How To Sound like Brian May with Sh*t Gear

[@QueenCelebrationLive]

_>It may not be Red Special, but it's red... and it's... special_ This is gold! 🌟🏆

[@odonovan]

That is "special" as in "short bus" special. :D :D :D :D :D

[@jazzram_]

Red*

[@philstevenson6067]

Having owned the Vox 'Deacy' amp I was extremely impressed with what you achieved. I agree with another comment that you got closer to Brian's violin like tone than people who have all his gear. Brilliant video. Loved it.

[@tristanavakian]

Thank you!

[@ThatllShowEm]

"It may not be a Red Special, but it is red... and it's... special." :)

[@QueenCelebrationLive]

😉

[@NicoSabatiniGuitar]

Man, those tea towels sound awesome!

[@johnlannikk2701]

I use a Les Paul through a flannel

[@fviannaval]

Loved the approach, especially the tea towels!

[@tubularbill]

Brilliant!

[@ransomwatts7225]

This sounds so amazing! Finally a way to sound like Brian without busting the bank

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

It was during that upload by Premier Guitar from the 2014 Summer tour of Queen with Adam Lambert that Pete made that comment about how Brian could sound like himself on any guitar. He mentioned one of the cats that used to accompany Meat Loaf picking up Brian‘s Red Special, playing it and sounding nothing like him. I also believe that ‘Brian will sound like himself no matter what he plays. For my part, Tristan, my goal has never been to sound like Brian (although I was once totally flattered when someone actually told me my playing reminded them of his). However, what I’ve always enjoyed about the red special is its features, the 24-fret fingerboard, the zero-friction stringing, the semi-hollow cavities and the aces to all 3 pickups w/ the phase switching. In that interview from 2014, I believe Brian said he wondered why other people weren’t trying to implement that feature in the guitars that were being built. under my real name, Eric Benjamin Gordon, I have uploaded a video of myself demonstrating a parts caster that was built with that type of switching. I have dubbed that guitar “Roebling”, since that guitar was my main ax during the making of a record of mine called *Brooklyn Bridge.* In that video, I do play a small smattering of Queen riffs, but I focus on simply trying to demonstrate everything the guitar can do beyond the realm of emulating Brian May. There’s not remotely enough examples of people playing guitars with that pick up configuration and not trying to emulate him.

[@tristanavakian]

It’s incredibly versatile. When I bring it to a non BHM related thing, I do like to stick a Chandler Little Devil Color Boost in front of it - like a really powerful, flexible germanium EQ - to beef it up a little. Without some kind of boost it can sound a little feeble www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LittDevBoost--chandler-limited-little-devil-colored-boost-distortion-pedal

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

I kind of understand what you mean, @@tristanavakian. Since I put my above comment up, I’ve come into a replica by Burns from 2007. I’ve enjoyed when I got none of it so far, but it does sound a little better when you boost the signal somewhat.

[@jacobh9344]

2:09 I got a cheap guitar for my 15th birthday, and that was how the pots sounded. About a year later I realised that there was wrapping plastic. Wtf?!

[@ScottTheNews]

It was hilarious! Lots of fun mate

[@RickLaForce]

I saw Queen at Winterland on March 30, 1975. It was their Sheer Heart Attack tour and they shared the bill with local favorites Yesterday and Today (Y&T) and a little band you might remember, Mahogany Rush. Brian May sounded EXACTLY like this that night . . . Thanks for the best laugh I've had all day. Even though you were joking around, you still sounded more like May than anyone I've heard cover him, despite some of the high-$$$ equipment they were using.

[@pickman7]

Another great video. Thanks for sharing Tristan!

[@tonymadad9555]

Hammer to fall solo sound more like the album that the majority of the owners of brian may guitar .... of which I am!

[@Calagamberr0]

Jaw dropping. Off to buy some cloth patches or something. And a 10watt 6" silvertone

[@MyBiologicalInsanity]

It's all in the fingers man.

[@SealedKiller]

That's because they can't play lol It's sad

[@margherita5930]

Thanks for this video 🙂 The cloth trick is amazing, the sound changes a lot! I hope you can shoot some videos on the road with UQC (nice t shirt by the way)

[@jessicabaxter1400]

Really enjoyed this vid it was interesting and fun. Awesome show last night at perth concert hall!

