Brian May

Queen's Brian May plays a signature Brian May Red Special guitar, the same style he's been using for virtually his entire career. The Guitar sports Burns pickups and a unique switchings system that allows for a wide range of tones. In this Premier Guitar Rig Rundown video, May's tech shows off a number of Red Special variations and copies that the Queen guitarist plays onstage. Although May has a number of variations, he prefers his original Red Special guitar. "He only wants to play that," May's tech says at (9:20). "If he breaks a string, he wants [the Red Special] back as soon as possible."

In this video at (13:30) Brian May talks about building his Red Special for the first time. May and his father built the guitar and took up the challenge to "make something better than anything that's ever been out there, 'cause me and my dad had that kind of attitude. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing to the max," (13:40). According to May, the guitar "was made out of all sorts of stuff just lying around." Interstingly enough, the neck of the orginal Red Special is a piece of wood "from an old fireplace, which was about 100 years old at the time" (17:30). The back of the guitar is a "very solid piece of oak," May said.

May used this guitar for "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and first used it at the RDS Arena in Dublin on the Crazy Tour, on the 22nd of November, 1979.

Brain wasn’t satisfied with the Stratocaster/Vox AC30 combo, so he started using the Les Paul instead for the 1974-1975 tour.

This ended up being disappointment also, and Brian went back to playing his Red Special – and ordered John Birch replica as a backup. “I used to think the Stratocaster would be the thing when I got one. Always thought when I got enough money to get one of those, that will be it. Then, when I got enough, I didn’t like it. The same with the Les Paul. I thought the Les Paul would be it.”

Brian May played this guitar in Queen music video "Princes Of The Universe" in 1986.

Brian May is quoted saying, “It’s kind of magic, that little amplifier. I don’t know how it really works and it’s amazing that Deacy put it together from bits out of a skip!" in this article.

“I used this on Long Away. Funnily enough I think I bought it because I liked the pickups, but I fell in love with the guitar once I started playing around with it and the song materialised. The guitar actually inspired the riff that powers the song."

Brian May's guitar tech shows us the Queen guitarist's onstage setup. May's rig incorporates three Vox AC30s, positioned at an angle and pointed off stage to slightly isolate the sound. "We have to stop the nasty reflections," May's tech says at (27:35). According to May's tech, "the center amp is straight through the rack, so there's no effects on the center amp. The wet stuff is all wet on the left and right [amps]."

“I went with Tim Staffell, who was our singer in Smile, and Roger I think, to a shop called Take Five in Tin Pan Alley that was full of second hand amps, including a few AC30s. "By that time I had a Rangemaster treble booster – I thought that if it worked for Rory it would work for me – so we pulled a few out, plugged in, and there was the sound. “I traded in my Burns transistor 60-watt amp and bought two 30-watt AC30s.They were very beaten up but sounded perfect, with that deep, throaty sound, and that was it forevermore for me.” You can also see May talking about the AC30 in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyyTBeAmZIc.

BRIAN MAY's 1982 SYSTEM

The second stage system that I designed and built for Brian May during the Queen years was, from the Guitar:

Pete Cornish Line Driver (on Guitar strap): 100ft special cable with power for Line Driver Pete Cornish Treble Boost Pete Cornish Treble Boost #2 with bypass switch Foxx Phaser with bypass switch Pete Cornish Line Driver and Hum Loop Buster to Clean Amps (3 X AC30 - Normal Channel) Foxx output also to MXR DDL II (#1) then 3 X Delay #1 Amps via Line Driver and Hum Loop Buster Foxx also to MXR DDL II (#2) then 3 X Delay #2 Amps via Line Driver and Hum Loop Buster Foxx also to Roland CE-1 (seriously modified by Pete Cornish) then 3X Chorus Amps.

The above all built in two units - a pedalboard on stage and a large rack unit off stage (behind the AC30s) as was pictured in the August 1986 copy of Guitarist (USA) - check it out.

N.B. Brian May always used the volume control on his guitar to reduce the drive into the Treble Boost for quiet numbers and the second Treble Boost was used for solo boosts. Oh - and the “Cry Baby” in his pedal board is the “Foxx Phaser” speed control. The other pedal is for controlling the Eventide Harmoniser (part of the P.A.) for certain solos.

Brian May started playing with a British sixpence coin after experimenting with a few different gauges of guitar pick. He settled on using a coin because, according to May, he can "feel total contact with the strings...I can even feel the serration...I can feel it in my fingers," (23:50). "It gives you variation as well, because if its very parallel to the string...it's very clean, very nice... But if you angle it...it gives you this kind of splutter...it gives you the same kind of articulation of the human voice," he said.

Brian May's treble booster pedal can be spotted in this Premier Guitar video at (9:08) in his rig.

