Let he who has never tried to play a “Queen” tune on six strings cast the first stone. The man who built his own guitar on a budget of 8 pounds sterling, and who helped create some of the best rock songs in history, now has his own company. After so many replicas from so many different makers, May has finally decided to launch his own official signature model, and with all budgets in mind, too, given his philosophy that everyone has the right to enjoy the May sound and feel. But keep in mind that this is a signature model that evokes a guitar legend. Is it an instrument for mere Queen “freaks,” or are we really talking about an instrument with an identity of its own?

A Little History
The origin and rise to legendary status of the Red Special is, without a doubt, one of the most striking and momentous stories in the history of rock.

At 16, unable to afford the Fender® and Gibson® guitars of the day, Brian May decided, with his father's help, to build a guitar of his own. The neck is mahogany salvaged from an old fireplace, the body is oak with a mahogany top, the fretboard inlays are mother-of-pearl buttons, the tremolo arm came from a bicycle saddlebag frame, and the tremolo springs were motorcycle valve springs. Even the pickups were handmade (although May was not happy with the result and decided to fit modified Burns Tri-Sonics).

Finally, after a year and a half of work, and at a cost of 8 pounds sterling (note that most of the material was old stock the family kept in the basement of their home), the Red Special was born. After he perfected the finish, even his classmates offered him their store-bought guitars in trade. May, logically and fortunately, declined.

After Queen's crushing success, companies such as Guild and Burns put Red Special replicas on the market without any authorization, which led to lawsuits from May.

Seeing how many people were eager for such a coveted instrument, and with every budget in mind, Brian May created Brian May Guitars together with his tech Pete Malandrone and Barry Moorhouse of House Music. And its right-handed model is the one we're looking at today.

Unboxing
We're talking about a guitar with a list price of €799, which puts it in the mid-range. The first impression is good: it comes with a gig bag. It is soft, but well padded (the edition is also available with a hard case). It comes with a set of adjustment tools, as well as the tremolo arm.

After opening the bag, we discover a beautiful design almost identical to Brian May's original. I say almost because of certain details, of greater or lesser importance, in the components, which have been replaced by others of high quality. That is the case, for example, with the bridge, as we will see later. Our guest has a one-piece mahogany neck with a 7.25” radius, a 24-fret ebony fretboard with white inlays, and a mahogany body with an internal acoustic chamber and white binding, as well as a two-piece pickguard (bridge/body). The scale length is 24”, which is unusual for a 24-fret guitar, since the frets sit very close together, and it includes a “zero” fret located behind the graphite nut. The neck/body joint is glued.

I found the pickguard to be of mediocre quality, but that is certainly a minor detail, since it can be replaced without much trouble if it gets damaged.

As for the hardware, things look very good: a Wilkinson floating tremolo with brass saddles, a Custom Brian May tremolo arm (emulating the shape of the original), and Grover GH 305 locking tuners, plus a dual-action truss rod.

The Electronics
Another distinctive element of this guitar. The electronics sit on the main pickguard and consist of three Burns Tri-Sonic single-coil pickups, the same ones May installed. He did, however, modify them with a different winding and a coat of Araldite, except for the bridge pickup.

What follows is the elaborate circuitry of this guitar, which will give us no respite if our goal is to be bored. Keep reading, please.

Finally, we have a master volume pot and a tone pot.

In Our Hands: Feel, Sound and Impressions
As soon as I strapped it on, the feeling was pleasant: it isn't excessively heavy and it is well balanced. It feels truly solid and ready to stand up to live use.
Let's see what it can do.

a) FACTORY SETUP
Honestly, this is the only thing that could be criticized about this guitar, as it shines in every other respect. The factory setup could certainly have been improved by raising the tailpiece a little relative to the fretboard. Obviously, a company reasonably assumes the player will make the appropriate adjustments. But a good, versatile, middle-of-the-road factory setup is appreciated. We had to raise the strings a bit to optimize their sound and avoid unwanted buzzing.

b) A PECULIAR CIRCUIT
One of my favorite parts. As mentioned, it consists of three metal-covered Burns Tri-Sonic single-coil pickups wired in series. The setup emulates the original system May created, with 3 independent switches that turn the pickups on and off, and another 3 that keep or reverse the phase. It may seem a bit complicated to handle live, but with practice it is easy to control.
But the great advantage is undoubtedly the extreme versatility this configuration allows. Just by combining the pickup ON/OFF switches we get 7 possibilities. Add the phase switches and we have a total of... 22 configurations! That makes it one of the production guitars with the greatest number of pickup combinations ever seen.

c) TRYING OUT THE INSTRUMENT
First of all, we'll test the guitar unplugged. After the setup, one thing that stands out about this guitar is its sustain. This is due, among other things, to the internal acoustic chambers in the body and the use of mahogany. Chords played on it produce a surprising resonance.

