How to Sound Like Queen's Brian May Using Effects Pedals | Reverb Potent Pairings

[@StuartBridson]

I absolutely love that solo from Brighton Rock, self harmonising with the delay is an insanely clever trick.

[@DumpWeed35]

One of the best solos ever in my opinion my man. So well executed 👍

[@cjscala87]

Hardest part of sounding like Brian May is getting his guitars tone because he built it himself so it’s really unique. I think it sounded the most like Brian May when Andy was just using the Thirty something .

[@sakimiyu4169]

the key is the Brian May red special guitar you can get for £500+ the vox AC the treble booster and also a bit of chorus for under pressure, flanger for one vision and delay for brighton rock

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

You are dead right. It did not need the boost it needed a graphic EQ to finish the job with a few tweaks.

[@frgproductions6165]

Charlie Julian Honestly most of the tone comes from a nice AC30 plus the treble booster

[@buddyholly9960]

Same with me and my grandpa we built a unique shape

[@shpladoink]

Hardest part of sounding like Brian May is being as good at guitar as Brian May

[@ICACJ]

Legend has it that Andy is using an invisible sixpence to help recreate this sound.

[@binface9]

How's the Hitmanning?

[@paulvash]

I know it is just delay, but that last solo brought a huge smile. Thanks Andy for continuing to crush it.

[@gr1m805]

I'm so happy this series is back! especially with Andy :)

[@sneifert1968]

It’s the in and out of phase pickup combinations from the red special that really shape May’s tone.

[@michael_caz_nyc]

Andy Martin . . . Just a Master at the Demonstration of Guitar Pedals. You can really dissect a tone. Really versatile guitar player.

[@wheresallthezombies]

It’s crazy that you get closer with just pedals than the Anderton’s “sounds like videos”. Also, Andy has an interesting pick hand.

[@sakimiyu4169]

Andertons' version was a bit too muddy, and it really needed John Deacon's bass to back it up

[@alexbreyer6921]

That delay trick is killer, Queen.

[@revolversoul03]

I would LOVE to see Potent Pairings on the following artists: AC/DC, Aerosmith, Alice in Chains, Alice Cooper, The Beatles Part 3, The Black Keys, Black Sabbath, David Bowie Part 2 Cake, The Cars, The Clash, Coldplay, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dead Kennedys, Dire Straits, The Doors Eagles, Foo Fighters, David Gilmour Part 2, Green Day, Guns N' Roses, Jimi Hendrix Part 2 Billy Idol, James Gang, Jethro Tull, Nirvana Part 2, Jimmy Page Part 2, Pearl Jam Rage Against the Machine Part 2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Rolling Stones Part 2, Rush, The Smashing Pumpkins Part 2, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots Them Crooked Vultures, Thin Lizzy, Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Weezer, The Who, Neil Young, ZZ Top

[@emiliomontesdeocagonzalez681]

I support you!

[@r3dr43]

Cake, Black Keys, and Kennedy’s PLEASE

[@Thomaszmccormick]

AC/DC is just an SG into a Marshall.

[@Anonymous-mm8uh]

red hot chilli peppers (john frusciante) was already done

[@clemwest4536]

YESSS Beatles part 3 and Them Crooked Vultures! And maybe QotSA pt 2?

[@jeromedutenhaver7942]

King gizzard and the lizard wizard next! Please

[@AB-vn2jc]

Jerome Dutenhaver it’d be really hard to get a microtonal guitar to demo

[@bernarddoherty2303]

You frizzled your hair for this didnt you

[@DrRussPhd]

Pretty close overall. May's Red Special pickup combos also make a big difference. Boss Combo Drive also does a good job of emulating a cranked AC 30.

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

You need the Brian May model Burns Trisonic. He mostly uses the bridge and middle PU together. The mid PU has the pole pieces in upside down which turns the two pickups into one humbucker when used together. a Fender Jag would help the PU's are much brighter and the neck is a 24" scale as is Brian's guitar.