Brian started using the flying V as a back up for his Red Special after he accidentally smashed up his John Birch replica of his original RS. He started using this in 1982

Brian used a Fender Stratocaster as a spare guitar on their 1972-1973 tour(s). However, he didn't like the Strat/AC30 combo, he later moved on to a Gibson Les Paul which was eventually abandoned for a Gibson Flying V

In a January 1983 interview with Guitar Player Magazine, responding to the question of whether he owned any unusual acoustic guitars, May was quoted as stating the following: "Yeah, I have a very old, cheap Hairfred which makes that buzzy sound that's on 'Jealousy' and 'White Queen.' I've never seen another one like it. I made it sound like a sitar by taking off the original bridge and putting a hardwood bridge on. I chiseled away at it until it was flat and stuck a little piece of fretwire material underneath. The strings just very gently lay on the fretwire, and it makes that sitar-like sound." This spawned many guitar-playing fans' search for the mysterious Hairfred brand - later, with the help of the book Brian May's Red Special, it became clear that the magazine had misquoted him; the guitar is actually a German Hallfredh, probably dating from the 1920s or 1930s.

The guitar is of a Wandergitarre type design, similar in style to that referred to as a ‘parlor guitar’ by American vintage guitar collectors. It features an angled cut at end of fingerboard, reminiscent of designs by Johann Georg Stauffer (C. F. Martin's mentor) and his son Johann Anton Stauffer.

Brian May obtained the Hallfredh from his schoolfriend Dave Dilloway, prior to the formation of their band 1984 (in which Dilloway played bass). He exchanged it for his Egmond Toledo acoustic (his first guitar, bought by his parents for his 7th, or 8th birthday).

In this photo from the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute concert, Brian May can be seen playing this semi-acoustic 12 string electric guitar.

In the opening scene of this video at about 0:02, Brian May's guitar tech can be scene flipping 2 80s Marshall-style rocker switches for Power and Standby. The only AC30 model I know of with a grey face plate and dual rocker switches is the PCB-based Dallas Arbiter version of the 1980s. It makes sense that May would gravitate toward this amp. Not only were they readily available as a current-production amplifier during Queens arena days, but they are solid state rectified -- and Mr May is well known for switching his 90s RI Voxes to solid-state rectification for more punch, volume and bass definition. Maybe the Rose Morris version hipped him to this modification... his current service guru talks about it all here:

https://fryerguitars.wordpress.com/amptech/

In this Youtube video, Brian May can be seen using a Fender EOB Sustainer Stratocaster.

This video is from the documentary about Queen's album "A Night at the Opera". In the documentary Brian May discusses the recording of the song "Good Company", where he talks about using the banjolele, which was his fathers. He mentioned in the video that it was his "upbringing to guitar".

In this video Brian performs his heautiful song '39, using this guitar.

Photo shows may holding a Gibson SG electric guitar.

Brian May teaches us the guitar solo from Bohemian Rhapsody while staying home because of the Corona crisis. At 6:46 min. you can see that he uses the VOX Mini5 Rhythm Combo (Ivory version) in his living room. You can also see the settings.

At 12:46 Brian May uses the TC Electronic PolyTune Classic Pedal in his pedalboard.

For sale on Reverb.com.

this one was played by Brian May at his daughters wedding to play with the Wedding’s Band especially to cover Johnny B Good [sic].

A Queen tech talks through their live setup, including Brian May's Dunlop GCB95 Cry Baby Wah Wah and the flat EQ settings that he prefers. The pedal can be seen in this video at (10:12). EDIT: This is just a control pedal for the Cry Baby DCR-2SR rack module, as explained in the video.

Brian May uses the TC Electronic Stereo Chorus Flanger pedal, as shown in a user-uploaded photo on Imgur.

In this photo, taken in 2005. we can see May playing Guild F512.

Brian uses a TC Electronic G-System, according to TC Electronic's website.

Brian played this guitar during the "Back Chat" recording sessions and shooting music video of this song :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6QGP0OUaV4

“I have always loved the SG, ever since a friend of mine at school, Woolly Hammerton, traded in his Telecaster for one, looking for a ‘new sound’ (which I think he found), and which I coveted deeply! Having one of the new models is almost as exciting as getting my hands on Woolly’s!! Somehow the SG still looks perfect, feels perfect and smells perfect. Oh, and it still sounds pretty damn good! I’m just getting used to the new Min-ETune function, which is a great tool in the studio for quick alternative tunings, and opens up a whole new world of opportunities. Enjoy it!!! Rock it!!” - From the official Brian May Website

Brian May used this guitar during Queen "Magic Tour" in 1986. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoObZMMlnKY

Brian May uses a KAT STB (Strap Treble Booster) in his signal chain between the guitar and the Sennheiser wireless pack. His tech says that "it has to go there, before the wireless".

Pete Malandrone talks about it at 5.18 in the video.