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 love the color of this guitar! And the neck action is smooth and fast and well for me. I have small hands. The variety of tones on a clean amp is amazing. Going in and out of phase between pickups will send you down a rabbit hole for hours. It does for me anyway!I would recommend this guitar to anyone who plays. Shipping was fast, too. Thanks so much.
Although neither is red! I got a sunburst about a year or so ago, and put myself on the list for the Tangerine Dream. What a beautiful axe. The switching is as clean as you can imagine, but that finish - dang! - what a unique color. A true one of a kind.
The candy hues on this guitar would look great on a stick of Brighton Rock, though not bright enough to induce 'Blurred Vision, playing it made this White Man feel like a Cool Cat.Practicing whilst Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon, A Flick of the Wrist induced some Stone Cold Crazy tones. I realized I was putting myself Under Pressure and that I play better when I Don’t Try So Hard. Tangerine Dream, You Take My Breath Away, you made me think you’d been Made In Heaven. But You Don’t Fool Me.The customer service was great too, it’s a Good Company.ThanksJon
A few years ago I bought a Red Special second hand off the internet and enjoyed the guitar. Later, however, I sold it because I wanted to buy other gear. It didn't take long, however, for me to regret selling it, because it left a bigger and better impression than I realised. In other words, I started to miss that guitar.So recently I bought a BMG Special LE Tangerine Dream and it is everything I remembered and more. This truly is a versatile guitar. And sure, I'm compelled to learn to play the classic Queen songs, but this guitar can deliver so much more. I play in a cover band (COVID-19 is preventing us to rehearse and play) and though we do not have any Queen songs in our repertoire at present, I can easily see myself using this Tangerine Special exclusively.I only have two little complaints, very minor : 1. The color of the guitar in the pictures on this website is not accurate with the color of the actual guitar I received. I don't know if this is true for other Limited Edition models, but I would encourage Brian May Guitars to evaluate the pictures they use on their website and maybe take some new ones which are color accurate.2. The guitar is nearly perfect, except for the input jack cavity that is nod completely painted. My conclusion, a very beautiful and versatile guitar for the beginning, the intermediate and the experienced guitarist alike.
Response:
Customers should please note that the photos of the Tangerine Dream Special have now been updated... Eric is quite right, the previous images really did not accurately show how striking this wonderful instrument truly is!!
When I received my guitar at first I thought it had been scratched up on the front plate but, after contacting the company they informed me about the protective film that covers the plate. I then examined the guitar closely and wow... they were correct. The film was articulately placed on the guitar so that it appeared invisible. I removed it (also on the pickups and back plate) and was so happy to see how it made the whole guitar glow. This is a great guitar! I have several vintage collectors guitars, a 79 Madcat, a Cloud, etc... but this by far is the most beautiful of my collection! And it sounds fantastic! 5 out of 5 stars! Thanks BMG, you guys are great!
With all of the idiosyncrasies intact (switches!), this guitar will help the player experience playing the famous Red Special, created by Dr. Brian May. The guitar itself is exeptionally well made, no buzzing, nice string action, very good hand feel on the neck and nice fret heights.In all, a very comfortable guitar to play for all purposes.
Really love the guitar, would recommend to others wanting a variety of sounds from one instrument, also love the color! I have an 84 Guild Brian May, #137, I love them both. The price of this guitar was very low for such a high quality guitar, very happy all around.
