Yeah he was very approachable and generous with his time and The Red Special. He so knew how much it meant to all of us. 😍🙏🏻

We certainly think so. 😀💜

Good choice man. 🤘🏼😀

Hundreds of hours Brian said. 😮

Yes, that is his original Red Special. The Old Lady.

Yes it was! Luke's rig was attenuated but Brian blasted them with the attenuators off! 😁

That's what I thought too. I don't think it has had another restoration since the one carried out by Andrew Guyton of Guyton Guitars in April 2016: www.guytonguitars.com/blog/the-original-red-special-guyton-red-special-for-sale-and-imminent-badger-making-of-video

Nothing like it on earth. 😍

Hi. Thanks for your supportive comments. 🙏🏻 Remedial work on the existing fret is an option although that budget fretwire is soft and wear grooves will appear soon. I haven't check the measurements on CAD but I assume that reducing the height of the zero fret will reduce the playing action at the lower frets as you remark.

You can't beat Vox AC30s for a loud, physical interaction with your ears and chest cavity. 😄

​They do say you should FEEL music, not just hear it

He did, but you'll have to wait for my highlights package for that.

We all had a great time, especially Brian. He didn't want to leave! 😂

@@dsgb I love to hear that - especially with his recent health scares. It makes me happy that he’s feeling comfortable and enjoying attending this kind of event instead of stressed out 🙂

He didn't know he was able to attend until this morning. Everyone was so glad he did. 😀

I agree and he was particularly relaxed and happy to talk and talk today. 😀👌🏻

🤘🏼Yeah man!

Aesthetically pleasing objects and you can make beautiful music with them. What's not to like? 💜👍🏻

It was an amazing day. 💜👌🏻

Oh yes. 💜🙏🏻

@@dsgb thought it was one of your home builds

Thanks but 😂

​@@dsgb the neck is looking better at the bottom

​@@dsgbHad you spotted any John birch style RS?

I don't know.

​@@dsgblmao, anyway thanks for the quick answer, I'm planning to build some Cornish 83 boosters to feed into a vox Brian may amplug, since they seem to sound sweeter than the on board treble booster from the amplug

Thanks. I was highly satisfied with how that conversion project turned out. The guitar was popular to play in the hotel bar after the meet-up! 👍🏻😀

Nice, I never realized how much pickups really impacted a guitars tone. It could be a really good alternative to buying a red special tbh

I sold one of the spare circuit boards to a guy here in the U.K. He bought an entry level used candy cola Stratocaster and carried out the same conversion. He is really happy with it. The familiar playing feel of a Stratocaster, sounds like a Brian May Red Special. 👍🏻😀

I haven't tested these pickups in a guitar but because the Eclipse button magnets have not been repolarised, they are in the same state as Brian's original pickups and I expect would make the same swooshing noises during string bending. Check out Julian Hemingway's video in which he demonstrates his Brian May Red Special replica with replica original Eclipse pickups: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iYLdaoVqepyqmqc I understand that he cut the button magnets in half and glued like poles together (N-N) or (S-S).

Thanks for your answer! Let us know your impressions when you connect them!😊

There is probably scope for a future video on this. 😀👍🏻

It was challenging Brad but ultimately satisfying. 😀

Long Away is a beautiful composition. 👍🏻

Thanks a lot 😊

I agree. Brian has stated that he based the Red Special design on a classical acoustic guitar but that the neck was made too thick due to an error or oversight. That might be the case but I'm confident that he intended to model all the neck dimensions on an acoustic guitar to make the transition between the two easier but also because that is comfortable and finger memory and hand shapes would have been built up by years of playing an acoustic instrument.

@@dsgb its just really a remarkable piece of art at this point.

The entire Red Special is a work of art IMO. 💜

@@dsgb I couldn't agree more!

This is good general advice, thank you for explaining in detail. 👍🏻😀 I would like to reassure people taking the time to read this that I have worked within industrial and nuclear safety fields for 25 years and hold a NEBOSH general certificate in workplace health and safety. My recommendation was based on the judgement that in this specific situation, the risk of being cut by the diamond coated disc is outweighed by the risk of more significant injury caused by being drawn into the rotating machinery. Further, this mini drill press is a low torque machine which readily stalls if a load spike occurs. Risk assessments and recommendations to wear or not wear personal protective equipment should always be appropriate to the specific task being undertaken.