[@widowmaker5544]

to all you people saying this doesn't sound like brian may, YES IT DOES! it's very close but if you really want to get closer you do need the Red Special and AC15 or AC30

[@sakimiyu4169]

well said

[@mypal1990]

If the the Catalinbread Galileo was still in production that's spot on for having the Brian may tone. It even has a logo that's a nod to Queen's logo.

[@SwingingCreeper]

It’s still around. There are 28 new ones on Reverb

[@mypal1990]

@@SwingingCreeper I like the V1 because the top boost is a button to switch channel like the ac30 amp.

[@mattgilbert7347]

It's *the* pedal for May tones. But a Treble Booster>AC Tone>Mod (flanger/chorus/phaser, any of those will work)>Delay will get you close.

[@gerardodominguez212]

I agree with that, I have Mk 1 Galileo and its all you want from a Vox in a Box pedal, However its not easy to dial the pedal it depends so much of what kind of amp you use it.

[@jmelara324]

“I have a Line 6 Spider but that’s the beauty of stompboxes”

[@williamkampert1475]

Andy great job mimicking Brian’s attack and right hand prowess, he’s got a unique touch and you did a great job!!!

[@CELproductions]

Andy is the man. Best video from Reverb since the Beatles potent pairings

[@pentatonicautopilot]

With all respect to Andy a big part of Brian’s sound is his touch on the guitar. The ACs are dimed but there is a magic relationship with the design of his guitar which encourages musical / harmonics and feed back. He controls that with his picking power and constant use of the volume knob. Also a big part of the sound is the fact he uses a coin / sixpence as a pick it gives a great combination of attack for rhythm - makes the down picking sound tighter than it should on an otherwise “woolly” sounding rig. It also allows with the rounded / serrated edge you to “roll” the notes out instead of flicking them with a plastic pick. I play in a Queen cover band and once I switched to a sixpence as a pick I’ve never looked back

[@ChrisMedici]

Keep Yourself Alive and Brighton Rock were the highlights for me - great job! Must have taken a lot of time to research his tone and effects for this one - amazing

[@khalylehagood3222]

Whoa, did not expect a Joyo shout out.

[@gormarx]

Yeah, that's a first, alright - and long overdue. My two favorite distortions cost under $25 each and came from China. They've been doing their homework carefully, obviously.

[@Coach_Brian]

@@gormarx I absolutely love my Danelectro FAB Chorus and my Mosky Golden Horse pedals... super cheap. Absolutely amazing tone!

[@erictoniaschwab1009]

Yes I’m a cheap pedal guy. Initially as a necessity. But I’ve realized that under those metal enclosures are very similar circuits.

[@gormarx]

@@Coach_Brian Thanks for the tips, now I need to check them out, too :)))

[@gormarx]

@@erictoniaschwab1009 Oh, definitely. I just bought a KTR Overdrive for some $250, and it is identical as Klon Centaur that goes for $3000 if you can find one - and they are not only identical; they are made by the same guy who invented them and openly states they're identical. And yet, the world is full of snobs who "know" the Klon sounds better... :))))) Similarly, a $25 Chinese OCD clone (all black and red) can get exact same sounds as a regular OCD (I have them both and have tested them extensively), but it also has a lot more gain on tap. Nothing wrong with that in my book. That said, I don't know of anything other than KTR that really gets such a smooth and responsive overdrive. There are good overdrives, and great ones, but KTR has a unique voice.

[@stephenwhiting6475]

Andy literally does the best gear videos ever! Or period for anyone from across the pond 🤣

[@therealjulez7886]

Andy looks like a mad scientist wailing on those pedals shredding licks, been a huge fan from the start hope to see more fuzz boxes like the swollen pickle style in the future!

[@Cuardaitheoirfirinne]

This was bodacious. Would love to see you do this series tied in with your precious song lessons. That’s what got me pedal shopping.. Total pedal whisperer tones.

[@DanielLightspeedMcNair]

Bruh this man even looks like Brian

[@CertainlyCaro]

Just let that hair grow out for about a year and he's good

[@CorbCorbin]

Paul Rudd

[@CarsonSmith-eh1jb]

No not at all

[@danielcastillo5525]

Yeah!!! Potent Pairings are back!!!! Can you do How To Sound Like Placebo please???

