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.
Already got a red one - fab guitar — thought I'd go for a bit of colour.Another great playing instrument.Many thanks.
Have only had it a couple weeks but love it.Setup was very good out of the box (good action, intonation and no buzz). Shipping cost to USA is extremely high? But for what it’s worth I will say I ordered it on a Sunday night from BMG in London and on Thursday I was playing it in Chicago. Lighting fast shipping and it was packed great. To my US amigos, I would just say that, yes, there are ways to buy the original red finish from USA dealers and save shipping but to get the Windemere finish was worth every penny. It looks nice in the pictures, but ten times better in person; truly the most beautiful guitar I’ve ever owned. Sorry Fender, this is my new go-to. Plays great, feels sturdy, stays in tune when you hit the tremolo bar and the options you get out of the switching system are sweet. Thanks BMG, cheers!
I will use that guitar for different styles and sounds, I'm not playing Queen songs that much. I just love the versatility of the sounds, and the look of the guitar. I don't have to look like Brian, so I decided to go with a different style than the red one. And I love that Windermere Blue .I'm very impressed with the build quality, all the details are flawless - it's a very fine guitar, and value for money is great.
Very good to play and just good guitar. I'm satisfied this. Thank you!
Awesome!! Thank you!
If you’re thinking about buying this guitar to sound like Brian, all the best to you. It will help you on your tone quest. For me, as much as I enjoy Brian’s playing, it’s not why I bought it. I was looking for a guitar with wide tonal possibilities, and this has them. You probably know the specifics – each pick up has its own on/off switch, and in-phase/out-of-phase switch. This allows you to go from dark/mellow to bright/treble tones and everything in between. Even though I don’t personally sound like Brian (who does?) I enjoy the many tonal options this guitar gives. What surprised me most of all was the depth and snarl of the single coils. It’s like someone forgot to tell them they’re single coils, and they’re not supposed to sound like humbuckers too. So two thumbs up for the tonal options. I admire quality workmanship. This guitar has it. The attention to detail and finish are excellent. The paint and binding are faultless. For its intermediate price range I think the quality is top shelf. Colour is a very personal thing and I personally love the Windermere Blue and its retro vibe. The main electric I played prior to the BMG arriving was an Ibanez JS model. I love that guitar, its pickups, amazing ergonomics and super fast neck (I’m not a super fast player though). Regarding the BMG’s neck, I find it 'medium' sized, so compared to the slim Ibanez it took a little getting used to at first. Having played the BMG now for a couple of weeks I find the neck is just fine and have come to really like it. The only thing I haven’t found excellent is intonation across the neck. I’ve had some well intonated guitars and I think this one is good rather than great. However, I do mean good, and don’t have enough of an issue with it to mark my rating down (or maybe I’m not being critical enough on this point but I expect it will improve with a small set up adjustment). I think the guitar is great for rock, blues and even ambient tones. I’m not sure about jazz or country, but I don’t play those genres. In the hands of a better player, I expect it can do a decent job of those too, given its wide tonal options. The BMG definitely has its own unique thing going on – it’s nothing like a Strat, or Les Paul, or SG, or Tele (giving my generation away here). It’s very much BMG-ish. And I think that’s great. I love it and look forward to exploring it as I get to know this guitar more.
The guitar was shipped quickly and it is a beautiful guitar. I've owned over 30 guitars and this is one of the best I've owned!