I'm not sure what you mean but the only way that I can see this happening is to make one yourself. 👍🏻😀

Thank you kindly. 🙏🏻😀

I can't comment meaningfully without knowing at least the DC resistance and inductance measurements of the set you bought. Indicative values for Brian's specific set can be found on Greg Fryer's website covering his 1998 restoration of the Red Special: fryerguitars.com/red-special-restoration-1998/ Bear in mind that these are spot values and Greg has not specified the temperature the measurements were taken at nor what test equipment he used and whether it was calibrated and in tolerance. To fully characterise a guitar pickup, you need to measure its response across the audio frequency spectrum from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Generally speaking, DC resistances are typically in range 7.0-7.5 kOhm and inductances 2.0-2.4 H. The neck pickup has a lower inductance because its metal baseplate was removed. You could try modifying your set in this way.

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for your ongoing support. 😀🙏🏻

The MV50 units just need a speaker load and can be set to drive 4, 8 or 16 Ohms from a switch on the back so I assume the AC30s were used as speaker cabinets and the amplifier sections were bypassed. Luke Holwerda has built a replica blonde Vox AC30 and used a Vox MV50 to drive it. Check it out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYvKf6mhrZiCppo

@@dsgb Cheers D. I bought an MV50 AC a few years ago but I’ve never been able to get it to sound right. Think I need a table saw and a sheet of 20mm ply . . .

I bought one and I thought it sounded reasonably authentic but a bit harsh on the high frequencies.

@@dsgb must be my old ears 🤣

I would like to reassure people taking the time to read this that I have worked within industrial and nuclear safety fields for 25 years and hold a NEBOSH general certificate in workplace health and safety. My recommendation was based on the judgement that in this specific situation, the risk of being cut by the diamond coated disc is outweighed by the risk of more significant injury caused by being drawn into the rotating machinery. Further, this mini drill press is a low torque machine which readily stalls if a load spike occurs. Risk assessments and recommendations to wear or not wear personal protective equipment should always be appropriate to the specific task being undertaken.

Thank you so much. I would be very grateful to welcome you down my Brian May rabbit hole sir! 😬👍🏻

It's 0.6 mm thick, from bicycle inner tube repair patch material.

Thanks again Tom. 😀👍🏻

Thanks for your feedback. This short format video was intended to be part of a series showcasing video footage of Brian in action in the 1980s. It is a challenge to select approximately 60 seconds of background music to accompany a short format video without it being unpleasantly truncated. I often choose excerpts from studio stems for this purpose. In this case, the background music does not relate directly to the visuals but it is perhaps a questionable judgement, not an uninformed inaccuracy as you suggest. I don't expect most casual viewers of KZbin shorts to engage strongly with the content therefore I don't apply as rigorous editorial efforts to them as my long format video so please accept my apologies for this choice.

Brazing is challenging to execute neatly and you will need gas welding equipment. Apply some threadlock adhesive to your threaded joint and it should be o.k.

@@dsgb done it using a blow torch and it turned out really well cheers.

Thank you for the update. I'm pleased it worked out well for you. 😀👍🏻

Thanks Brad. 👍🏻😀

Good point, I haven't considered this.

Interesting. I never considered this aspect. 👍🏻

Thanks. 🙏🏻 😀 It's always interesting to hear how DIY enthusiasts circumvent the challenges of not being able to use specialist tools and equipment to achieve satisfactory results.

Último horizonte.

They were available for general sale on a limited run of 25 instruments. You would need to contact Andrew Guyton of Guyton Guitars to see if any of the allocation are available.

I used a 0.8 mm two flute square nose solid carbide end mill.

I painted the fretboard with black PlastiKote aerosol based paint then applied Rustins Plastic Coating lacquer. This finish is very vulnerable to chipping, especially when the frets are installed. When I finally get around to assembling a replacement neck, I plan to stain the oak with Liberon wood dye then apply clear nitrocellulose lacquer over it. I understand that Brian tinted Rustins Plastic Coating with black spirit powder dye; I illustrate this in my video on lacquering (part 3 of the guitar body finishing series). Black cyanoacrylate superglue is another option to achieve a hard wearing black base coat ('ebonizing'). If you specifically want the top surface to wear in a similar manner to the original guitar, the best option is to replicate Brian's method.

@@dsgb thank you. 👍🤟

I understand that Andrew Guyton modified the Red Special's zero fret to ensure there is a degree of intonation correction. Most people just tolerate the issue. Brian has a light touch so forcing the strings down such that the fretted note goes sharp or flat doesn't occur so much for him.

Like your upper horn? 😏

The truth usually gets out in the end. 😀

Thank you so much Matt. A few people have asked where basix4 went. Great to have you back on board. I've got a few more ideas to work on, perhaps one long format video on a two month frequency from now on though. 😀💜

@@dsgb I really look forward to it, my friend! Brilliant channel.