Brian May Red Special REproductions

Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame

Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame

New member
So with all the talk about Brian May, I did a search on eBay for reproductions of his Red Special, since I remember seeing them before.

Any opinions on the Dillion version? At the going price, it seems the Guild version of May's Red Special is sure to be dang good, but the Dillion version seems to get good reviews, too.

But no reproduction that I've seen has the same trem as May's guitar.

Any particular reason why? Are the reproduction trems easier for the average amateur to keep in tune or something?

Which makes me think of a few more questions:

Are there any truly unique sounds from May's Red Special? Or is it just really cool that he can get such a wide variety of sounds from it that you'd need 2-4 normal guitars to cover the different parallel/series/combo choices his has?

If the latter, then how close does the 3 mini-toggle Chapparal come to that sort of sonic flexibility? The on/off/parallel/serial switching available on my Chap gives me LOTS of choices. That doesn't make the Red Special less cool, since it was developed decades ahead of Hamer's Chaparral...but it would make it less desirable for me to get a Red Special reproduction...

Thoughts?

 
Brian and his Dad built the Red Special - if I'm not mistaken, the trem is also their design, so isn't commercially available (?).

 
cmatthes said:
Brian and his Dad built the Red Special - if I'm not mistaken, the trem is also their design, so isn't commercially available (?).
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I'd heard that too, Wiki seems to have a pretty comprehensive 'breakdown' (figuratively speaking) of the original Red Special. From reading about it, if he hadn't made the original guitar famous, it probably wouldn't be worth tree fitty on the market:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Special

Also, this:

www.brianmayguitars.co.uk

I've heard that Guild's version was good, but now out of production and expensive to get.

 
Especially since he's not even a guitar hero! /emoticons/default_laugh.png

I keed....... loves me some Brian May /emoticons/default_laugh.png

 
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Funny, the Guytons seem to be the closest replica, down to the unusual trem. Would have thought May would try to hit it closer.

 
edgar_allan_poe said:
How expensive are the Guyton guitars? I can't find a price on his site.
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"These really will be the ultimate in Red Special copies and this kind of quality does not come cheap. Andrew estimates the cost will be in the region of £6500 - £7000."

I think in American dollars that equals SPENDY

Found HERE

 
Frank said:
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product...itar?sku=512637Most of the reviews are good for this guitar.
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That's the BM Signature mid prized guitar made in Korea. It's being used in the WWR musicals around the globe. Sound comes quite close to the original. Change pickups to Adeson replicas and you will achieve another step sound wise. It doesn't have the BM knife edge trem, but has the original wiring scheme.

There is a custom version available from BHM Guitars called the 'Special' that's fairly close to the original. Still built in Korea, but of high quality. Production is limited to 100 a year I think. The Special have been used live by the master himself. It had the signature SPECIAL written on the body. If not edited there should be photos around.

 
my oldest son has a Burns, I love it, big neck and killer tones, it's one of the quietest single coil guitars ever and has that unique BM thing pretty much down. those pickups are awesome

 
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