. There are plenty options around. You can put that in front of most things and it will give you that sound pretty much
@@NicoBellisarioMusic I've got a older generation Deluxe one. If I ever pick up the ACTone I'll give it a go. Thanks for your reply on such an old video!
curious can a good EQ pedal be used in place of a BM (Fryer, range master...etc) treble boost? What exactly does the treble booster do?... I know its "called" a treble boost, but is that all it does? This pedal by itself sounds like it has more than enough gain to cover most of Brians music... correct?
Hello. My dream is to have a Vox Ac30, but I don't have the money to buy it. I have a Vox 15v pathfinder. I thought about using this Joyo Actone on my Vox Pathfinder. Do you think that will make it sound more like the Ac30?
I know i am wery late but on the Joyo AC Tone pedal in your amason link it says voice instead of character does that do/mean the same thing? And yeah i love this video so much, thank u!
Voice and character are the same and you can use a strat on the second position to emulate some Brian may sound. Try alsonrolling off the tone a bit on the guitar
Salve Nico....bella esecuzione. Avrei bisogno di una informazione.Hai riprodotto il tipico suono della chitarra di Brian May .Ho visto che.ti servivi di un pedale JOYO ACT sarà questo che da la famosa timbrica oppure l' amplificatore.Su Amazon ho visto questo pedale in 4 versioni.Se fosse così potresti dirmi il modello giusto. Grazie Daniele GRECO
Salve Nico spero di non averti svegliato.....o disturbato....già mi hai risposto ad una precedente domanda.... Mi ero dimenticato di dirti la tua impressione usando,se non mi sbaglio,una Harley Benton...... Io nei video ho avuto una buona impressione...in alcuni punti anche superiore.. . Tu che sei un esperto pensi che la differenza sia incolmabile... Oppure che se uno non è Santana può anche optare per la Harley ... L' hai mai usata in concerto sul palco. Scusami x l' orario ma non ho potuto farne a meno. Grazie Daniele GRECO
Ciao Daniele, nessuno disturbo. Io ho una jim reed, una chitarra di liuteria Italiana, purtroppo ora discontinuità. L harley Benton non l ho mai provata ma a giudicare da quello che vedo va più che bene. Mi sembrano al livello della Squier o Epiphone, dignitosissimi strumenti anche per il palco.
...and a lot of $$$$$$! We are trying to get close on the cheap. BTW Brian's tone is 50% in his fingers. The actual Brian May "sound" is pretty shitty if you can't play like Brian. Most overdrive or distortion pedals sound like crap if you can't play. A good player can come close to THE SOUND no matter what guitar set up. Yes, for those purists that can hear micro frequencies, maybe that's not Brian's tone. But who cares as long as it's close and there are many ways to get there!
I met Brian at a meet ‘n’ greet about 35 years ago. I asked him about the pickup configuration for the Bohemian Rhapsody solo. He told me neck & middle pickups on and out of phase. It doesn’t matter which pickup’s phase switch (either middle or neck pickup) is switched.
You got a pretty good approximation of his tone.
i use this pedal with treble booster and unofficial brian may guitar copy. sounds great! the treble booster gives you good sustain!
+robertus sukoco which replica do you use?
+Nico Bellisario my local luthier, they are stranough guitar technology
0:07 It’s better if the treble boost was done in treble booster pedal before the AC Tone instead of post-production
Amazingly well played, sounded incredible!
I believe the treble booster he uses is a Dallas Range master, very hard to find now, copies are there but the original ones sell for £2000+ I had one in 1961, cost me £12 wish I'd kept it.
WOW man!
I use an MI Boost 'n Buff V.2. With the Gain set just above noon, the pedal "transforms" into a treble booster of sorts. IF I could afford it, I would get an Analogman Beano Boost. The EHX Screaming Bird is an ok treble booster for under 50 bucks.
Brian Caine not Brian May but Rory Gallagher used that Range Master.
He uses a fryer one now, one he can strap onto his guitar strap and the out goes into his wireless. The fryer one is quite pricey, something like 240 pounds or something.
Here's the one brian uses now
www.deacyamp.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=72
Hi my friend! About Play the Game, it was named as the one of the song with "the greatest guitar tone of all time" by the UK's Guitarist Magazine!