[@thiscorrosion900]

I have a sneaking suspicion that after rec. this video, the "Hammer Will Fall" on this gear! LOLZZSZZ mirth mirth mirth

[@wickedgit]

I use my Squier vintage modified on the middle and bridge pickup setting and a boss katana....and i get pretty close as well.

[@olegtolmachev5890]

much info and funny to see! result - no bad tune!

[@richardhorky3717]

That was great. Thank you!

[@sebastianpereira1517]

You result is absolutely amazing

[@Calagamberr0]

It is red. And it is special. LeL

[@chrztl]

this video was very interesting! didn't know about the tea towel! that sounds so helpful i guess it can slightly help bring downsome high frequencies! I dont think there are people making videos like these!! keep it up! and you're an awesome guitar player

[@carlamorgan1258]

I got to see you and Marc live, I would rather see UQC live than Queen with Adam Lambert 1000 times over. Fantastic show, keep on rockin!

[@randomelvis3359]

Nice content Tristan, young guitarists with little funds can be inspired by the old school t-towel trick and cheap set up.....looking forward to your next posts...I’m Subbed 👍

[@vulture4117]

How the fuck does that s9ound so good

[@TheRealCAPerry]

That might be one of the maddest things I’ve ever seen. Kudos for trying it, and even more for putting it into the public domain. I’m curious how you set the boost up - I’ve got an Xotic AC Booster and wouldn’t mind seeing what I can get out of that.

[@tristanavakian]

it could literally be anything that adds gain to the signal if the guitars output is inadequate. The Xotic is great but for the purpose i am putting it to, it could literally be any one knob clean boost, the cheapest Amazon one would be fine. If you have a humbucker or more gain at the amp you don't even need that.

[@borismichel8893]

Astonishing !

[@frossbog]

Love vids like this!

[@Casetube100]

A nice proof that it is always a good way to spend some time and effort in the actual setup first... instead of buying expensive custom shop stuff.

[@jazzram_]

Omg congrats on 1k (sorry im late) I was here since you had 50! (Last check was 300 subs)

[@tristanavakian]

thanks!

[@seemycast]

Nice!!

[@TheGNexus]

Dude, you made me lol. Well done. I'm going to Walmart right now in search of the perfect red tea towel.

[@rodrigobelinchon2982]

I like it !! great tone even with that carppy mic

[@guitarmainiac80]

Tea towel rocking! Awesome. 👍

[@spidey4fun]

Very entertaining. Thanks.

[@KirkDHansen]

Thanks man! Just fantastic stuff. Hope Covid didn’t ruin everything for you. “The road” went away for a while there. A real bitch for musicians. VERY grateful for this tutorial. Far better than anything else I could find on KZbin. Keep it up Tristan! If you get to Portland I’d LOVE to come see you play.

[@tristanavakian]

Thanks buddy!

[@emefcue]

great video!!!

[@MichaelJ023]

Would love to hear it tried with a true pawn shop special like the old 60s Tesco guitars. They had no truss rod, frets laid in crooked and in the wrong position, and the pickups were more akin to microphones than pickups.

[@tristanavakian]

Michael Johnson ooh I’d have loved that! Unfortunately I couldn’t find one. I had one when I was a kid, it was absolutely awful! Thanks to hipsters, they are probably really expensive now. These days even the cheapest guitars are way better. CNC machines have taken a lot of work out of accurate fret placement for example.

[@carranen]

Man, you're such a genius !

[@cb314]

What did I just hear? That guitar really sounds like the RS

[@bhorozal]

“Dentone, never heard of it, perfect” 😂😂😂

[@modscientist9793]

Awesome!!!

[@Имбирнаяпеченька-ю6ь]

That was cool.

[@fernandes5986]

Its a Kind of Magic! Magic! Magic! 😃

[@Noone-of-your-Business]

Veeery impressive! Thank you!

[@billfog393]

Nice work, my aesthetic all the way❤️

[@CLanzetta1970-]

Hey David…cough cough….I mean Tristan. Love it…..❤!

[@michelrobert3682]

Amazing !

[@thiscorrosion900]

I have a serious question: have you tried, even for laughs, any of the smaller Vox modeling amps that are out there, such as the one I have, the VX50 GTV, and if so, could you get any usable Queen type tones out of them? I mean, on their own, or with a pedal or two?

