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.
The reminder for availability and the purchase and delivery process went pretty smooth. Had to pay extra customs and taxes for delivery to Germany. The guitar is very nice. Still learning the various pickup combinations and will likely have to adjust the sounds on my amp a bit to get the most out of it. Having the volume knob off to the right is a bit inconvenient since you can't operate it with your pinky quickly, and the neck is thicker than what I am used to. Otherwise the guitar plays well and sounds great. The mechanics seem to be solid quality and also the tremolo system holds the tuning well. So far I am satisfied and excited. Been a huge Brian May fan for decades. My favourite guitar sound. So this was a bucket list item that I will be playing live soon.
I’ll start by saying that everyone at BMG area joy to deal with. Great communications from Dave leading up to the product’s release, fast delivery, and the guitar was setup beautifully. Gig ready! Unboxing was great fun - what a finish! It really does sparkle, and everyone who has seen it has commented on how beautiful it looks. This guitar sounds exactly as it should. Sparkly cleans, creamy drive sounds. Just add a treble booster and 3 AC30s (or any digital model of an AC30 - I use the Helix for live use these days). In the couple of weeks I’ve had the guitar it’s been onstage with me for three shows with my tribute, Don’t Stop Queen Now. So far it has been used for Fat Bottomed Girls and You’re My Best Friend, and later this year it will also be used for Thank God It’s Christmas. If you’re reading this review you’ll doubtless be familiar with how different the guitar sounds are across these songs, so that in itself is testament to the broad range of tones available from this one guitar. I love this guitar and would definitely recommend for anyone wanting to stand out aurally and visually, onstage or at home!
