Red Special Super arrival (Finally)

This is a great topic, and the guitar is beautiful.

Can i expect the fretboard to be as "fat" as Brian´s original guitar? I´ve read a review of the Brian May guitars and it said that this model has a more thin arm to please the general public - wich i can understand. But i want that big fat net, because i have big hands and it´s very difficult for me to play "We will rock you" or "A kind of Magic" in a "normal" guitar.

Where can i find this Red Special super arrival model? (a link would be appreciated)

Thanks for sharing this beauty with us.

"I believe that this guitar was damaged at last years Olympics closing ceremony"

What happened to it there?? This is the first I've ever heard of that, although that also may definitely explain why Brian used a Guyton for FBG (drop D tuning) at iHeartRadio!

[QUOTE] [b]Mr.QueenFan wrote:[/b]

This is a great topic, and the guitar is beautiful.

Can i expect the fretboard to be as "fat" as Brian´s original guitar? I´ve read a review of the Brian May guitars and it said that this model has a more thin arm to please the general public - wich i can understand. But i want that big fat net, because i have big hands and it´s very difficult for me to play "We will rock you" or "A kind of Magic" in a "normal" guitar.

Where can i find this Red Special super arrival model? (a link would be appreciated)

Thanks for sharing this beauty with us.[/QUOTE]


The neck is exactly the same as Brian's it's very fat, but actually I have found it a joy to play it takes a few mins to get into it but then for me anyway it seems natural to play with a bigger neck, somehow it feels like the guitar is part of you, I haven't really struggled at all.

You can order one at Brain May Guitars, call Barry Moorehouse he will sort you out, they are probably only doing a short run depending on demand, they may do a Green version and I suggested a relic'd version, as I think collectors would love it.

It will take a while to arrive as they only build 10 at a time, with 100 being the max (at the moment) so get your order in and I reckon by March ish you should have it.

Yes, the neck is very fat but very comfortable...
How much did you pay for it? :) If I remember correctly about 2500 gbp...

[QUOTE] [b]Togg wrote:[/b]


The neck is exactly the same as Brian's it's very fat, but actually I have found it a joy to play it takes a few mins to get into it but then for me anyway it seems natural to play with a bigger neck, somehow it feels like the guitar is part of you, I haven't really struggled at all.

[/QUOTE]

Thanks for you reply.
I believe that the fat guitar neck really makes a difference on Brian´s phrasing and vibrato, specially on songs like "We Will Rock You" and "A Kind of Magic". When Brian hits the A chord on the 12 fret and vibrates that ... it´s pure joy for my ears.

[QUOTE] [b]inu-liger wrote:[/b]

"I believe that this guitar was damaged at last years Olympics closing ceremony"

What happened to it there?? This is the first I've ever heard of that, although that also may definitely explain why Brian used a Guyton for FBG (drop D tuning) at iHeartRadio![/QUOTE]

The Fryer guitar had it's finish damaged by stage pyro or dry ice. Not quite sure which. Part of RT's drum kit fell victim to the same problem!

Shiiiiit. They must have been PISSED...

They are retailing at £2950.00

[QUOTE] [b]bootLuca wrote:[/b]

Yes, the neck is very fat but very comfortable...
How much did you pay for it? :) If I remember correctly about 2500 gbp...[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]

[b]Wow didn't know that.

You can see the Fryer here in this pic...

Vocal harmony wrote: [/b] [QUOTE] [b]inu-liger wrote:[/b]

"I believe that this guitar was damaged at last years Olympics closing ceremony"

What happened to it there?? This is the first I've ever heard of that, although that also may definitely explain why Brian used a Guyton for FBG (drop D tuning) at iHeartRadio![/QUOTE]

The Fryer guitar had it's finish damaged by stage pyro or dry ice. Not quite sure which. Part of RT's drum kit fell victim to the same problem![/QUOTE]

[QUOTE] [b]inu-liger wrote:[/b]

Shiiiiit. They must have been PISSED...[/QUOTE]

Indeed! Brian is a smart man, perhaps he only uses the Red Special in controlled environments. I don´t even know if he uses it in Live concerts these days.

By the way, how do you know the different types of guitars Brian uses on stage? I know that his Red Special replicas have a different color (slightly), but i couldn´t tell how you knew the guitar he used on FBG on IHeart Festival.

The Guyton logo was very noticeable on the headstock, never mind the body's colour finish was much more red (and therefore nearly identical to the original RS) than the Fryer model that he'd favoured for drop D tuning.

And yes, he still does use the original RS in concert to this day. It's the one that has the sixpence glued to the headstock :-)

BM's home made Red Special is still his main guitar and is still used when playing live. The two Guytons one red one green have a gold Guyton logo on the head stock.

His two Fryers, one is red the other is a heavily grained honey colour. Both of these guitars have a Fryer logo on the headstock but also have a white nut which makes them easier to spot.

The other two Red Specials he has used live are a BMG super during the last Queen+ PR tour, easy to spot because it had Super stenciled in large letters on the body and in the 70's and early 80's his spare RS was a guitar built by Birch guitars. This guitar was built using maple and left it's natural colour, it featured a black headstock.

It's worth noting that the Red Special is not a cherry red like the BMG guitars standard model, but is actually a reddish brown. Both the Fryer and Guyton guitars are very close to it colour wise, and under stage lighting it is hard to tell the difference.

Inu-liger, I'm sorry for replicating a lot of what you've said. I was typing when you posted.

When great minds think alike... ;-)
It's all good, yours was more detailed anyways :-)

Should also note, Brian used a prototype RS replica made by Guild in '84 for many years as a backup, until Fryer produced the next set of backups.