The top five are as follows:
1- David Gilmour - Comfortably Numb
2 - Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
3 - Eddie Van Halen - Sinner's Swing
4 - Brian May - Play The Game
5 - Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand The Weather
So...that's why you like so much ;)
Thanks for your useful and nice reviews!
+Eliseo Di Giuseppe hi lord of los angeles! that explains it all!
I actually did hear some good Brian May tone in there! I see someone mentioned the treble booster. Its not an eq thing, but Brian May put it before the amp as a boost. Since distortion naturally compresses, volume before distortion does not add volume, but increases sustain. And that treble booster is a huge boost, so thats how he got that singing tone. EvH used an echoplex for boost and also reduced the power supply to his marshall's power amp. Those 70s amps never got that heavy sound without help.
Thanks Jesse! great insights!
Jesse Breuer Actually he does use it for EQ as well as a gain boost, he mentions in his Red Special book that his own homemade pickups were far brighter than the Tri-Sonics currently in the guitar, but they unnaturally fed back in live situations so he got rid of them in favour for the Tri-Sonics. they're inherently warmer but they lack high end, so Brian bought a Range Master Treble Booster after he bought a couple of AC-15s to brighten them and push the amps harder. Hope it helps :)
Ac30s not ac15s ;) he uses ac30s
joe threlfall he first bought two AC-15s for £25 each in a local electronics store, furthermore moving to AC-30s when he had the money.
Yeah he definitely used it to focus and "clean up" his cranked AC30s. It's an unfortunately named effet. Should be called an "Upper-Mids Boost/Shaper" or something.
Got a used one for 25 bucks, with my treble booster it was, well - a kind of magic.
Sorry, that's a Dad Joke but I couldn't resist.
I remember seeing this years ago and finally bought that Joyo pedal. My Joyo is incredibly noisy that it's not that enjoyable and I wasn't anywhere close to your great sound using a strat but perhaps a treble booster would help greatly if I can cut the noise of the Joyo pedal. But thanks for taking the time to post this years ago. Really enjoyed it as well as your playing.
I don't know if these are made with through hole components, or SMD, but perhaps it has some cold solder joints that need the solder reflowed on.
As noted in another comment - you are one of the few guys who nails the tone. Brian May's tone was thick, but you could hear every note.
I have this pedal and i love it so much. Nails the sound i was looking for. I use high end gear, too but i am not too proud to use this awesome cheap little sleeper pedal.
Great playing. I've had this pedal for a while. Amazing value. I've actually 'pinched' your settings. I never realised how great it sounds for some Brian May licks till I saw your vid. I'll maybe get a treble booster soon. Cheers
Thanks Andrew! I'm glad my vid was helpful
Hey, man. You do get a pretty good job getting that Brian May tone. I've actually wondered about that AC Tone pedal... GREAT job!!!! :O)
+John Seabaugh thank you! I m glad you like it, i I'll definitely upload some actual Queen cover in the near future!
Some of that gave me goosebumps. Thank You.
Wow thank you!
Man this is great altogether! The tones, the playing.
Thank you man!
Freakin' awesome mate ! Well Done !
+Kaufen Alles thank you! :)
Freaking great Brighton Rock lead! Sounds great.
Review without talking is ❤
Awesome playing!!
Great video, love the guitar !
Nice to see someone else with the same guitar i have !
indeed... I thought I was the only guy owning this guitar before watching your vid!
+Nico Bellisario so did i !
what guitar is that?
Looks like a brian may guitar but with a jazzmaster trem? Cool idea!
yeah this sounds closest of all "how to sound like BM' videos, seriously. Nice creamy sound with a flanger-y edge.
thanks!
Finally.... a really useful demo of May pedal.
+Randy Zeitman 😊
My favorite pedal for Brian May sound is the Catalinbread Galileo mk1. I had a mkii and sold it. The mk1 is a double pedal consisting of the naga viper which is their treble booster clone, and the cb30 which is their ac30 in a box pedal. I like to use just the boost side into other pedals. The mkii lacks many of the controls of the mki and is very shrill. I believe your supposed to have your guitar controls turned way down to use it.
Never heard of it, I'll check it out! thanks for stopping by!
