Marshall Paul Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 The last week hasn't exactly been the happiest or easiest of weeks around the Lofty household. A death in the family made sure of that unfortunately. So, I decided to cheer myself up, and do it the only way I know how (my excuse and I'm sticking to it!). Ever since I was a kid, there has been one particular guitar I would've loved to own and play. But it was a 'one of', so there was no chance of that ever happening. That was, until a few years ago. Brian May decided to produce his guitar for others to enjoy. And that's what I'll be doing in about 3 weeks hence. I bit the bullet and put the card down on one last night, and now I'll get to play one of the most famous and iconic fireplace mantlepieces in rock history. I'll give you a trial run review after I've given it a good and thorough going over. Don't ask for photo's, you know I don't have one of those fancy camera's, and I just can't get that photo bucket thingy to work! lol. Of course, Sarah found out about it, and so immediately went onto the web and bought herself a beautiful new pair of earings! I figure, fair enough, good for the goose and all that jazz. Have to start brushing up on my "Fat Bottom Girls". "Death on Two Legs", "Tie Your Mother Down" etc. Was using a strat for all that before (tremlo). (awe, and sheer heart attack, and brighton rock, and....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. C.O. Jones Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 First of all, sorry for your loss! I like your way of cheering yourself up. So, happy NGD dude! And hope that you find a way to post some pics! Greetz Marcos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 G'day Marcos, how goes it mate, Thanks for the kinds words mate, nice of you. Sarah says to say hello too. And I'm kind of fond of my method too! lol Want to look foreward, give yourself something to look foreward to I say. When Brian first opened up his website, it was sort of incomplete. You could look at the guitar, read all about it, but there was no 'buy' button (?). And it stayed that way for quite some time. Until recently, when I checked in again to have another look. Lo and behold, a buy button! Couldn't have come at a better time. I'm going to pester my nieces, who only live about 5min from here, to come over with their fancy all singing, all dancing camera, and see if they can sort out this photo bucket place, and get some pics on here for you all. I'll definitely write up a review for you all at least. Sarah says if I'm doing that, then she's posting photo's of the earings! (humour her guy's, she's female! lol). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Congrats on the guitar…!!! I have a 2007 Brain May Red Special… I haven't had much chance to use it so I''ll be curious to see how you like it and how you use it. It has a tremendous palette of sounds to chose from, definitely a very versatile guitar… Where did you buy it and if you wouldn't mind PM me what it set you back… Thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 Yeah, no probs mate. It was off the official BM website, he finally got around to sorting it out! The bloke only has a PhD in AstroPhysics and yet it took this long to fix his website! lol I paid 540 pounds which was about 100 off on special, but the shipping to here cost 100 pounds so I neither lost or gained there! Oh well, doesn't matter, I finally after all this time secured one. Happy chappy. How do you like yours? Does it measure up to all the hype? I'm really interested in seeing how these sonic pups go, especially with reverse phase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Brian May decided to produce his guitar for others to enjoy. Jeez, he offers quite a few finishes. May we assume the antique cherry? Of course, Sarah found out about it, and so immediately went onto the web and bought herself a beautiful new pair of earings! I figure, fair enough.... Yeah, that's fair. Tell her to go on the web and buy a camera, too. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I didn't even get to order a guitar I was looking at, but since she had her feet remanufactured - following two storebought hips and a storebought knee, my wife somehow managed to get a half dozen pairs of nice boots the past cupla months. Sheesh. Yeah, "cowgirl" boots, but figure we live in that environment. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awel Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Congrat ! I have received mine last week and of course as I had a show last Saturday for my 40's birthday party, I have used it :) This is how it sounds on some Classic Rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Cool man.. I like those guitars too.. So are the copies made of Oak?.. From what I remember that's the wood he made his from, an old fireplace mantelpiece. Oh.. and enjoy the earings ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awel Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Cool man.. I like those guitars too.. So are the copies made of Oak?.. From what I remember that's the wood he made his from, an old fireplace mantelpiece. No it is traditional mahogany I guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 No it is traditional mahogany I guess Ok I just looked it up and was right (which I should have done in the first place ) .. its Oak.. sort of :) "The neck was constructed from wood from a "hundred-year-old-ish" fireplace mantel[2] that a friend of the family was about to throw away. The neck was hand-shaped into the desired form, a job that was made more difficult by the age and quality of the wood. According to May, there are two wormholes in the neck of the guitar.[citation needed] The neck was finished with a 24-fret oak fingerboard. Each of the position inlays was hand shaped from a mother-of-pearl button.