The result of a unique collaboration between Sir Brian May, his long-standing guitar tech Pete Malandrone, and House Music, the best-selling BMG Special combines the distinctive aesthetics and sound of the legendary Red Special with a wealth of modern appointments and superb quality, production-line craftsmanship.
All the foundations of the trademark BM sound are present and correct, with construction, pickups and electronics faithfully reproducing the original's unique character and tonal versatility. But this is so much more than just a replica... With a price-tag and a range of new colours driven by Brian's concept of a guitar "for the people", the Special is designed to provide modern players of all musical persuasions with an affordable pro-grade instrument that is the perfect go-to guitar for any performance environment.
True to the look and spirit of the "Old Lady", the instantly recognisable pinstripe-bound, double cutaway mahogany body shape features an acoustic chamber modelled on Brian's original design that enhances the Special's natural resonance and decreases weight.
Engineered with a decidedly contemporary feel, and considerably less deeply contoured than the somewhat gargantuan proportions of the iconic original, the glued-in mahogany neck sports a generous 45mm nut width, comfortably spacious "D" profile, and wonderfully smooth 24 fret ebony fingerboard.
Modern replicas of the vintage '60s Burns design units that are so fundamental to the Red Special's powerful sonic character, the three series-wired, single-coil pickups feature the same retro-styling and magnet alignment as the originals.
As per the original BM design, the Special is equipped with six white-capped slider switches controlling individual pickup on/off and phase reversal, providing a vast range of tonal variations.
Trevor Wilkinson's "Wave" tremolo-bridge provides a striking modern look to the BMG Special as well as smooth, comfortable performance with exceptional stability and sustain.
The distinctive BM style headstock sports 3-a-side locking chrome tuners with an 18:1 gear ratio for precise tuning and a thumbwheel locking mechanism that clamps the string securely. These superb quality machine heads allow for quick and easy string change with fewer string wraps and will maintain rock-solid tuning stability and more accurate return-to-pitch, even with lots of vibrato and string bends.
Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the completion of the Red Special and 20 glorious years since the launch of the Brian May Guitars brand, every BMG Special now comes complete with a FREE 2024 Sir Brian May "Official Queen Pick" in a perspex collector's case.
A premium quality, padded gig-bag, made from durable showerproof material, with twin rucksack-style shoulder straps, side and front grab handles, dual front pockets and stitched BMG logo, is supplied as standard with all Special models. An optional BMG Custom Fitted Hard Case is also available.
An exclusive demonstration of the first iteration of the BMG Special by the maestro himself.
A superb demo of the Brian May Guitars SPECIAL from young, Brazilian guitar ace Lucas Vianna, a performer in the 2016 São Paulo and 2017 Danish touring productions of the smash hit Queen musical "We Will Rock You".
Lucas uses the Special to demonstrate some of Sir Brian May's favourite switch settings.
Here, Lucas shows off the Special's unique, genre-busting tonal dexterity.
I’ve been wanting a Red Special for four years at least so finally owning one is a dream come true. It sounds amazing and looks amazing and it’s so so shiny and gorgeous, I looooove this guitar!
Thank you so much! I can't wait to give this as a Christmas gift! Excellent service and delivery was flawless. Cheers!
Playing this BMG "Honeyburst Special" is simply a POEM - it is very inspiring and damn fun, because she is built absolutely great, very easy to play and ALWAYS tuning-stable - not least thanks to the zero fret and the GROVER locking mechanisms (factory standard!).😉 Conclusion: price & performance miracle!That's the reason why I've purchased two of them! You never know - if they will stop producing such amazing Limited Edition Models like the Honeyburst again! You take this guitar in your hand and you immediately fall in love with it... Guaranteed! Best wishes and thanks to BRIAN MAY for such a wonderful instrument!Highest recommandation from my part as a professional studio & live guitarist!! Yours, Mandy
Dear Brian... I would like to thank you personally for this unbelievable and versatile instrument!! I've it got today from Musicstore Köln. I'm really totally flashed about the craftmanship, the playability, and from the sound of this wonderful baby!!! I'm a studio guitarist in Austria and I know what a good guitar is! I'm so happy with your guitar and I´m sure, this baby will be with me on stage all the times next year - so COVID-19 is hopefully history...! All the best to you... stay in good health and many greetings from Styria, Austria.Cordial, Mandy.
