Just wondered if anyone owns a Brian May 2006 model, and could help me with a couple of questions?
Basically - Im not much when it comes to the workings of a guitar, and Im a very poor, but learning player, who's just bought a Brian May.
Does anyone know - if Im getting a buzz on my low E string (to the point where it has very little sustain, and the buzz is audible throught the amp), but none of the others buzz, do I need to raise the strings slightly using the Allen key wotsits on the bridge? which way would I turn them?
Also, fairly annoyingly, the tone nob has come off after about two plays (I noticed it was loose and wiggled it to see if it could be manually tightened, and it came straight off), was this held on using glue? And if so which glue is most likely to fix the best?
Finally, and less importantly, which pickup settings have everyone else found closest matches Brian's sound, or even a good sound when playing Rhythm with distortion, cos I get a great lead sound, but havent quite found a sound perfect for AC/DC style riffs with the combinations Ive tried?
I hope I havent come off sounding too stupid, thanks if anyone can give me any help! Particularly with the maintenance issues! Thanks very much!
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OK, here we go:
String buzz: can be solved by raising the strings (if you relax the strings a little by detuning them, you can freely experiment, very little can go wrong) or using slightly thicker strings
The knob: Same thing happened to me. Very slowly and very gently widen the "slit" in the underlying screw so you get a tight fit again.
Famous Brian settings:
1. middle & neck pick-up out of phase (Bo Rhap screaming lead)
2. middle & bridge pick-ups in phase (thick rhythm sound)
But don't let anyone tell you which sound to use, trust your ears!
String buzz: can be solved by raising the strings (if you relax the strings a little by detuning them, you can freely experiment, very little can go wrong) or using slightly thicker strings
The knob: Same thing happened to me. Very slowly and very gently widen the "slit" in the underlying screw so you get a tight fit again.
Famous Brian settings:
1. middle & neck pick-up out of phase (Bo Rhap screaming lead)
2. middle & bridge pick-ups in phase (thick rhythm sound)
But don't let anyone tell you which sound to use, trust your ears!
If you want to play any Led Zeppelin, it's real fun throwing the middle and bridge pickups out of phase.
Thanks very much guys!
Havent played for a couple of days, so it had totally slipped my mind that I asked this.
But cheers - I'll copy this to my hardisk for reference when playing, and get working on that blooming screw wotsit shortly!
What a pain eh!? If I was in a less patient mood Id just glue the damned thing!
I think I'll have to play with the settings on my amp aswell to get some nice sounds from it.
Ive only had the guitar a week or so, but Ive really noticed that it has a lot of what I would call "voice" to its sound when playing distorted. I know Brian gets this kind of sound often, but Id put that down to him using some kind of post effect, almost like constantly playing with a bit of chorus or something, but nope its the Red Special - I like it.
Cheers again,
Matt
Havent played for a couple of days, so it had totally slipped my mind that I asked this.
But cheers - I'll copy this to my hardisk for reference when playing, and get working on that blooming screw wotsit shortly!
What a pain eh!? If I was in a less patient mood Id just glue the damned thing!
I think I'll have to play with the settings on my amp aswell to get some nice sounds from it.
Ive only had the guitar a week or so, but Ive really noticed that it has a lot of what I would call "voice" to its sound when playing distorted. I know Brian gets this kind of sound often, but Id put that down to him using some kind of post effect, almost like constantly playing with a bit of chorus or something, but nope its the Red Special - I like it.
Cheers again,
Matt
On the knob falling off... this happened to me as well and then I realised how to fix it. If you look at the side of the knob, you'll see a hole for an allen key. Place the knob back into position and then use a small enough allen key to tighten this part of the knob.
That should fix it perfectly. Btw, my volume and tone knob are die-cast metal. Someone said theirs were plastic. What's yours?
Adam.
That should fix it perfectly. Btw, my volume and tone knob are die-cast metal. Someone said theirs were plastic. What's yours?
Adam.
two years late - mine are metal. :)
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Adam Baboolal wrote: [/QUOTENAME]On the knob falling off...
Adam.[/QUOTE]
Sounds like the fruits of typical Queen-like debauchery to me!
Adam.[/QUOTE]
Sounds like the fruits of typical Queen-like debauchery to me!
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]John S Stuart wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Adam Baboolal wrote: [/QUOTENAME]On the knob falling off...
