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Brian May on Vox AC30s


Searcy

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[thumbup] What a great (and immediately identifiable) sound. He and Rory Gallagher always make me want an AC30!

 

I think Brian actually started using AC30s cause' he loved the sound Rory got out of em'!

 

And what came out was a tone all of his own! A sound that no one will ever get close to.

 

I mean, many can get close (not exact of course!) to the "Brown Sound" or the SRV Strat tone, but no one has even come close to Brian's tone. He's a wizard with tones and effects, not to mention that his guitar and its wiring had a lot to do with it as well.

 

It's really hard for me to watch him and keep my mouth closed at the same time.......

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There is also one other piece of equipment that is important to Brian May's signature tone............... That would by this:

 

14030d1306593384-rangemaster.jpg

 

Brian May has this on all the time, infact I read that this is the first effect that his guitar goes into before anything else, yes even before the Vox AC30 [biggrin] .

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There is also one other piece of equipment that is important to Brian May's signature tone............... That would by this:

 

14030d1306593384-rangemaster.jpg

 

Brian May has this on all the time, infact I read that this is the first effect that his guitar goes into before anything else.

 

Does he still use that particular treble booster? I thought he now uses one that clips onto his strap

 

And on a side note, May is starting to look like the professor from back to the future

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He also used something Deacon built for him, preamp I think, I recall back then him saying regularly that the Deacy was the most important part of his sound before the treble boost. I remember there being only one Deacy, then he had two, and Deacon didn't make any more after that.

 

No offense to anyone, but Deacon was the one with the right idea after Freddie passed. Queen was four guys, and nobody else.

 

rct

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He also used something Deacon built for him, preamp I think, I recall back then him saying regularly that the Deacy was the most important part of his sound before the treble boost. I remember there being only one Deacy, then he had two, and Deacon didn't make any more after that.

 

No offense to anyone, but Deacon was the one with the right idea after Freddie passed. Queen was four guys, and nobody else.

 

rct

 

Ive met Roger Taylor, he's the uncle of a friend of mine. But yeah, still agree with you

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Always loved Brian May, a very down to earth unassuming guy, and obviously one brilliant musician.

BTW -- I thought he used AC15s, and a LOT of them! however. In the background of this video, one can clearly see - he could use a few more VOX Amps!

 

ya baby!

 

 

on a side note, I have a Gibson Goldtone GA30RVS (2 15watt Class A EL84 2x12 wired in stereo) the sound of that amp when you push it into distortion is incredible. But, by then, half of the dogs in the neighborhood have run off, and some windows need replacing so I front end it with a ToneBone and a Burn unit.

 

There really is nothing quite like a simple Class A amp design tho. Very responsive to touch and the guitars volume settings.

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Does he still use that particular treble booster? I thought he now uses one that clips onto his strap

 

And on a side note, May is starting to look like the professor from back to the future

Its pretty much a rangemaster in a smaller enclosure so he can clip it on his strap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_TwDJJFhVA&feature=related

 

Here he is during the early years explaining about his gear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHEwL-Tqo7M

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He also used something Deacon built for him, preamp I think, I recall back then him saying regularly that the Deacy was the most important part of his sound before the treble boost. I remember there being only one Deacy, then he had two, and Deacon didn't make any more after that.

 

No offense to anyone, but Deacon was the one with the right idea after Freddie passed. Queen was four guys, and nobody else.

 

rct

I think May used the Deacon Deacy with the treble boost from what I've read. Vox, had remade the Deacy.

 

http://www.brianmaycentral.net/bms.html

 

 

VOX launched a new amplifier officially endorsed by Brian May, the Vox Brian May Special in Spring 2003. This amp is designed to accurately reproduce the tones produced by Brian's legendary 'Deacy amp' which was built for him by John Deacon many years ago. The Vox amp features a 6.5 inch speaker, 10W output and all solid-state components.

 

The Deacy amp has been used by Brian for many years to produce his trademark guitar orchestrations. The original is a small battery-powered amplifier with no controls whatsoever. Brian simply plugs his Red Special guitar into the Deacy amp via his treble booster, which overloads the input stage and gives that wonderfully smooth saturated sound, which Brian used to build guitar harmonies and develop cello, trumpet and clarinet-like sounds. The Deacy amp was primarily built from junk components that John recovered and fitted to a small Hi-Fi speaker. When recording using this amp, Brian often puts a coat over the top, to reduce the treble.

 

The new Vox amp is not designed to look like the Deacy amp, but to give the same tones as Brian's original used in combination with his treble booster. In addition, the Vox Brian May Special features an output following the treble booster section, so that this output can be plugged into another amplifier (such as a Vox AC30) to get the traditional Brian May AC30 sounds. Unlike the original, the Brian May Special does feature volume and EQ (tone) controls, to allow some tonal flexibility. It is designed primarily for home use, recording or as a pre-amp to feed into a larger amp when playing live.

 

The list price is $199 US dollars (£139 pounds in the UK), which makes it excellent value for money.

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