From Guitar World · · 1m 20s
Brian May on what he'd play without the Red Special
The Queen guitarist explains why Fenders and Gibsons never quite worked for him.
In brief
The Queen guitarist explains why Fenders and Gibsons never quite worked for him. Brian May built the Red Special because he found Fenders too thin and scratchy, and Gibsons too dark for the sound he wanted. Originally reported by Guitar World.
Fenders too scratchy, Gibsons too dark
May found Fenders too thin and scratchy for his sound. Gibsons were too dark and lacked the crispness he wanted.
“I always found the Fenders too thin and scratchy for the sound that I was trying to get.”
The Red Special sits in between
His homemade guitar sits between Fender and Gibson. It has a wide tonal range from bright to dark thanks to pickups wired in series, in and out of phase.
“My guitar, partly by design and partly by good luck, sits somewhere in the middle”
He owned Fenders and Gibsons anyway
May has owned guitars from both brands over the years. His 1978 Telecaster for Crazy Little Thing Called Love is the most notable.
Only used them as backups
He occasionally used a Strat or Les Paul as Red Special backups in Queen's early days, but they didn't really work for him.
“Neither of them really worked for me, though they work just fine for other people.”
Built from fireplace wood
The Red Special was made from leftover wood his dad saved, a piece of someone's fireplace. May still has the rest of it and could make another neck.
“It was a piece of somebody's fireplace that my dad had saved”
Gibson partnership and Murphy Lab replicas
May recently signed with Gibson, which is working on Murphy Lab recreations of his Red Special. He also got a signature 12-string acoustic.
The takeaway
Brian May built the Red Special because he found Fenders too thin and scratchy, and Gibsons too dark for the sound he wanted.