[@Bleats_Sinodai]

SUPER budget friendly rig for the Dr May sound at home: - Vox Pathfinder 10w or 15w; - Danelectro FAB Phaser; - Any cheap "mini" pedals for Delay and EQ (adjusted as treble booster); Alternatively, if you know or has a friend/relative who knows electronics: - Danelectro FAB Echo modded to add a Time knob; - Make your own clone of the Brian May treble booster (I recommend MPSA42 for the transistor); All these will run much less money and give you a decent enough result to have fun or practice songs at home.

[@petew.1418]

What bands next? Beatles Zepp Sabbath Aerosmith (first 5 albums) (Damn, I'm old. Look at this list) Ziggy era Ronson BB King (Did I mention I'm old?) Buddy Guy Albert King Boston (I'm going to stop here before I spend the rest of the night typing.)

[@austindavis4606]

PeteW. Page has been done

[@petew.1418]

@@austindavis4606 did I mention I'm old? 😂

[@Reverb]

We're steadily making our way through your list!

[@Reverb]

reverb.com/news/nailing-it-achieving-the-tones-of-jimmy-page

[@Reverb]

reverb.com/news/potent-pairings-the-sounds-of-david-bowie

[@guitardiy5162]

You would need some sort of overdub/doubletracker pedal to do the solo sounds for Killer Queen or Sunday Afternoon. The digital delay does the trick though. Important part of his tone. You got pretty close with the sounds, maybe a more cranked treble booster would have made the lead sound even more singing-creamy.

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

Wasn’t there a timeframe in the 80s going into the 90s when Brian shied away from his classic arsenal and used early multi-effects units?

[@jasperguitaring3673]

Yes and he may still do so today but I could be wrong, I know he still dabbles in them a bit

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

When he and his technician, Pete Malendrone, were interviewed for Premier guitar in 2014, @@jasperguitaring3673, Brian was using a huge array of AC30 amps. However, nothing surprises me.

[@jaharireggae4296]

There’s absolutely nowhere you can get the Wampler ACE30/Thirty Something however I do have the Catalinbread ZeroPoint and I love it

[@jingalls9142]

Tie You Mother Down is my all time favorite for his tone. But...Somebody To Love is my favorite queen song. Thad just a magic thing. Like Maggot Brain or Since I've Been Loving You. Bloody perfect song.

[@beatsbydrew8930]

Let's not gloss over how great a guitarist Andy is

[@itslikethesamebutdifferent8020]

A valiant effort, and in theory it could work. As a lifelong studier (it’s not a word, i know) of all things Queen and Brian May i can tell you a couple of things are missing: a sixpence or a dime if you’re in the US. A vox ac30 & yes a red special. All crucial ingredients to his tone. Having said that this was cool to watch too.

[@aleczamora60]

Andy, is love to hear your take on how to sound like Alice In Chains, and/or ELO. Jeff Lynne got some amazing guitar tones and I’d love to know how to get close to some of them. Thanks!

[@gormarx]

Step 1: Buy a 1960s Les Paul. Step 2: Buy a Marshall stack, or Orange. That should get you to about 90% of the way to Lynne :)

[@mykhedelic6471]

Dude, Andy mentioned a Joyo AC Tone-- crazy!

[@brianfreddierogerdeacon4714]

30$ the joyo actually does a pretty good job

[@timesink8947]

3:33 - Any similarity this bears to a famous guitar solo is purely coincidental.

[@mattgilbert7347]

Andy just namechecked a Joyo. We're through the looking glass here, people. It's actually a damn fine pedal, all the Joyos from that series are good (even if they are Tech21 clones)

[@andrewpappas9311]

I totally forgot about this series so as soon as I saw Brian May I clicked right away, he has such a distinctive style and not just because he built his own guitar. Anyways, how about one of these for Metallica, System of a Down or Van Halen?