While the Galileo pedal mk2 is good for BM sound... That's it. The AC Tone can get BM plus many other tones. Yes, you do need a treble booster or EQ along with it, but a cheap treble booster is between $30 - $40. Add the AC Tone at $35. The total is $65.-$75. vs. The Galileo at $170. !!!! Of course you do need two pedals rather than one, but I'll keep the $100. in my pocket and just make room on my pedal board.
Can you recommend a couple of good, but cheap treble boosters? Most of the pedals now say "boost" but they have their own gain tone and distortion, or they boost all frequencies. I just want a treble boost ONLY for under $50. Is there such an animal?
It sounds great, thanks for sharing
Amazing dude ! very cool :)
Nice finger tones you have... Awesome!
+noel clores thank you man!
That is a great sound!
If we just add Digitech's Brian May Delay on top of it...
+dimiaraujo90 I should experiment on my daw :)
Actually a cool sounding pedal. Good playing too. Ahhh, who could have brian May´s fingers...
Thanks man! Brian May hands are unique!
Hi,what amp settings you have?or you are in clean channel?
Awesome!
are you using any sort of pre amp or treble booster ahead of the AC TONE pedal?
+Dave Cornwell nope!
Thank God IM not the only guy who does BoRhap 1/2 step higher
Grandissimo!!!! Queen rocks! ^_^
Grazie!
Very nice. closest I've heard to Brians sound. Is the Jim Reed Red Special available anywhere?
Get Amplitubes Brian may modeling amp app. Get a IRig aswell. Cheaper than the pedal and it sounds exactly the same!
Sorry to comment on such an old video, but been looking into a "cheap" pedal to help give my Blackstar Fly 3 some variation.
Your demo of the British Sound was great, and wanted it for the AC/DC like tone. I have a 2010 BMG Red Special myself, so of course the AC Tone interests me.
Your comment about EQ; is it something a pedal could handle? I'm saving up for a Boss MS-3 as it is just such an incredible box of tricks, it has a "fixed" graphic EQ, and a customisable but more limited parametric EQ. Could that do a similar job? Any pedals that may suit the bill?
Or is it really just something you gotta do in Amplitube or similar program?
If you have a red special the only thing worth buying is a treble booster similar to Brian's. There are plenty options around. You can put that in front of most things and it will give you that sound pretty much
@@NicoBellisarioMusic I've got a older generation Deluxe one. If I ever pick up the ACTone I'll give it a go.
Thanks for your reply on such an old video!
Is it me, or is there a distinct lack of sustain? Sound is great though. Nice demo, thanks for sharing :)
+Chris Davies thanks man! you are right, lack of sustain is due to a problem to the bridge... Hopefully I will fix it soon
0:40 what solo is that
play the game
Yes. Yes you can 👍
Is it possible to add another effect pedal? chorus or wah on it?
curious can a good EQ pedal be used in place of a BM (Fryer, range master...etc) treble boost? What exactly does the treble booster do?... I know its "called" a treble boost, but is that all it does? This pedal by itself sounds like it has more than enough gain to cover most of Brians music... correct?
Pretty much yes!
What about the same things with the Beatles who alors user Vox
Hello. My dream is to have a Vox Ac30, but I don't have the money to buy it. I have a Vox 15v pathfinder. I thought about using this Joyo Actone on my Vox Pathfinder. Do you think that will make it sound more like the Ac30?
i like how you used the tech 21 settings for the joyo lol
+David Leong ;)
nice clip, have you tried running the AC Tone through the effects loop ?
Yes, it is the same but higher volume
@@NicoBellisarioMusic good to know, thx !
Great video, are you Roy from The IT Crowd? 😊
Thanks! No I'm not Roy! :)
Mi piace molto la tua replica della Red Special, che marca è? Inoltre quei pedali Joyo li ho sempre visti diretti nelle schede audio, mai negli ampli.
Will the sound be the same if i use a Fender Telecaster?
Hey do i need to turn the O. D. Button down on my amp or should i just be in clean? (Squier 7rontman 10G)
Sounds like because of VOX, but not close.
Also you need a little amp Deacy and Treble booster.
Yes, the sound could be much more improved! but I think it's a good starting point if you can't afford a vox or expensive effects :)
Why did you use b.may guitar with b.map pedal? It should sound like b.may with only b.may guitar
Did you use treble booster here?