Adam.[/QUOTE]
Sounds like the fruits of typical Queen-like debauchery to me![/QUOTE]
hehe - indeed.
Adam.[/QUOTE]
Sounds like the fruits of typical Queen-like debauchery to me![/QUOTE]
hehe - indeed.
That's crazy - your tone pot just fell off, but I had to struggle so hard to remove mine that it now has a permanent wobble :/
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Adam Baboolal wrote: [/QUOTENAME]On the knob falling off... this happened to me as well and then I realised how to fix it. If you look at the side of the knob, you'll see a hole for an allen key. Place the knob back into position and then use a small enough allen key to tighten this part of the knob.
That should fix it perfectly. Btw, my volume and tone knob are die-cast metal. Someone said theirs were plastic. What's yours?
Adam.[/QUOTE]
Mine fell off too...used the alan key, its the same size alan key as the one used to tighten the tremelo arm.
I had the Black n Gold BM and all the gold rubbed off down to bare metal on the pick up covers, the tuners and the trem....after less than 2 months....Quality. And me Low E Buzzed like a bitch, I just swapped the saddles around.
That should fix it perfectly. Btw, my volume and tone knob are die-cast metal. Someone said theirs were plastic. What's yours?
Adam.[/QUOTE]
Mine fell off too...used the alan key, its the same size alan key as the one used to tighten the tremelo arm.
I had the Black n Gold BM and all the gold rubbed off down to bare metal on the pick up covers, the tuners and the trem....after less than 2 months....Quality. And me Low E Buzzed like a bitch, I just swapped the saddles around.
Oh, and buy the treble booster for a closer sound....mine sounded wank through my Marshall.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Brian_Mays_Wig wrote:
I had the Black n Gold BM and all the gold rubbed off down to bare metal on the pick up covers, the tuners and the trem....after less than 2 months....Quality. And me Low E Buzzed like a bitch, I just swapped the saddles around.[/QUOTE]
Funny to see all the posters from 2 years ago are still around...
I was about to buy the Black & Gold BM Signature.
You're giving me quite a scare here. Care to elaborate?
I had the Black n Gold BM and all the gold rubbed off down to bare metal on the pick up covers, the tuners and the trem....after less than 2 months....Quality. And me Low E Buzzed like a bitch, I just swapped the saddles around.[/QUOTE]
Funny to see all the posters from 2 years ago are still around...
I was about to buy the Black & Gold BM Signature.
You're giving me quite a scare here. Care to elaborate?
Well it's obviously not going to be real gold hardware, but they could try to find a finish that'll last more than 2 months, surely!
Don't feel to bad about the quality of the gold plating on the hardware. A good friend of mine just bought a Gibson Les Paul Classic. Ebony w/ gold hardware. In less than 3 week the gold started to rub away. That guitar cost him $1500.00. He told me its normal for it to happen.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Fireplace wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Brian_Mays_Wig wrote:
I had the Black n Gold BM and all the gold rubbed off down to bare metal on the pick up covers, the tuners and the trem....after less than 2 months....Quality. And me Low E Buzzed like a bitch, I just swapped the saddles around.[/QUOTE]
Funny to see all the posters from 2 years ago are still around...
I was about to buy the Black & Gold BM Signature.
You're giving me quite a scare here. Care to elaborate?[/QUOTE]
Seriously, I gigged the guitar twice, apart from that, all rehearsals were done on my Jackson or Les Paul and the BM stayed in the case. The Gold just rubbed off all the hardware. Really really poor quality. Mine was from the first line of BM guitars (not Burns) and I wasnt all that impressed.
I had the Black n Gold BM and all the gold rubbed off down to bare metal on the pick up covers, the tuners and the trem....after less than 2 months....Quality. And me Low E Buzzed like a bitch, I just swapped the saddles around.[/QUOTE]
Funny to see all the posters from 2 years ago are still around...
I was about to buy the Black & Gold BM Signature.
You're giving me quite a scare here. Care to elaborate?[/QUOTE]
Seriously, I gigged the guitar twice, apart from that, all rehearsals were done on my Jackson or Les Paul and the BM stayed in the case. The Gold just rubbed off all the hardware. Really really poor quality. Mine was from the first line of BM guitars (not Burns) and I wasnt all that impressed.