Oldest first newest first price low to high price high to low featured product a z product z a. Written by brian may and simon bradley, brian mays red special tells the story of this incredible guitar that has been used on every queen album and played at. May attended the local hampton grammar school, then a voluntary aided school. But with time, the veneer got cracks, and some building mistakes makes are also bothering me, so i dont intend to fix it, but starting again from scratch. I have been working on the guitar for the best part of five years on and off, with many roadblocks, and issues arising along the way.
Brian may red special japanese tour mini album 1998. The story of the homemade guitar that rocked queen and the world, was written by brian may with simon bradley. The name red special came from the reddishbrown colour the guitar attained after. Brian may was born july 19, 1947, in hampton, england. Its also at the heart of a hal leonard book called brian mays red special. Brian mays most popular book is bang the complete history of the universe. A young brian may playing the brand new red special. Lets explore this instrument to learn how it works and discover how you can mod a production or custom replica to make it even more versatile. Brian mays red special the story of the homemade guitar. Brian may is one of the most immediately identifiable guitarists of all time, and part of his sonic mojo comes from his unique 6stringthe red special. In 1963, brian may and his father harold, started to handbuild an electric guitar. Apart from the guild and burns guitars which are endorsed by brian may, there are also a number of commercially available copies of the red special.
This may, i was asked by pete malandrone and brian may to restore the cracked and worn finish on the original red special. Brian mays red special is also one such classic rock instrument, one he actually built with his father as young man in 1963. On wednesday 1st october, carlton books celebrated the launch of brian mays new book, published to celebrate the 50th birthday of one of the worlds most iconic guitars, brian mays red special. During april i was called to brian s home in surrey, to survey wear and tear of the original red special and how i planned to carry out the repairs. Adesonfryer red special replica pickups kindly made under licence from mr barry gibson of burns london which are exact replicas of the unique pickups in brian may s red special guitar. Brian may, legendary guitarist and song writer with rock group queen and solo. The pictures and selfpenned text tell the story of brians discovery of the world of stereoscopy as a boy, and chronicle queen from the early 1970s all the.
Commercial copies of brians guitar latest rock music news. Oct 01, 2014 a great book to read if you are into brian may and want to know the history of how he and his father built the red special. Brian talks about every aspect of the red special, from its birth. Brian mays red special by brian may for compare prices of 878004 products in books from 608 online stores in australia.
Jun, 2017 a young brian may playing the brand new red special. Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free uk delivery on orders over. Making the decision was easy, getting it done is proving a little more difficult. Brian mays red special the story of the homemade guitar that. The book goes into great detail of how brian and his father made the red special in their garage over almost 2 years when brian was a teenager 1618. This is a 2009 made in korea brian may guitar special. Note the disk magnets of the original handmade pickups it was the early 1960s and a young teenaged brian may wanted an electric guitar.
On wednesday 1st october, we published a book to celebrate the 50th birthday of this iconic guitar. In 1963, brian may and his father harold started to handbuild an electric guitar. The story of the homemade guitar that rocked queen and the world by brian may with simon bradley from. What an amazing book about brian mays faithful lady companion the red special guitar that has been his faitful sidekick for almost 50 years. Brian may and his father harold started to handbuild an electric guitar in 1963. The red special the story of the home made guitar that. Oct 01, 2014 what an amazing book about brian may s faithful lady companion the red special guitar that has been his faitful sidekick for almost 50 years. Personally i felt they could have included more photos than whats there right now. All of this is accompanied with original diagrams, sketches and notes dating from the building of the guitar, as well as a great selection of photographs including brian on stage with his guitar, closeups and xrays. In the captivating new carlton photobook brian mays red special, the queen guitarist finally divulges the secrets behind his prized axe, taking fans back in. Midwest book report, january 15 about this title may belong to another edition of this title.
Brian played his guitar on every queen album and in all of queens live shows around the world. Sep 05, 2016 a mini restoration of the original red special. The story of the homemade guitar that rocked queen and the world is very highly recommended for both academic and community library american music history collections. The story of the homemade guitar that rocked queen and the world hardcover may 12, 2020 by brian may author, simon bradley author. Brian dreamed of a guitar that would outperform any of the existing commercially made electric guitars.
Buy brian mays red special by brian may from waterstones today. Rs guitars rs guitars produce very highquality red special style guitars. Brians soapbox page is brians personal column, sharing his thoughts on music. Oct 01, 2014 the last chapter delivers several photographic examples of various commercial, prototype and custom red special or red special like guitars from brian may s personal collection, including some previously never before revealed prototypes. Brian may s red special was published on 1 october 2014, and was written by brian may with guitar journalist simon bradley. In this book you will discover everything you ever wished to know about brian s unique instrument.
Oct 01, 2014 the red special guitar was built by brian may and his father in 1963. In this book you will discover everything you ever wished to know about brians unique instrument. It sounds like no other guitar in the world, and from the moment the future queen guitarist picked it up in 1963, he has been creating sounds no other musician has ever captured. Brian subsequently used it on every queen and solo album that he recorded and at the vast majority of his live performances. The following is a complex tutorial on how i went about building this red special, up to where i am at the moment in the build. The story of the homemade guitar that rocked queen and the world by brian may with simon bradley from carlton books coauthor simon bradley helps us lift the lid on the most iconic homemade guitar in.
Brian mays red special was published on 1 october 2014, and was written by brian may with guitar journalist simon bradley. These products are not official copies and are not endorsed by brian, but if youre in the market for a red specialstyle guitar, they are certainly worth a look. During this time, he formed his first band, named 1984 after george orwell. Brian mays red special brian may with simon bradley a celebration of the iconic guitar that brian may built with his father and has treasured and played all over the world for the last 50 years this book about my homemade guitar has been waiting in the wings for a very long time.