[@tristanavakian]

I have a Vox Pathfinder 15 that I got on FB Marketplace for $50. With a boost in front of the AC 50 model it sounds pretty darn close.

[@hspderis6685]

Good job!

[@akaski777]

Tones in the fingers

[@yazidyusop]

love these

[@Asylum8]

Very but VERY interesting 👍🏻💎

[@michaelbeem1737]

That was awesome

[@modhiab]

It is not the guitar you are using and it is not that red cloth. It is YOU play like Brian May 👏👏👏👏

[@georgeparker6664]

Um what model tea towel did you use?

[@tristanavakian]

Dollarama XD

[@macshebly4330]

Whay you didn't make this video befor i Buy my vox ac30 amp and a BM replica guitare

[@tristanavakian]

you're in luck, that is the express lane. I just did this as a thought experiment.

[@macshebly4330]

@@tristanavakian You naild it mate

[@jo.burgos]

IM GONNA NEED YOUR TOWELS

[@marcuseviltree6304]

Really good. I’m 50 and learn something new everyday

[@donpaterson6598]

Thanks for this, Tristan. It's in the fingers, eh?

[@tristanavakian]

Well, the gear is like a car. You can have the best car in the world but you still gotta drive. A cheap one may not be stylish, fast or comfortable. But you’ll get there. I do like good gear though. Because I’m old and experienced enough to appreciate it. And because I’m lazy.

[@southernpride2003]

It's a shame what silvertone has become I have a 1948 silvertone 1300 tube amp I use flatwound strings on my homemade electric guitar that me and my grandpa built and I still get that Brian's tone with a treble booster

[@sirjax1857]

hello what are your settings on the amp?

[@tristanavakian]

I can’t remember tbh. But I think it was preamp gain at max, treble nearly all the way off. If you are the proud owner of one of these misbegotten little things, you’ll quickly realize it’s the only way to get a halfway decent lead sound out of it. I did close mic it with a good little mic which helped a little. Added a touch of stereo in post. Then I gave it to my son. Hopefully he’ll blow it up. Rite of manhood etc.

[@sirjax1857]

@@tristanavakian thanks mate I like your humor

[@Noscrap909]

Why does Brian may use a treble booster when his highs sounds rolled off to me ? Is it just for the gain ?

[@tristanavakian]

“Treble booster” is kind of a misnomer. It pushes upper mids and tightens up the lows, and does add a LOT of gain, basically turning the Vox into a marshall.

[@randysnewbiebluesrockguita7782]

What tone stings are you using on the amp itself ? Are you using a delay? What gain settings on the amp are you using that you aren't on the distortion box which you are using as a treble booster? I have a Lany Range master Black country custom's and I am wondering how I should set it to get this sort of tone or If I should only use a clean boost?

[@tristanavakian]

Sorry I’m just seeing this now. Start by working with what you already have, and use your ears. A tone is not in the box, or on a spec sheet. It’s within you. Start tweaking things until the sound coming out of the speaker is close to the one in your head. If it doesn’t seem possible, after you have done this work, you haven’t failed. You’ve learned a lot about tone shaping, and your self, and you can put that to work in the future. Then when you get to a music store and try things, you’ll be perceiving each component from a far more capable and sophisticated perspective.

[@titopaoofficial]

😊This is Amazing. Now I'm looking for Towels and something Red and Special.

[@johnvonachen1672]

Guitargasm! Is that a word? It is now. Spread the word.

[@DrRussPhd]

LOL . .so much for having to have boutique gear. :)

[@kirkbolas4985]

Suggestion: You definitely got very close to Brian’s tone. For the win, route out the area between the front/middle and rear/middle pickups and glue in an appropriately sized block of wood into each newly created space…importantly, these wood blocks must be sourced from a hundred year old fireplace mantle. 😉

[@fableinside1]

Please do how to sound like David Lynch

[@tristanavakian]

Baha. I used to sound like George Lynch. Now I look like David Lynch. Not sure how that happened. It’s a crazy world

[@fableinside1]

@@tristanavakian David has a great musical style

[@rickster58]

Cool!

[@thiscorrosion900]

"Can I have the Sludgetone amp?" LOL

[@ThePokeCzech]

I had a good laugh watching your video.