[2] May decided to position them in a personal way: two dots at the 7th and 19th fret and three at the 12th and 24th The body was made from oak from an old table, blockboard (strips of softwood sandwiched between two plywood skins)[6] and mahogany veneer; the final result was technically a semi-acoustic guitar – the central block is glued to the sides and covered with two mahogany sheets to give it the appearance of a solid-body guitar. It was originally intended that the guitar would have f-holes but this was never done. White shelf edging was then applied as binding. It was then completed with three pick-ups and a custom-made bridge. May purchased a set of Burns Tri-Sonic pick-ups but re-wound them with reverse wound/reverse polarity and "potted" the coils with Araldite epoxy to reduce microphonics. He originally wound his own pick-ups, as he had for his first guitar, but he did not like the resulting sound because of the polarity of these pick-ups: alternating North-South instead of all North." and these are the specs for a copy:- (that's a great price by the way) -Mahogany body (with acoustic chamber) with Pinstripe binding -New two-piece scratch plate -Mahogany neck -24" scale (Depth: 22mm at 1st fret ... 24mm at 12th fret) -24 fret - ebony fingerboard (width 45mm at 0 fret ... 57mm at 24th fret) -Grover GH305 locking tuners -Dual truss rod -Graphite nut -New Wilkinson bridge & steel saddles -BM Custom tremolo arm -3 x Burns Tri-Sonic pickups (series wired) -Master Volume & Tone controls -Original BM switching system -Individual pickup IN/OUT phase plus Individual pickup ON/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awel Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Ok I just looked it up and was right (which I should have done in the first place ) .. its Oak.. sort of :) "The neck was constructed from wood from a "hundred-year-old-ish" fireplace mantel[2] that a friend of the family was about to throw away. The neck was hand-shaped into the desired form, a job that was made more difficult by the age and quality of the wood. According to May, there are two wormholes in the neck of the guitar.[citation needed] The neck was finished with a 24-fret oak fingerboard. Each of the position inlays was hand shaped from a mother-of-pearl button.[2] May decided to position them in a personal way: two dots at the 7th and 19th fret and three at the 12th and 24th The body was made from oak from an old table, blockboard (strips of softwood sandwiched between two plywood skins)[6] and mahogany veneer; the final result was technically a semi-acoustic guitar – the central block is glued to the sides and covered with two mahogany sheets to give it the appearance of a solid-body guitar. It was originally intended that the guitar would have f-holes but this was never done. White shelf edging was then applied as binding. It was then completed with three pick-ups and a custom-made bridge. May purchased a set of Burns Tri-Sonic pick-ups but re-wound them with reverse wound/reverse polarity and "potted" the coils with Araldite epoxy to reduce microphonics. He originally wound his own pick-ups, as he had for his first guitar, but he did not like the resulting sound because of the polarity of these pick-ups: alternating North-South instead of all North." and these are the specs for a copy:- (that's a great price by the way) -Mahogany body (with acoustic chamber) with Pinstripe binding -New two-piece scratch plate -Mahogany neck -24" scale (Depth: 22mm at 1st fret ... 24mm at 12th fret) -24 fret - ebony fingerboard (width 45mm at 0 fret ... 57mm at 24th fret) -Grover GH305 locking tuners -Dual truss rod -Graphite nut -New Wilkinson bridge & steel saddles -BM Custom tremolo arm -3 x Burns Tri-Sonic pickups (series wired) -Master Volume & Tone controls -Original BM switching system -Individual pickup IN/OUT phase plus Individual pickup ON/ Yes I was taliking about the copy 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 Jeez, he offers quite a few finishes. May we assume the antique cherry? You may! (pardon the pun..lol) Yeah, that's fair. Tell her to go on the web and buy a camera, too. :) Yeah, I'm guessing she's got more chance of figuring one out than I have. lol I am going to buy one myself this year and put the effort in trying to learn how to use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 Cool man.. I like those guitars too.. So are the copies made of Oak?.. From what I remember that's the wood he made his from, an old fireplace mantelpiece. Oh.. and enjoy the earings ;) LOL! yeah, you can't miss us. She's the one ripping out the killer solo and I'm the one in a backless number wearing a beautiful pair of new earings!! lol From memory, I think your right, his is made of oak. But these production models are all mahogany, neck and all. And it was an old mantlepiece he and his Father made it from. Talk about weird and wonderful stories in rock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 Congrat ! I have received mine last week and of course as I had a show last Saturday for my 40's birthday party, I have used it :) This is how it sounds on some Classic Rock http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xGkiyTBxu8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl-hoxJe7Ps Jeez, a house big enough to hold your own rock concert in! I'm partying with you mate (lol). And happy 40th too. How you liking your new fiddle? looks and sounds great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 I've just gone through both clips again for the second time and all I can say is you guy's nail it! Well done. Excellent performance. And your keyboard player really does have a good voice for Zep stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed that, thank you. Bloody good git playing as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 Ok I just looked it up and was right (which I should have done in the first place ) .. its Oak.. sort of :) "The neck was constructed from wood from a "hundred-year-old-ish" fireplace mantel[2] that a friend of the family was about to throw away. The neck was hand-shaped into the desired form, a job that was made more difficult by the age and quality of the wood. According to May, there are two wormholes in the neck of the guitar.[citation needed] The neck was finished with a 24-fret oak fingerboard. Each of the position inlays was hand shaped from a mother-of-pearl button.