The BMG Special LE - Windermere Blue
The BMG Special LE - Windermere Blue
The BMG Special LE - Windermere Blue
The BMG Special LE - Windermere Blue

The BMG Special LE - Windermere Blue

List Price £995.00
UK Price  £895.00 Inc. 20% VAT
WORLDWIDE PRICE £745.83
(7 Reviews)
In Stock
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

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!
7 Reviews:

Great
Rating:
24 February 2023  | 

Already got a red one - fab guitar — thought I'd go for a bit of colour.

Another great playing instrument.

Many thanks.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Beautiful Instrument!
Rating:
03 June 2022  | 

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!

 
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Love the versatility
Rating:
13 August 2020  | 

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.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Good Guitar!!
Rating:
18 May 2020  | 

Very good to play and just good guitar. I'm satisfied this. Thank you!

 
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Awesome!!
Rating:
19 February 2020  | 

Awesome!! Thank you!

 
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A Very BMG-ish Guitar
Rating:
03 December 2019  | 

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.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Perfect
Rating:
29 July 2017  | 

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!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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