Very pleased with the prompt dispatch and delivery. The guitar made it safely to its new home thanks to the excellent packing. Thank you, BMG team! James (USA)
Don't have even words to describe how well made and beutiful this guitar is. The only thing better than the looks of this guitar is the way it sounds! Even with my little modeling amp, the sound is amazing. Thank you Brian and all BMG workers for this.
Guitar came in perfect condition.
Magnificent as I supposed it to be
Such an amazing guitar, incredible looking and incredible sound. Tested with an VOX AC30, AMAZING.Beautiful guitar, totally recommended
Wow! Upon opening the box after delivery I was simply shocked at the quality of this instrument... and I mean in a positive way! I own other guitars, including a Gibson Les Paul, and the craftsmanship is actually better, yes, better than the Gibson and the attention to detail unsurpassed!The finger action is fantastic and the sounds are wonderful that come from this beautiful axe. If you have any doubts based on the country in which these are made, rest assured... they have it down to a science.
Dear Mr. MoorhouseI recently purchased a pair of BMG Replica Control Knobs, and included in the package was your business card. I thought this would be a good opportunity to tell you about my experience with my Brian May Guitar.I purchased the guitar in May of 2014 online from Musicians Friend as motivation to regain the feeling in my left arm that I had lost due to a thyroid condition. Although I already owned a couple of nice guitars, I thought a new one would give me a reason to play everyday and help heal the numbness in my arm. As I continued to play and regain the feeling back in my arm, I discovered how truly unique the Brian May Guitar was compared any of the other guitars I owned. Fast forward to nearly 4 years later and it’s the only guitar I play. The others are in there cases and haven’t seen the light of day in quite some time.After thousands of hours of playing on my BMG guitar, it has held up pretty well. I have the Honey Sunburst model, and while some of the gold chrome has naturally worn off from playing it so much, it is still in great shape. It stays in tune exceptionally better than any other guitar I’ve owned, and I’ve never broken a string. I do a lot of bends, vibrato, use a sixpence, and yet no broken strings ever. The strings will go eventually go dead, but I've never broken one. About a year ago I took my Brian May Guitar over to a friends professional recording studio (he has owned it for over 40 years) and it immediately caught his ear, saying “that is the most bad ass guitar I’ve heard in a very long time.” He was impressed the most with the intonation of the guitar, remarking several times that it was absolutely perfect.The only difficulty that I experienced with the guitar, and actually wasn’t with the guitar at all, was trying to acquire a Hiscox hard case for it in the United States. None of the dealers in the U.S.A. carry them. I found a couple in Great Britain that had them but they told me that they had an agreement with Hiscox not to sell them in the United States. Luckily after a lot of searching I found a retailer in Leeds, UK that was willing to ship an authentic Hiscox/Brian May Guitar case to me.I wanted to write to thank you for helping bring this instrument into the marketplace so that someone like myself could afford to own a Red Special replica. Having read Brian May and Simon Bradley’s book Brian May’s Red Special and other information online about Brian May Guitars, I recognized your business card in my packet immediately. Over the past 3 ½ years this guitar been a big part of my musical life, and I hope to be playing live and recording later on in 2018 with my cherished Brian May Guitar. Also, please extend my thanks to Pete Malandrone, and especially Dr. May for sharing an affordable, accessible quality replica of the Red Special with myself and many others around the world. It is truly a world-class instrument.SincerelyBill GradyFort Dodge, Iowa United States of America
Response:
We are sorry that obtaining a suitable case was problematic. For perfectly sensible reasons, our American partners were reluctant to stock our bespoke cases and - although they have always been available to purchase from us WITH the guitar- we had decided not to supply the BMG branded Hiscox cases on their own outside of the European Union because of what we considered the disproportionate cost of shipping them.However, in response to customer demand, we are pleased to announce that the BMG "LITEFLITE" HISCOX CASE is now available to ship WORLDWIDE!
I have a friend who bought one recently, so that - and a penchant for honey coloured guitars - swayed me. I have only had this for a few days and played it little... I will be setting it up for 10's and tieing down the bridge as I attack the strings quite hard while soloing and so need a hard tail (this is the same for ANY guitar I own). Early impressions are that the fit and finish are second to none and available sounds quite phenomenal! The neck is comfortable and eminently playable. No regrets at all and highly recommended!