Brian s soapbox page is brian s personal column, sharing his thoughts on music, work, life, the world, astronomy and stereo photography. The last chapter delivers several photographic examples of various commercial, prototype and custom red special or red speciallike guitars from brian mays personal collection, including some previously never before revealed prototypes. Aug 11, 2016 this may, i was asked by pete malandrone and brian may to restore the cracked and worn finish on the original red special. In 1971, he hit the road with his band, queen, playing lead guitar on his homemade axe, the red special. Note the disk magnets of the original handmade pickups it was the early 1960s and a young teenaged brian may wanted an. In brian mays own words, and over 300 previously unseen 3. The story of the homemade guitar that rocked queen and the world by. Inspired by brian may s legendary red special, an instrument that has achieved iconic status and its own unique place in rock history, the bmg special is a stunning guitar, blessed with superb build quality, awesome playability and an astonishingly rich diversity of killer tones. Issue 386 of guitarist magazine saw us get up close and personal with brian may of queens iconic red special guitar like never before, to coincide with the release of brian mays red special. Centered around interviews with may about the building of the guitar and. Because i already built one 7 to 4 years ago yes, it took me 3 years to finish. Genuine super rare 3d slipcased book from the founder of queen, brian may. Brian may pictured in 2017 playing his custommade red special from 1975 onwards, may had some replicas made of the red special, some of which were also used for live and recording purposes, others being mainly spares. The red special is also sometimes referred to, by may and by others, as the fireplace or the old lady.
The story of the homemade guitar that rocked queen and the world 144. It is a unique guitar with unique sound, and brians millions of fans will be overjoyed to see it inside and out in this great book. The red special is the electric guitar designed and built by queen s guitarist brian may and his father, harold, when brian was a teenager in the early 1960s. This video shows just a few shots of the guitar before we started work on it.
Brian dreamed of a guitar that would outperform any of the. The story of the homemade guitar that rocked queen and the world. It is a unique guitar with unique sound, and brian s millions of fans will be overjoyed to see it inside and out in this great book. Commercial copies of brians guitar latest rock music. Inspired by brian mays legendary red special, an instrument that has achieved iconic status and its own unique place in rock history, the bmg special is a stunning guitar, blessed with superb build quality, awesome playability and an astonishingly rich diversity of killer tones. Brian harold may was born 19 july 1947 in hampton, middlesex, the only child of ruth irving fletcher and harold may, who worked as a draughtsman at the ministry of aviation. Brian mays red special by brian may online, buy in. In brian mays own words, and over 300 previously unseen 3d photographs, this book is a series of glimpses of life with the rock band queen, seen from the inside for the first time.
All of this is accompanied with original diagrams, sketches and notes dating from the building of the guitar, as well as a great selection of photographs. Brian mays red special up close issue 386 of guitarist magazine saw us get up close and personal with brian may of queens iconic red special guitar like never before, to coincide with the release of brian mays red special. In the captivating new carlton photobook brian mays red special, the queen guitarist finally divulges the secrets behind his prized axe, taking fans back in time to vicariously oversee the twoyear fatherson bonding experience that would ultimately produce one of rock n rolls most recognized weapons. Why has the design been altered to use a gluedon neck instead of the original boltedon option. In brian mays own words, and over 300 previously unseen 3d. I will try to explain every step as indepth as i can, as i know finding this information can be next to impossible for anyone attempting to build one for themselves.
Tough to say, and entirely academic given that the guitar is very unlikely to be for sale in brians lifetime, but i very much doubt youd get much change from a million pounds sterling if and when the old lady came up for auction. Again guild tried to produce a redspecial, this time with further more detailed input from brian, and in 1993 the bm01 brian may signaturepro was released. Queen guitarist brian may admits hes still working through depression ahead of new zealand tour. Brian may has 14 books on goodreads with 4802 ratings. Jan 17, 2015 love this book, very interesting and also if you flick to page 58, it has some red special switch combinations that brian may uses in different songs. His mother was scottish, while his father was english. I decided in around march this year 2008 to build my own version of the now legendary red special guitar owned and played by brian may. A devastatingly authentic, handcrafted replica of the red special, the limited edition bmg super is the result of a allstar international collaboration between brian may and his long serving guitar tech pete malandrone, house musics barry moorhouse, british electronics wizard adrian turner, australian redspecialist greg fryer, japanese. The red special guitar was built by brian may and his fathe. A great book to read if you are into brian may and want to know the history of how he and his father built the red special.
This was a much closer copy than the previous instrument, and around 2000 instruments including cheaper modified variants on. A devastatingly authentic, handcrafted replica of the red special, the limited edition bmg super is the result of a allstar international collaboration between brian may and his long serving guitar tech pete malandrone, house musics barry moorhouse, british electronics wizard adrian turner, australian red specialist greg fryer, japanese. The original red special, guyton red special for sale and. It as 24 frets with a zero fret, 24 scale neck, ebony fingerboard. In celebration of the instruments 50th anniversary, a book about its construction and history, brian mays red special.
The red special guitar was built by brian may and his father in 1963. During april i was called to brians home in surrey, to survey wear and tear of the original red special and how i planned to carry out the repairs. As this is a oneofakind guitar, originally built by hand by brian may of. Once there, it was decided that the guitar as a whole should undergo a mini restoration. From what ive read about the original red special the pickups may and his father made themselves didnt work right evidently on the single coils they wound they used alternate polarity on the polepieces i. Brian mays red special by brian may online, buy in australia. Simon bradley brian may and his father harold started to handbuild an electric guitar in 1963. It is based on a series of interviews with brian, assembled by simon bradley, rather than being specifically written together.
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