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Gibson ES-335 Brian May
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Brian May is the man of a single guitar. Since the age of 15, he has been playing Red Special, the famous instrument that he built with the help of his father. During the lengthy career of Queen, he very rarely has been unfaithful to the guitar of his life: a Telecaster for Crazy Little Thing Called Love, an Ovation for a few acoustic parts…
Really nothing to write home about. Therefore, it is extremely rare and almost impossible to get a chance to buy a guitar that has been played by the British genius. Furthermore, as the author of such songs as We Will Rock You, May doesn’t need to sell anything to sustain his quality of life.
Obviously, this ES-335 is not Red Special, but it is red and it has indeed been played by the famous astrophysicist! His daughter Emily got married in 2013, and a band had been invited to play for the reception. The father of the bride being a fine player, he joined the band to play Johnny B. Goode and borrowed the hired musician’s guitar. That modest 2012 ES-335 Bigsby was made at the Gibson Custom Shop but it probably didn’t expect to find itself in such illustrious hands.
That red beauty can become Red Special for a happy Queen fan, and that guitar comes with a certificate signed by the guitar player from the wedding band as well as a video of May playing it. The vintage AC30 that goes with it will be much easier to find.
Brian May
(1947)
Band: Queen
Main guitar: Red Special
Compulsory listening: Killer Queen
Brian May is an original. By the same token that he entirely built his own guitar with the help of his dad at age sixteen, May also invented his own playing, inspired by Hank Marvin like every British player from his generation but with a completely different approach, much more vocal and lyrical. Queen’s music was so diverse, from music hall to heavy metal and disco, that it required a unique approach to serve it right. Brian May’s solos are full-grown mini compositions within the band’s songs, little jewels of concision and grandiose aloofness.
Then there is Brian May’s sound… Nobody can touch that combination of clarity, warmth and fluidity. His main guitar is the famous Red Special, the home-made guitar that has followed him for his whole career and still holds up more than fifty years after it was built. His picks are British coins, and his favorite amp has always been the Vox AC30, pushed into a creamy saturation by the Rangemaster treble booster. But the main element in that recipe undoubtedly remains the guitarist’s magic touch.
May is one of the founding members of Queen, along with Freddie Mercury (vocals) and Roger Taylor (drums), and they were quickly joined by John Deacon on bass. The band’s eponymous debut album, released in 1973, already displayed the band’s talent for vicious rock and operatic drama. But Queen’s diverse approach and writing was at its peak in 1975 on A Night At The Opera. There’s the unlikely single Bohemian Rhapsody, as well as a superb folk song sung by Brian May himself, ‘39.
The band never did two albums that sounded alike, but they all had an undeniable quality and a will to explore every musical color of the rainbow. Mercury died in 1991 and May tried to grieve by working on his solo album, Back To The Light (1992). Then he did Another World in 1998, but May’s true return-to-form was Queen’s reunion with Paul Rodgers on vocals for a triumphant tour in 2005 and a weird album in 2008, The Cosmos Rocks. That title is a nod to May’s other passion, astrophysics. Indeed, May got back to his studies when Queen ended and finally got his PHD in 2007. A true British Renaissance man.
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