Guitar review: Brian May Special

slackbladder

I have a Joe Satriani Chrome Dome Pick which is made of errr...chrome? Steel? Works okay.
I thought about getting a Brian May Red Special (I prefer the black colour). Would like to try one first.

GloopyJon

It's probably a good idea to try one, particularly as they have a slightly wider neck than you may be used to.  Apparently the neck on the original is quite a baseball bat, but the ones you can buy aren't so big - definitely smaller than your average Les Paul.

Do you have a retailer near you that stocks them?  Quite a few places do.

slackbladder

No retailer near me unfortunately. In fact it's hard for me to find ashop that sells decent instruments near me. Most of my guitars I got online.
I was surprised to read that the Brian May Sig nature has an ebony fretboard. I do like them generally as they tend to be smooth and add a nice colour to a guitar, though I understand they are sometimes stained darker to be more ebony-like.
Unfortunately I don't see myself getting one quite yet. Just spent a fair amount on a Schecter C-1 Classic and a Les Paul Studio, though I might return the Studio as I'm not that impressed with it to be honest.

GloopyJon

How's the Schecter?  A little while ago I was looking at a semi-hollow version of that which looks really nice.

slackbladder

Very Nice. I own 3 in total. They're all made in South Korea but built very well and to a high quality.

GloopyJon

I think they are made in the same factory as the Brian May guitars, in fact.

slackbladder

That's a good sign for me. I think Chapman Guitars are built there too (planning on getting the Strandhugg in the near future). I've been thinking about getting a Chapman guitar for a while. I see you have a Chapman ML-2. What's your opinion of it?

GloopyJon

The Strandhugg looks very nice!  I was all set to get a Ghost Fret one day (although not this year because I resolved not to buy more than one guitar in 2015) but the Norseman guitars look really good too.

The ML-2 is a nice, solid guitar - with the emphasis on the "solid" because it's pretty heavy.  At the moment, it's not one of the guitars that I play the most because I've got it tuned down to D, but if you like a bit of weight it's a great alternative to something like an Epiphone Les Paul.  The main selling point for me was the ebony fingerboard, as I really like those.  Unlike an LP, it has 24 frets (with a decent cutaway for accessibility), so you could say it's a bit like a metal version of an LP

EDIT: I just took a look at your profile page - you have more guitars than I do!  And I see you're an Ibanez fan - I've been wanting to at least try a couple of Ibanez models with the Wizard necks for ages but haven't had an opportunity, as my favourite necks tend to be the slimmer ones (like my PRS).

slackbladder

Yeah, I do like a few Ibanez. Ibanez do make slim necks like you said and pretty flat. My RGIX27FEQM 7 String has a wide flat neck and Ebony fingerboard. I'm not so good at fast shred-like playing but it's certainly easier on a Wizard neck than say a Gibson or Fender.

6p5p

Hey, @GloopyJon thanks for the review. Pity it is a dead thread, I will "resurect" it and give my five cents to the thread now:

it is highly recommended to replace the pots on the BMG, use 220K log pots instead of the built-in 500K lin ones. That will give to this guitar the BM's sound, the sound will be much warmer. It sounds to me also fatter, but I think it is just subjective. Desolder and use the same resistor on the tone pot. That is really very important modification. BM's original RS uses the pots with the same values, AMAIK.

It is a bit off-topic, but I will mention also the amp for that "BM sound" now: try some single ended class A amp like the Laney L5 before buying a huge, heavy and loud AC30. The modern AC30 will not sound like Brian May's amps anyway- after several mods it can get kind of close. But it is still a bulk of an amp- heavy, loud it is frying at least ont set of the EL84s per year etc, so for all the people who don't play in a band but just at home, the AC30 is exaggerated amp by all means. The little Laney L5 will out of the box sound closer to BM on its normal channel (with a booster and a coin), as its sound is darker, just like the sound of BM's vintage Vox amps. And now the next surprize: L5's drive Channel (without booster, just the gain knob will do it) can get really close to the "Deacy" sound after experimenting with few knobs.

I was quite much blown away by the L5 when I tried it accidentally in the local store last year. I just wanted a little valve amp for the practicing. Later, after I brought it home I have discovered this Brian May sound "ability". After few days I went back to the dealer in the guitar store and demonstrated it to him, it was his turn to get blown away, LOL. BTW, I also use often and adore the AC30s, so I share my own sonical experience here. Cheers!