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Brian May Guitars

Description

The Brian May Signature Electric Guitar features an acoustically chambered mahogany body, a dual truss rod mahogany neck, and ebony fingerboard. The pickups are Tri-Sonics that Brian sealed in Araldite adhesive to prevent microphonic feedback inherent with metal covered pickups. These are controlled by the original Brian May switching system with individual on/off and phase switches, one volume and one tone pot.

The Brian May guitar is faithful to the spirit of Brian's original 'Red Special', an instrument that has achieved iconic status and a unique place in rock history, and designed by Brian May himself. The Brian May Special is a stunning guitar, blessed with superb build quality, awesome playability and an astonishingly rich diversity of killer tones. In fact, it delivers everything you'd expect from an instrument built to the exacting standards of one of the world's greatest guitarists but, in keeping with Brian's vision of a "guitar for the people", with an amazingly affordable price-tag that belies its superior appointments and performance.

Without question one of the most eagerly anticipated instruments of the century. The original BMG replica was originally launched in winter 2001 to rapturous critical and public acclaim. UK Guitarist magazine hailed it as "Best Guitar of The Year" and theater audiences around the globe thrilled to the guitar's sound in performance in the Queen musical "We Will Rock You."

But the story certainly didn't end there. Brian, his long-standing guitar technician Pete Malandrone, and Barry Moorehouse of House Music have significantly improved upon the guitar's overall construction as well as refining the bridge assembly, electronics, finishing and color choices. Simply put, one of the finest artist-designed production guitars is now even better.
Open Box Brian May Guitars Brian May Signature Electric Guitar Level 2 Black 190839080592
Open Box Brian May Guitars Brian May Signature Electric Guitar Level 2 Black 190839080592
Open Box Brian May Guitars Brian May Signature Electric Guitar Level 2 Black 190839080592

Features

Body
  • Body shape: Double cutaway
  • Body type: Semi-hollow or chambered body
  • Body material: Solid wood
  • Top wood: Not applicable
  • Body wood: Mahogany
  • Body finish: Gloss
  • Orientation: Right handed
Neck
  • Neck shape: Brian May
  • Neck wood: Mahogany
  • Joint: Set-in
  • Scale length: 24"
  • Truss rod: Dual
  • Neck finish: Gloss
Fretboard
  • Material: Ebony
  • Radius: 9.5"
  • Fret size: Medium jumbo
  • Number of frets: 24
  • Inlays: Dot
  • Nut width: 1.77" (45mm)
Pickups
  • Configuration: SSS
  • Neck: Tri-Sonic
  • Middle: Tri-Sonic
  • Bridge: Tri-Sonic
  • Brand: Burns
  • Active or passive: Passive
  • Series or parallel: Series
  • Piezo: No
  • Active EQ: No
  • Special electronics: Phase switch
Controls
  • Control layout: Master volume, tone
  • Pickup switch: Individual on/off, individual phase
  • Coil tap or split: No
  • Kill switch: No
Hardware
  • Bridge type: Tremolo/Vibrato
  • Bridge design: Brian May custom tremolo
  • Tailpiece: Not applicable
  • Tuning machines: Grover locking
  • Color: Chrome
Other
  • Number of strings: 6-string
  • Special features: Pickups
  • Case: Gig bag
  • Accessories: None
  • Country of origin: South Korea

Reviews

4.56

16 Reviews

90%

of respondents would recommend this to a friend

Very nicely done
BMG needs better setup

Most Liked Positive Review

4

Quite Unique, Good Value, but not Ripe

As others have said, the scale and frets take some getting used to -- it is a bit of an odd animal to play at first. It rests oddly on your lap when playing sitting down, and was uncomfortable on my wrist to play with it having low on a strap. But, like any guitar, really, it just takes a few hours in your hands before it feels familiar. it is a small guitar -- about same size as my DanElectro. Its tonal versatility is terrific, with the ability to create very unique tones -- just don't switch all 3 pickups off by mistake! Very low noise circuitry, even when used with typically noisy peddles, i.e. Bogner Harlow. The fingerboard and low frets yield a very fast playing surface. However, I feel mine was not quite "ripe," however. The young ebony fingerboard is dyed black to hide coloring variations and my model should have been allowed to dry more. When I first took it out of the box it turned my fingertips solid black after about an hour of playing. I left it to air dry for a week here at my house in the desert, but yesterday's romp still left my fingers stained. I'm pretty sure the dye will be fully dry in another couple of weeks. Another build issue is a crooked volume knob. I haven't taken the time to see if it the pot is crooked of if it is the knob itself, but it does cheapen the quality when the edge of a knob rubs on the body.