[@SenorGermaine]

Van Halen would be interesting but Metallica and SOAD would be too boring in my opinion. I would like to see a SRV because of how difficult it is to recreate his sound, and maybe even Mac Demarco since the indie stuff is always pretty cool.

[@elijahs4785]

Is potent pairings back

[@jamesf5963]

So good Andy!

[@TheNicoDavis]

Do Mac DeMarco next!!!

[@joaquinlavin5877]

Davis Films Mac’s sound is mostly reverb+chorus/vibrato using the neck pickup thru a fender amp Livingroom Gear Demos did a small sound-like video you could check out :)

[@McDoinky]

Strat/Tele/Mustang/Jaguar > Vibrato mixed all the way up > Reverb > Fender amp. Done.

[@marcogman8905]

Can you do a breakdown of the classic Boston/ Tom Schultz sound, please?

[@ignacioorellana1268]

Potent Pairings Black Keys!

[@lilyamin]

shuuu

[@danielblauw2978]

Can you do Soundgardens badmotorfinger tone

[@cicerofavaretto]

Please do "the who"

[@EdgeOfFuzz]

Don't even care to sound like Brian May, just saw Andy clicked immediately

[@TruSuperGamerFriends]

This video looks like it was made during quarantine

[@A7XFANFOREVER]

Simply Beautiful!

[@MacgyverMike1]

Great job Andy

[@curtmillermusic1929]

Gorgeous Suhr S

[@bernardobrito1312]

Awesome video! Id like to see you guys exploring Slash's sounds in the Use You Illusion albums!! Thank very much anyways!

[@rickmercer2794]

great vid.....how did you get the harmonizing effect at 6:20?.....is delay pedal? thanks

[@jaharireggae4296]

Yes it is a delay pedal

[@gormarx]

Well, since you asked... There is a whole bunch of May's contemporaries and predecessors, all Brits, each of whom had at least one signature tone, and often even more: Fripp (start from Islands all the way to Red), Oldfield (Hedgest Ridge, Ommadawn... he's never had a bad or boring sound, really), Hackett (Selling England, Lamb Lies), Hillage (L. Motivation Radio), Beck (literally anything, but esp. Paul Rogers's "I Just Want to Make Love to You", or the entire Guitar Shop)... Oh, and that Dave Gilmour guy, too...

[@robd754]

miss yur demos Andy.. would love to see your take on Gary Moore

[@edadpops1709]

Check out andys yt channel andydemos its cool

[@ben9830]

sounds pretty good, but it has been confirmed that Brian uses a chorus at all times. its very subtle, but it is what creates that infamous tone. 4.8/5.

[@elijahs4785]

I legit went to go see killer queen in Toledo a couple of weeks ago

[@billydelacruz1500]

First concert was Queen at MSG, July 1982 Hot Space tour with Billy Squier opening! Mind blown!! Still playing 37 years later😳

[@IMEANCEREAL]

"But first, here's my clean tone."

[@hoover728]

Fun fact: to get those extra long delay times from an Echoplex, as they usually only have 800ms of delay time, May had his modified to go twice as long. (Picture at bottom of page) www.in2guitar.com/echoplex.html

[@alanarmesto1351]

Hi and ty for the video. Can you do something on Santana? Ty.

[@V_Dgt]

So, is there a way to make a sound similar to treble booster without using a TB pedal?

[@ALBERTOGARCIA-nk9bo]

Hello An dy, great playing as always. I would love to watch a How to sound like Collective soul and How to sound like Soda Stereo

[@j.jester7821]

Not trying to be a negative, Andy is a fine guitarist, but none of this sounded even close to Brian May's tone.

[@KeeperOfPoops]

yes it did! it sounded really close to brian may's tone! except it would've been closer with red special and a vox AC30

[@sakimiyu4169]

it does sound like brian may you big moron

[@glinteastwood]

Andy’s guitar signal never made it into the mountain of vintage studio equipment + mixing/mastering employed in the production of classic Queen albums. That might have helped.