[2] May decided to position them in a personal way: two dots at the 7th and 19th fret and three at the 12th and 24th The body was made from oak from an old table, blockboard (strips of softwood sandwiched between two plywood skins)[6] and mahogany veneer; the final result was technically a semi-acoustic guitar – the central block is glued to the sides and covered with two mahogany sheets to give it the appearance of a solid-body guitar. It was originally intended that the guitar would have f-holes but this was never done. White shelf edging was then applied as binding. It was then completed with three pick-ups and a custom-made bridge. May purchased a set of Burns Tri-Sonic pick-ups but re-wound them with reverse wound/reverse polarity and "potted" the coils with Araldite epoxy to reduce microphonics. He originally wound his own pick-ups, as he had for his first guitar, but he did not like the resulting sound because of the polarity of these pick-ups: alternating North-South instead of all North." and these are the specs for a copy:- (that's a great price by the way) -Mahogany body (with acoustic chamber) with Pinstripe binding -New two-piece scratch plate -Mahogany neck -24" scale (Depth: 22mm at 1st fret ... 24mm at 12th fret) -24 fret - ebony fingerboard (width 45mm at 0 fret ... 57mm at 24th fret) -Grover GH305 locking tuners -Dual truss rod -Graphite nut -New Wilkinson bridge & steel saddles -BM Custom tremolo arm -3 x Burns Tri-Sonic pickups (series wired) -Master Volume & Tone controls -Original BM switching system -Individual pickup IN/OUT phase plus Individual pickup ON/OFF Thanks for that mate, great listing. I see the pups are wired in series? Wow, that's definitely going to get interesting! The site doesn't state what the frets are. I'm assuming then they'll be 6130 medium jumbo's (even though my preference is for 6105 mini jumbo's). You reckon that's fare price eh? With the shipping, that works out to be about $1,300AUS. I'll have to pay about another $80 in customs too. That's about the equivilant of a new strat out the shop here so I figure it's fare enough. I also wanted the hard case but they were out of stock so I've got them to notify me when they come back in. About another $180AUS. Go on ebay to find an appropriately coloured hippyish Ace or Levi strap and I'll be good to go! Oh, and I forgot. An Australian 5 cent piece! (I can't get a hold of a sixpence! lol). Strange, without knowing about Brian's sixpence, when I was about 10 years old I switched from normal picks to a 5 cent piece. Why? No idea, just prefered it. Still use one normally. Odd eh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Hayden Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 The last week hasn't exactly been the happiest or easiest of weeks around the Lofty household. A death in the family made sure of that unfortunately. So, I decided to cheer myself up, and do it the only way I know how (my excuse and I'm sticking to it!). Ever since I was a kid, there has been one particular guitar I would've loved to own and play. But it was a 'one of', so there was no chance of that ever happening. That was, until a few years ago. Brian May decided to produce his guitar for others to enjoy. And that's what I'll be doing in about 3 weeks hence. I bit the bullet and put the card down on one last night, and now I'll get to play one of the most famous and iconic fireplace mantlepieces in rock history. I'll give you a trial run review after I've given it a good and thorough going over. Don't ask for photo's, you know I don't have one of those fancy camera's, and I just can't get that photo bucket thingy to work! lol. Of course, Sarah found out about it, and so immediately went onto the web and bought herself a beautiful new pair of earings! I figure, fair enough, good for the goose and all that jazz. Have to start brushing up on my "Fat Bottom Girls". "Death on Two Legs", "Tie Your Mother Down" etc. Was using a strat for all that before (tremlo). (awe, and sheer heart attack, and brighton rock, and....) Sorry for your loss! guess Sarah deserves something too. Just be glad those ear rings didn't cost as much as your new Brian May guitar. 4H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 hahalol! Don't you believe it, they were more! lol But I don't care. I paid for the git with my money and she paid for the earings with hers (phew!). And thank you too for the words. Sarah say thanks too. I, in fact, thought the git would cost more. Somewhere around a new Gibby, but it wound up being less, around about a new strat. Go figure eh (lol). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awel Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Jeez, a house big enough to hold your own rock concert in! I'm partying with you mate (lol). And happy 40th too. How you liking your new fiddle? looks and sounds great. lol as I don't have 40 everyday I have rent a place usually rent for wedding or stuff 😃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awel Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 I've just gone through both clips again for the second time and all I can say is you guy's nail it! Well done. Excellent performance. And your keyboard player really does have a good voice for Zep stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed that, thank you. Bloody good git playing as well. Thanks a lot, I am not good enough to try to play Brian May stuff so I use It for classic rock cover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 Thanks a lot, I am not good enough to try to play Brian May stuff so I use It for classic rock cover I think this guitar has the capability to do any genre really. And, from what I watched with your clip, your good enough to play Brians stuff mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 Ah, gotcha! You should see if you can become their main band. Nothing like a regular gig! (lol). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 I've always been intrigued and interested in the Brian May guitar. They are at a very reasonable price-point too... Not only do they look very piquant, but he's a Vox tone guy and that has always been something I like... I'll definitely want the review! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 You've got it mate, no worries. And I'll be trying it out through my Vox 30 as well! Have you seen his amp wall on stage? Last time I counted, it was something like 12! That's 12 Vox 30's being re-miked! Whoa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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