[@12hpa]

wow

[@storm-3337]

Dont forget to use coin as your pick

[@tristanavakian]

That doesn’t matter as much as you might expect. I do use one live but this was recorded with a plain ol’ Dunlop .71 mm yellow Delrin pick :-)

[@dl4350]

i've an amp like thati acc love it tho

[@JJR3991]

wow, incredible attempt Tristan, you made the cheap guitar sound good for what its not worth ha ha

[@pulidomi]

O fuck, o my god, is good

[@joeyday1252]

You could call the guitar the "RED SPECIAL NEEDS".

[@davidnolan5656]

👍

[@superfluppe]

You got close, but the only time that you really sounded like Brian was in the mix with the backing track.

[@pulidomi]

The mic only,

[@tristanavakian]

That’s where it counts 😊

[@joshlambrightmi]

Umm... Simplest thing, use a serrated coin.

[@tristanavakian]

Josh Lambright I usually do. Actually, though, for this video I didn’t bother. It’s a very small part of the sound, maybe 10%, and that only on the clean sound. When you turn up, the gain pretty much wipes it out.

[@thiscorrosion900]

Has me longing for an old 80s Pignose amp.....anything but this abomination.

[@aliengrey6052]

Boy that’s bad.

[@oldmossystone]

cheap shitty amp... check!, cheap shitty guitar... check!, brand new looking £100 Tech 21 pedal... waaait a minute... now its looking like a tech 21 ad disguised as how to vid... meh

[@tristanavakian]

Just used as a clean boost with no coloration whatsoever as I took great pains to explain. I elaborated to an uncomfortable degree as to exactly how and why this is necessary. I could have used a $20 Amazon pedal to do the same thing. I used what was handy. If you don’t like my content, navigate away from it. Please.

[@oldmossystone]

Yeah, I just had another look. Great job, you're really selling that pedal well. You went out of your way to get a cheap used no name guitar and amp, and yet the pedal. .. wow. Almost as though if I was a noob on low budget with shirty gear, all I would need to add would be a tea towel and a £100 tech21 boost pedal... If you don't want folk calling you out, don't post content that you will get called out for! Tea towel hack is a great tip BTW, thanks for that one ;)

[@tristanavakian]

@@oldmossystone do some research on gain structure and get back to me. it literally does not matter what you use. that was just the only thing i had on hand to boost the signal.... The overdrive section was turned OFF. Only the one knob and button labelled BOOST was engaged. I realize how that can seem confusing, because it is a multi function pedal with OVERDRIVE is in the name. but it WAS NOT USED AS SUCH, only as a clean boost. The overdrive switch, its corresponding led and associated tone shaping functions were OFF and OUT OF THE CIRCUIT. Unlike an overdrive, treble booster, distortion or fuzz, a clean boost DOES NOT CHANGE THE SOUND OF THE GUITAR OR THE AMP. Only increases the signal. That could have been accomplished in any number of other ways... with a $20 pawn shop one knob boost pedal or a $4000 Klon. That is the whole point of the video... gear doesn't matter. I don't sell gear, although I occasionally do honest, unbiased reviews of things for which I am not compensated. But if you insist on being unhappy, be my guest. That's on you.

[@oldmossystone]

@@tristanavakian And yet my comment is still valid. Your title claims Sh*t Gear, and it all is except that fancy pedal. It's a fact (unless you are claiming Tech21 are shit gear?) Claims about technical details relating to gain staging and modes on the pedal don't change that :) Anyway, you gotta make a buck, and selling cool pedals is way better than some other stuff you could be selling instead, so good luck with that :)

[@tristanavakian]

@@oldmossystone I don't get paid to do this, as i took great pains to explain... in spite of your peculiar insistence that I do. I'm a professional musician. I get paid to play guitar. That's it - 100% of my income. I don't need "luck". I have skill, which came of hard, patient work and persistence. Go bother Pete Thorn - he does pro gear demos better than I do - better than anyone else, in fact. There’s no point while he’s working that side of the street. It’s covered. KZbin is a hobby for me. You should get one. It will give you something else to do. I do have a gear recommendation though - buy this. For the purposes of this demonstration... it literally does the same thing. $19.99 USD www.amazon.com/dp/B0921C8NN3/ref=cm_sw_r_api_i_29FG8PQT6VBF34H7DWPC_0 I am repeating myself at this point. You don't seem to be capable of actually hearing me. Hopefully you will focus on your playing and stop obsessing about the tools. That is literally the point of this video.