[@kyleramirez2826]

It’s very close to ONE OF Brian Mays sounds like in tie your mother down. I think the title is misleading because most of us think of Brian mays tone from dreamers ball or bohemian rhapsody

[@Larkened]

That definitely isn’t true. When he played keep yourself alive, it sounded pretty much identical

[@hanten10]

I like that white flanger pedal

[@rypatmackrock]

For the solo, I am honestly more biased toward using a straight delay sound set the time accordingly. The two repeats feel a little empty for me, and I’m just simply biased toward more quiet echoing repeats beyond the initial two. Other than that, let us continue to rock. 🤘

[@mizonuna9170]

Thirty something is the best pedal name ever. Change my mind.

[@VinnyDrysdale]

@4:50 sounds dead nuts on.

[@MagdielAguilar]

Do you recommend naga viper for a red special bmg...?

[@kashmir33]

Sorpréndenos David Bisbal!!

[@TechLikeABoss]

Why oh why didn’t you use the Catalinbread Galileo?

[@iggyward]

What's going on in the pick department??!!! Thumb Pick,..Thumb-as-pick,...Invisible Quantum Pick ( it's both there and not there at the same time) AAaaarrrggghhhhh!

[@adriansoto5964]

Please do Andy Summers!!!

[@Reverb]

We gotchu: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3y0k6eDd5eZopI

[@midkills]

never clicked so fast

[@ffs_auggie]

Did y’all use multiple amps for the delay?

[@davebertoletti]

The catalinbread Galileo is a better choice for Brian's Vox tone...but just to my ear!

[@AB-vn2jc]

I’d say some slap back delay to simulate the coin. Brian May is a big influence on my guitar playing style and I don’t sound like him or myself with out slap back.

[@lucaslisboa4352]

How to sound like Placebo, please!!

[@ac30helix44]

Vox mv50 and the naga viper would get you closer !

[@hankgalt]

Catalinbread made the Galileo a few years ago, matched an AC30 pedal with a treble booster (the naga circuit used here). Andy did a video for it at PGS as I recall, he could have just used that 🤘🏻🎸 found it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZoPZdGWJZduhlcU

[@fatback2]

Bjorn told me once that the Emerald Green circuit was never meant to impersonate an AC-30, but rather was meant to be a drive pedal that worked well with a Vox and could adapt to the amp over a long gig.

[@Simmy-ch3db]

What amp are you using?

[@lynyrddeville]

That Catalinbread Zero Point flanger is great secret weapon pedal. It’s unlike the others and it is so cool that just after swearing off buying more pedals, uh, I just might need to seek one out… F### man! More money out the door.

[@jjbast]

Sound like Brian May and look like James May.

[@alibo_]

Ritchie Blackmore next please.

[@jamesmiller3244]

The Jam?

[@mathiaskekalainen5093]

One for motörhead perhaps

[@shockvoz1234]

Getting there, it's a tough sound to recreate.

[@tyler_armstrong432]

lets be real here only brian can sound like brian

[@gormarx]

Wow, you so special for that enlightening comment, Mrs. Obvious.

[@sampopkin]

Pete Townshend video please!

[@MatsJonason]

Good but not that close to Brian May’s sound. Lots of harmonics missing in that Suhr humbucker. The Tri-Sonic pickups are such an important part of his sound.

[@leob1]

Gotta do Black Sabbath

[@flatlander5054]

The Dio Years!

[@DreamRubycon]

Keep yourself Alive sounds pretty kewl the rest were ok

[@stevenlvk6938]

Desde cuando David Bisbal toca la guitarra como brian may

[@andriealinsangao613]

GOD BLESS YOU ALL

[@luisgoregonzalez7394]

Awesome

[@willemdefouw3605]

Brian May got his sound from the great Rory Gallagher.

[@VinnyDrysdale]

Just the Vox AC30.

[@johnf883]

and the Treble Booster.

[@jamesmiller3244]

Oasis?

[@meexiko]

Do the Queens (of the stone age)!

[@Reverb]

We got you: reverb.com/news/potent-pairings-how-to-sound-like-queens-of-the-stone-age

[@Porkcylinder]

He had a secret pedal that turned up his hair.