The neck is also somewhat peculiar. It isn't excessively thick, and it has a balanced profile. That said, it is quite wide at the nut, and I don't see it as particularly suited to small hands.
Personally, I found it comfortable, and it lends itself to speed without any problem. As for the action, it allows it to be set very low, though that is a matter of taste.

Those 24 frets on a 24” scale didn't feel too cramped to me, and I honestly felt comfortable with the instrument, since the feel on the fretboard is quite smooth. What's more, the quality of the hardware and the graphite nut make it extremely stable. The floating bridge without string locking struck me as a very smart choice, since I don't think the Floyd Rose concept is appropriate here, and it adds versatility compared with a vintage tremolo.

Now for the real thing. Let's plug the Brian May into the preamp (a Line 6 X3 Live). As expected, I couldn't resist setting up a preset using the Vox AC-30 amp emulation. The truth is that, clean, the guitar sounds rather dark, dull, with strong mids (due to the acoustic chamber) and bass. Even so, with the single coils and by dialing in the preamp's EQ, a tonal balance can be reached. I played with the switches, and the results really let you tell each of the electronic combinations apart. Indeed, it's impossible to get bored. Absolute versatility.

I wondered how well this guitar could emulate more Fender®-style tones. After activating the pickups two at a time and reversing the phase, I can say this guitar doesn't fall short in that department. It doesn't reach the brand's characteristic twang, mind you, but it holds its own without a problem.

But now comes the acid test: will it sound like Queen when we overdrive it? After increasing the gain, I tried different combinations, with the pickups wired in series without reversing the phase, and we get a very thick, Gibson-style sound. Here I was able to confirm that the guitar's sustain is indeed very high. And the different combinations let us play, literally, any style that comes to mind (except extreme metal styles, since the pickups don't have enough gain).

After playing some of the band's legendary songs, I truly felt like a virtual member of the group. In short: it sounds the part.

One thing worth noting is the unusual scale-to-fret-count ratio I mentioned earlier. Being shorter than usual for 24 frets, it allows heavy bending with a wide range of travel. That adds to the smoothness when using the tremolo, with the whole setup staying stable.

If you look closely, all of this corresponds exactly to the way May plays.

I would venture to say it would gain even more body with a set of strings (one of the few commercial components May had to buy) in .011 gauge, which would give the tone more character. The instrument ships with a .010-.046 set; a reasonable thickness.

Key Differences from the Original Red Special
If we compare point by point, where this guitar fully matches May's original design is in the body and neck design.

As for the electronics, the switching system is the same, and so are the pickups (although May modified his, as mentioned).

The original bridge is floating, as is the one on this model, as mentioned (similar to the Bigsby philosophy, but less complex). It also had a series of rollers to minimize friction and keep the intonation stable. Figure 1 shows the profile of that tremolo.

The tuners are Grover GH305 locking units, unlike May's.

The inlays are not mother-of-pearl but plastic. A detail of little importance that helps keep the price more affordable.

Finally, the woods. The entire body is made of mahogany. The body of the original Red Special was built from oak with a mahogany top. The original fretboard, meanwhile, was oak painted black. In our case it is ebony (in my opinion, a very good choice).

But there is one similarity, and it is the most important: the sound is very personal and very close to the concept of the May tone. Even better, it isn't limited to that, since the 22 combinations mentioned earlier give us the chance to get a remarkably wide variety of tones.

Conclusion
First and most important: our doubt has been resolved. This guitar has personality, it is suitable for any professional, and it is not a mere collector's “toy” for Queen fans.

Truly, and given that a large share of the guitars produced throughout history are based on classic models, I find it hard to compare this guitar with any other. That sense of exclusivity has been intrinsic to the Red Special since its birth 40 years ago.

A well-built guitar with Grover locking tuners, an ebony fretboard, a Wilkinson bridge and formidable electronics for under €800? This is excellent value for the money.

Without a doubt, this guitar is the definitive solution for lovers of this sound, and it should please even those of you who aren't Brian May fans. Good gear, good sound and an even better price. We will rock you!