The BMG Special LE - Baby Blue

List Price £995.00
UK Price  £895.00 Inc. 20% VAT
WORLDWIDE PRICE £745.83
(5 Reviews)
Limited Stock Available - Buy Now!
Product Details
"The variety and uniqueness on offer here make this an outstanding
recording guitar when you've run out of options on your usual guitar" 
Jason Sidwell • Guitar Techniques

Brian May Guitars Special. - Baby Blue

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.

Acoustic Chambered Mahogany Body

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.

24" Scale Mahogany Neck

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. 

Tri-Sonic Style Pickups

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.

Original BM Switching System

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.

Wilkinson Knife-Edge Tremolo

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.

Locking Tuners

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.

Complete with Padded Gig Bag

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.

Specifications
Body Acoustic chambered mahogany with mahogany top
FINISH Gloss polyurethane
Binding 6-ply pinstripe, front and back
Neck 1-piece mahogany
NECK JOIN Set neck construction
Truss Rod Dual action / 440mm
Fingerboard Coromandel ebony
Frets 24 x medium jumbo 18% nickel/silver vintage size frets + zero fret
Fret Wire Crown Height: 0.914mm (0.036") / Crown Width: 2.7mm (0.106") / Radius: 230mm (9.0")
Inlays BM pattern white front + side dots (Φ 6mm / Φ 1.5mm)
StriNG GUIDE PPS (45mm x 6mm)
Pickups 3 x BM brand custom Tri-Sonic style series wired single coil pickups
Switches White slider switches – 3 x pickup on/off / 3 x pickup phase in/out
Controls Master volume / Master Tone (A500K / B500K) with BM replica aluminium control knobs
Bridge Wilkinson WVP 2-point, knife edge tremolo (36mm block) with brass saddles
Tremolo Arm Custom BMG arm with plastic tip
Machineheads 3-a-side chrome thumbwheel locking tuners with 18:1 gear ratio
Pickguards Plastic main control plate and half-moon tail plate with matching truss rod cover, black tremolo cavity cover
Overall Length 98.8cm (38.9")
Body Length 40.63cm (16")
Body Width 35.67cm (14")
Body Depth 40mm (1.57")
WEIGHT Approx. 3.2kg (7lb)
Scale 610mm (24")
FINGERBOARD RADIUS 250mm (9.8")
Neck Width at Nut 45mm (1.77")
Neck Width at 12th Fret 53mm (2.09")
Neck Width at 24th Fret 57mm (2.24")
Neck Depth at 1st Fret 22mm (0.87")
Neck Depth at 12th Fret 24mm (0.94")
String Spacing at Nut 36mm (1.42")
String Spacing at 12th Fret 45mm (1.77")
String Spacing at Bridge 54mm (2.13")
Strings D'Addario EXL120 Nickel Wound Super Light – Plain Steel .009 - .011 - .016 / Wound .024 - .032 - .042
INCLUDED GIG BAG Premium quality BMG gig bag with twin shoulder straps, side/front grab handles, dual zipped front pockets and stitched logo
Country Of Origin World Musical Instruments Co. Ltd., South Korea
Audio Demos

SIR Brian May

An exclusive demonstration of the first iteration of the BMG Special by the maestro himself.

 

Lucas Vianna

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.

 

Customer Reviews
Write a Review and share your opinions!
5 Reviews:

It is a thing of beauty!
Rating:
03 January 2021  | 

I have never held an electric guitar before, and never even dreamed of owning one until... the moment I saw the sold-out Baby Blue BMG Special LE on the website. I knew I had to have it. I was informed that it won’t be available for purchase until early 2021. As luck would have it, I was notified over a week later that one was available. Of course, I purchased it the same day. So glad I did because it is sold out again. It was shipped and arrived within a week in California.

My Baby Blue is even more beautiful in person! It is a thing of beauty! Excellent craftsmanship! It is a Christmas gift from my husband I am a QUEEN fan and a huge Brian May fan. Owning a BMG makes me feel so special! Looking forward to learning my favorite Queen and Brian May songs. I am a beginner and my guitar sounds great. Love it! The gift pack and gig bag are a great bonus.

Special thanks to Dave G. for all his help and prompt email responses. Excellent customer service! I highly recommend this website and will be a repeat customer.

 
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Beautiful guitar
Rating:
21 November 2020  | 

I own two BMG Special LE guitars, and I think the quality is fantastic - playability, weight, balance, sonic variety. Just great guitars for the price. I'm a bit of a tone wonk, so I immediately voided the warranty on this guitar by rewiring the guitar for series/parallel tone options (thanks to JohnH's wiring diagram on guitarnuts2.proboards.com). The BMG's are just really nice guitars, and priced well below their value.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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All of you there are amazing
Rating:
30 October 2020  | 

Every time I make a purchase with you guys, your customer service amazes me! Thank you for the update, all of you there are amazing. Thanks for all your help.

 
 

Beautiful Guitar, Plays Superb
Rating:
01 June 2019  | 

I have a Natural finish BMG guitar and it is absolutely stunning in looks, sound and feel to play.

If I was to buy a second it would without any doubt be the Baby Blue with the gold hardware. The pictures really do not do it justice, seeing it in person I can say it's an absolutely beautiful looking guitar that anyone seeing it will fall in love with it.

And of course, as with all the BMG guitars it will sound and play unbelievably great. Go on spoil yourself!!!!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Tone is awesome
Rating:
26 June 2017  | 

It is a beautiful guitar, finish is immaculate and could not ask for better playability, tone is awesome. Very, Very happy customer.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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