Nope
What song is that riff from at 1:51
Brighton rock
I know i am wery late but on the Joyo AC Tone pedal in your amason link it says voice instead of character does that do/mean the same thing? And yeah i love this video so much, thank u!
And yeah do i need the exactly the same amp and guitar that you (and Bryan May) use or can i use fender?
Voice and character are the same and you can use a strat on the second position to emulate some Brian may sound. Try alsonrolling off the tone a bit on the guitar
@@NicoBellisarioMusic thank u so so so so much!!! 👑
Can i get the brian may tone on the strat using that actone?
Kind of, use the second position on the pup selector
Thanks sir
Salve Nico....bella esecuzione.
Avrei bisogno di una informazione.Hai riprodotto il tipico suono della chitarra di
Brian May .Ho visto che.ti servivi di un pedale JOYO ACT
sarà questo che da la famosa timbrica oppure l' amplificatore.Su Amazon ho visto questo pedale in 4 versioni.Se fosse così potresti dirmi il modello giusto.
Grazie Daniele GRECO
Ciao Daniele, in questo video uso un Joyo AC Tone. Puoi usare questo per Brian May
@@NicoBellisarioMusic Grazie mille e buona giornata
Salve Nico spero di non averti svegliato.....o disturbato....già mi hai risposto ad una precedente domanda....
Mi ero dimenticato di dirti la tua impressione usando,se non mi sbaglio,una Harley Benton......
Io nei video ho avuto una buona impressione...in alcuni punti anche superiore.. .
Tu che sei un esperto pensi che la differenza sia incolmabile...
Oppure che se uno non è Santana può anche optare per la Harley ...
L' hai mai usata in concerto sul palco.
Scusami x l' orario ma non ho potuto farne a meno.
Grazie Daniele GRECO
Ciao Daniele, nessuno disturbo.
Io ho una jim reed, una chitarra di liuteria Italiana, purtroppo ora discontinuità.
L harley Benton non l ho mai provata ma a giudicare da quello che vedo va più che bene. Mi sembrano al livello della Squier o Epiphone, dignitosissimi strumenti anche per il palco.
@@NicoBellisarioMusic Grazie mille sei stato molto esaustivo ed equilibrato
Ti auguro una buona serata ed una buona notte
プレイステーション
Sound like Bryan May! Just buy every exact single piece of equipment he has
Chio Chan Genocide you'd be 95% there, just need the tone from his fingers
Felipe Aguena Brian*
no treable booster?
I boosted the treble after recording to get near to what brian would do...I don't have an actual treble booster pedal!
Easy to get sounds like John Frusciante too!
True! Check out my other vids on the AC Tone...there are some funky tones there!
I did! Your vids are what convinced me to buy it! For $25 it was a steal for all the possibilites...
+LuxeXx great ! I am happy my vids were useful!
They are useful. I think you move through several different sounds and guitar styles, which help people get an idea of if it will work for them.
+LuxeXx thank you man! :)
genial😃😃😃
super! less talk more rock!
i'm guessing you're using a TB as well...ah, but you said the only pedal? Hmmm??
he boosted some frequencies with some EQ
Good, Pete Townshend.
Jeeez what do you want for £30.00 quid
:)
Bel sound, poi prezzo bassissimo...
Should've played it on a non-Brian May guitar.
hey Benny! that would be interesting to see if we can get somewhat a similar tone using a bunch of different guitars!
If you think that sounds like brian may your wrong
At least he tried it...
Sounds nothing like brian may way to heavy . To get the tone you need a vox amp and a pete cornish Tb-83 or a greg fryer treble booster
@@zachescarcega8282 wtf is with your attitude
...and a lot of $$$$$$! We are trying to get close on the cheap. BTW Brian's tone is 50% in his fingers. The actual Brian May "sound" is pretty shitty if you can't play like Brian. Most overdrive or distortion pedals sound like crap if you can't play. A good player can come close to THE SOUND no matter what guitar set up. Yes, for those purists that can hear micro frequencies, maybe that's not Brian's tone. But who cares as long as it's close and there are many ways to get there!
Parabéns Nico Bellisario! Esse vídeo muito me ajudou!
Segue o link: th-cam.com/video/RGKoqDKIOT0/w-d-xo.html
Not even close
nice, but clean your guitar
Why would anyone want to sound like an irrelevant aging pop star