VS

Most Liked Negative Review

2

BMG needs better setup

Very disappointed in this guitar needs a lot of work plan on spending money for a good setup lots of string buzz and zero fret to high needs Plek done to it. Uncomfortable to play needs getting use to play

Filters
Best Uses
  1. Practicing9
  2. Jamming8
  3. Recording7
  4. Small Venues6
  5. Rock Concerts5
Cons
  1. Fret Buzz2
  2. None1
  3. Not Quite Ripe1
  4. Difficult to keep in tune1
Describe Yourself
  1. Experienced6
  2. Professional Musician4
  3. Novice1
Pros
  1. Fun To Play9
  2. Good Tone9
  3. Good Feel8
  4. Good Pick Up7
  5. Solid Electronics6

Reviewed by 16 customers

  • One of the best guitars out there

    5

    submitted5 years ago

    byDMyers

    fromPA

    This is one of the best guitars available; versatile like a Swiss Army knife. Designed by one of the great renowned guitarists of our time fashioned after is own hand built Red Special, this guitar can give you chimmey strat tones to fat humbucker tones and everything in between with the innovative wiring through the pickup switch selectors. And if you are after that great Queen sound, this reproduces that faithfully. Best of all it has the best parts all across it from the Grover locking tuners through the graphite nut and zero fret across the true Brian May TriSonic pickups down to the Wilkinson tremolo bridge. Bend away and don't worry about your guitar being out of tune. A true dream to play across all genres! The only knock is that I had to finish the bridge setup to rid my guitar of some string buzz and get the intonation locked in. A very easy process on this setup (watch a few YouTube if you need some help). For the price you can't beat it. I have some great guitars; this is right up there with my best and at a lower purchase price too. Well done Brian and team!!

  • Heck yes!

    5

    submitted5 years ago

    byLed BellyBill

    fromCA

    Everything!

  • Really surprised at how nice a guitar this is!

    5

    submitted5 years ago

    bynone

    fromTampa FL

    The guitar turned out to be a really good guitar. Excellent action and the 3 pick ups are very powerful.

  • Beautiful guitar, some buzzing, fun to play, awful wait time

    4

    submitted5 years ago

    byBrandon

    fromJacksonville, FL

    Really beautiful guitar, only issue is when i first strummed it, it was basically unplayable because the strings were basically resting on the frets and had some terrible fret buzz. After adjusting the truss rod i got 95% of the buzz out except for a couple frets on the low E string which will be permanent.

  • I am very happy

    5

    submitted6 years ago

    byMusicman

    fromPensacola

    Great guitar. Had a different brand before but was not please

  • Very nicely done

    5

    submitted6 years ago

    byLodaddy

    fromWashington state

    Just spend some time with one of these, you will love it. great sounds, great playability, and great quality.

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Q&A

Have a question about this product? Our expert Gear Advisers have the answers.

  • submitted5 years ago

    asked byJohn

    fromCape Girardeau, MO

    Will Guitar Center ever offer the Black and Gold BMG for sale? Or, maybe the Natural? Or, any other color of BMG besides the Antique Cherry? The BMG website offers an assortment of colors.

    Open Reply - Kenneth
    Please contact a Sales Agent for specific pricing inquiries

  • submitted5 years ago

    asked byMiles

    fromWashington DC

    How can I tighten the output jack on mine?

    Open Reply - Ronald
    Typically you can tighten the nut on the outside of where the jack meets the body.

  • submitted5 years ago

    asked byJackson

    fromNebraska

    I'm saving up to buy this guitar. Is there somewhere I could go to try this guitar before hand?

    Open Reply - Beau
    This guitar might be available in some store locations but you would want to contact the store directly to confirm availability.

  • submitted5 years ago

    asked byJackson

    fromNebraska

    Is there a time I could come onto a Guitar Center and play the guitar? Does the Guitar Center in Omaha have a BMG guitar?

    Open Reply - Beau
    The Omaha does not have this guitar available at this time but they may have it available in the future.

  • submitted5 years ago

    asked byAiden345

    fromundisclosed

    Is this guitar the same as the ones seen on the Brian May Guitars website?

    Open Reply - Beau
    This guitar is the same guitar that can be found on the Brian May Guitars website.

  • submitted6 years ago

    asked byVeronica

    fromTexas

    Can I order this guitar left handed?

    Open Reply - Beau
    This guitar is not available in a left handed version at this time.

  • submitted6 years ago

    asked byOleSchule

    fromPA

    Does this guitar not come in any other color? There is a picture of many different colors but only the red finish here. Am I missing something here?

    Open Reply - Kenneth
    This is only available in antique cherry

  • submitted6 years ago

    asked byHunter

    fromJackson, TN

    Does Guitar Center provide different colors of the BMG?

    Open Reply - Kenneth
    Please contact a Sales Agent for Special Order placement

  • submitted6 years ago

    asked byJoe

    fromChester, NJ

    Do most people find this guitar hard to play because of the unique body?

    Open Reply - Kenneth
    This guitar may be easier to play standing up

  • submitted6 years ago

    asked byNone

    fromLynchburg, Ohio

    When will the Brian May signature model guitar, be available in " Left-Handed ".

    Open Reply - Ronald
    We don't carry it normally, but we can special order one for you. If you'd like to look into that email us at YourVoice@GuitarCenter.com and we can look into that for you.
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