In this video Dan reviews The Brian May Special Guitar. The BMG Special is an affordable replica guitar based on the iconic Red Special guitar built by Brian May and his Dad in the 1960s. Dan made this his “Find Of The Week” in The Pro Tools Expert Podcast Episode 206.
Watch the video to hear how it sounds and to find out what Dan thinks.
The BMG Special is available in a variety of finishes and is an affordable alternative to something like a Fender Stratocaster.
The guitar was played through Guitar Rig 5 By Native Instruments.
For more information please visit Brian May Guitars:
http://shop.brianmayguitars.co.uk/
Price: $12.99
Brian's Song
(as of November 16, 2020 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Price: $1.99
Rolling Stone: Life And Death Of Brian Jones
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Price: $14.99
Brian Banks
(as of November 16, 2020 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Price:
That guitar need MORE and MORE adjusting in sound……and change pick up ….I have it and do that …it’s long way to soud like Bri….Yes, VOX AC and treble booster is MUST have, but guitar is 80% of sound!
Competition prize for the first comment?
its called red special not special lol
It’s also designed to feedback as it’s chambered an the pickups are sealed with glue exactly the same as the original red special.
Just me or does it seem this natural finish he has is closer to the RS than the cherry finish available?
Great video! Nice guitar, got one myself!
There are 20 switch combinations (including all off), which produce 13 different sound combinations.
There are the 7 pickup combinations without phasing and 6 with phasing.Each of the 6 phasing combinations can be accomplished with 2 different switch combinations.
1:14 That eye movement is quite disturbing
You need to tell paople how mich is not like the original, Not worth the money. I dun a few mods on my fat strat and it blows the bmg special away. – Daniella. x
Excellent and extremely useful review. Thanks very much!
It’s like a rolls royce
It’s recommend that you use a flat out ac30 with a treble booster waked in front of it. play with a sixpence too. This is what I do with above
I bet strings go lower (a bit) after you do a big bend. Nothing you can do about it unless you put a locking nut. The thinner the gauge, the worst the problem is.
What about that Pro Tools Expert?
Can you also tell us about your pedal rig configuration for BM’s sound?
Do these pickups have the 60 cycle hum that regular single coils have? I am looking into getting one!!
Beautiful guitar!
Great review by the way
great review..im thinking of getting one of these!
He did Spinal Tap ha
I really want a bmg special and a bmg rhapsody but I’m not good at guitar, only have 1 (encore strat) and i’ve heard it has a wide neck, not sure if thats only on the bmg super and if that means the back of the neck being thick or the actual width of the neck, how does that compare to a strat?
Anyone know what online shopping website I should use to get this guitar???!?!?!
1:19 ? The bridge is nothing at all like the Red Special. The real one has saddles or tun o matic style with the strings going way back to the vibrato bar and they go over rollers so there can be no pinching or going out of tune there.
Why is this not a replica but called a replica?
Hey Dan, what is this guitar like for hard rocking and metal songs? Since it has single coils, would you recommend it? Are they better than Strat single coils for that kind of music? 🙂
I love that guitar…the finish it’s a good option to the classic red, but the difference in color between the headstock and the body it’s a little bit off-putting
lovely review ty
Haha, loved the Big Bottoms by Spinal Tap in the middle 😀 I’m thinking of buyn one
Just bought this guitar it’s so close the original
SO what you are saying is….it goes to 11?
Which colour shall I get? I’m torn between the natural and antique cherry. What’s the closest to the real thing??? Help!
Is that the “natural” finish model? Is Brian’s red special closer to the “natural” finish or the “antique cherry” that is advertised on the BMG site?
This video will leave its legacy as well as the own Red Special. Tkss!!!
Sounds great! What amp/setup are you using in Guitar Rig 5?
for those that don’t know and since it wasn’t even mentioned in the video unlike 99% of guitars out there this guitar has the pickups wired IN SERIES – no parallel, so when you have 2 or 3 pups on at once they add their sounds together – say bridge and middle which is 90% of the time what Brian May uses – this makes 2 single coils add their sounds and create a sort of humbucking sound – ie much fatter than the bridge + middle on a Strat….most Brian May nerds know this already but for those out there that don’t its one of the reasons Brian May sounds so full and big sounding – and of course as we saw demonstrated when you flip the phase of 1 pickup against another it loses a lot of bass and seems to hollow out the sound to so degree and cause the guitar to scream, screech or ‘squawk’ ie another favourite setting for Brian is the neck and middle out of phase – this is the screamy setting you hear on solos like Boh Rhap or Somebody to Love….that screamy Brian May tone is nearly always this setting.Also a HUGE part of the Brian May sound is the treble booster, take this out and the BM tone is gone!…..even the coin helps to get a more raspy attack on the strings over a plastic plectrum. couple all that up with a cranked AC30 and you know the sound that all adds up to – that glorious Brian May tone. Which without an attenuator is way too loud for any pub/club gig most of us might do and certainly too loud for in the house.of course all this is the vicar preaching to the choir here – BM nerds know all this stuff but just for those outsiders that look in and wonder how he gets that sound! Love the look of these new BMGs in Natural as in this video – closer to the original colour than the dark cherry red of the more popular colour for this guitar. Brians guitar looks like an orangey brownish colour in natural lighting more than red! Odd I know but that’s what lights/flash often do to colours – make them look different to how they really are.
Great review.
Production doesn’t seem to keep up with demand… the whole of the BMG Special range is showing “Currently SOLD OUT”. 🙁 I have my eye on a Black ‘N’ Gold or Antique Cherry.
Is is capable of clean tones? None were in evidence in the video.
What are Guitar Rig settings are you using?
I just bought one. Mid life crisis purchase in a guitar shop near me. Makes my sound a lot better than I thought I could play. What it can do is awesome. Not a scientist but not thick either. But I do know that you can rhythm with distortion and solo without changing settings. This guitar will make me a better play. Plus feel faster with finger transitions. A very forgiving guitar…. With SO many sounds… Still learning. Going to be a very long relationship!!!
How would you describe the differences between the Burns version and the new BM guitar?
I’d be interested to know how the BMG model compares to the Burns.
Good review. Cheers.
This isn’t the £700 model is it? This is surely the £2k version?