QUEEN: Days Of Our Lives - Two-Part Documentary To Air On BBC 2 TV

[Ian Price]

I'm just listening to Sheer Heart Attack. It's great listening to the 'non-hits'. Some really good stuff on it, what a player Brian May is! I might even just get GAS for a Red Special.

[Brow]

Thought I'd jump in too!  :lol:

Queen have always been 1 of my favourite bands and Brian May is a massive influence on me. Freddies also my favourite frontman and vocalist.

Over the last few nights I've watched the Welmbley gig on DVD and have started on the Tribute 1 too. I need to get the CD of Live At Milton Keynes Bowl to go with the DVD and like Ian, have been thinking about buying 1 of the RS guitars again.

All I ask of anyone that gets or already owns an RS Guitar is to not go overly anal with it like the guys on the RS Forum that I used to be a member of do! They even complained that the screws in the scratchplate of the Burns guitar were wrong  :roll:

[AndyR]

I might even just get GAS for a Red Special.

I've had mine for over a year and I'm very happy with it. You can get close to Brian May tones with all manner of guitars, but you don't realise how far away that is until you play one of these.

Be warned though, although it's extremely versatile, it has the "ghost of Brian May" in it :lol:

If, like me, you're after "vintage tones" then, at a pinch, you can do a passable tele part on a Les Paul, and vice versa. You can do strat-work on an SG, you can play Andy Powell's (Wishbone Ash) Flying V stuff on an Explorer, or whatever you like. I've always found you can get close to the tone and feel, no matter what guitar you're playing... not so (for me) with the Red Special...

It does Brian May style, and that's it. Play a tele part and it sounds like you're trying to play a tele part on the wrong guitar!

Not for nothing did he always have to use tele live for the signature solo in Crazy :lol:

In fact - did this come out in the documentary? - they (the band and Mack) really p1ssed him off while recording The Game. They were trying to get away from the bog-standard Queen sound at the time and explore new worlds. They found, because BM insisted on playing the Red Special all the time, that the only way to do this was record the basic track before BM came in or even knew a song existed.

On Crazy, they flatly refused to allow him to use the Red Special, the guitar that had recorded virtually everything for Queen up until then. Mack told him something along the lines of "it's a tele part, you need to play it on a tele or you'll write the wrong part...". Being a guitarist, I understand that BM wasn't too impressed at the time. Basically they were saying we don't want your guitar in Queen's sound at the moment. They meant that guitar, we want your playing... but I imagine I'd have got the hump, and for the same reasons, in the same situation :lol:

Anyway, certainly for Crazy, I think they were right. Look at the stunning part he came up with... but you can't make it sound like that (or even play it with that feel) on a Red Special.


SO! Ian "man of fender" etc... my advice is this: Only lust after a Red Special and, even more important, only buy one for the reason that I did - "I know it's a bit self-indulgent, but I want a Brian May guitar so that I can pretend to be Brian May in the privacy of my own playing area..." :lol:

EDIT: Yeah, Brow, you're right - even with the few changes they made after setting up BM guitars - the scratchplate's the wrong shape, the knobs are wrong (but you can get replacements), the neck ain't an elephant trunk, and the trem is not his design, etc etc...

The only one that really bothered me was the trem. Where he (and I) rests his right hand puts the cheaper copy out of tune, just like it does a strat. I've got used to it now, but I really would like to have his trem system - would be a bit expensive though...

Nah, it's a lovely geetar, buy it for what it is and what it does for you. Love it as it is, and don't try to wish it was something else (the more expensive copy, the real one, or a tele, strat, SG, LP, etc, etc)

[Philly Q]

Btw - has anyone got or heard these new remastered remasters? Is it really worth me buying it all again?! :lol:

I was aware of the new remasters, but didn't realise they were already out. 

Just looking on Amazon, they seem to be available in both 1-disc and 2-disc editions.  Comments on the sound quality are generally favourable, but people seem to be quite disparaging about the bonus content.  Then again, if you haven't already got previous editions....

I tend to get a bit "OCD" about always buying the best, most complete versions of CDs, DVDs etc..... I'm getting the urge to spend now.  :roll:

(Speaking of which, have you seen the new Pink Floyd remasters coming out?  The "Immersion" box sets are £90 each!  :o )

[Philly Q]

In fact - did this come out in the documentary? - they (the band and Mack) really p1ssed him off while recording The Game. They were trying to get away from the bog-standard Queen sound at the time and explore new worlds. They found, because BM insisted on playing the Red Special all the time, that the only way to do this was record the basic track before BM came in or even knew a song existed.

On Crazy, they flatly refused to allow him to use the Red Special, the guitar that had recorded virtually everything for Queen up until then. Mack told him something along the lines of "it's a tele part, you need to play it on a tele or you'll write the wrong part...". Being a guitarist, I understand that BM wasn't too impressed at the time. Basically they were saying we don't want your guitar in Queen's sound at the moment. They meant that guitar, we want your playing... but I imagine I'd have got the hump, and for the same reasons, in the same situation :lol:

There was a bit in the documentary where they talked about "Crazy Little Thing....", I think it was Freddie saying they tried to record most of it before Brian got into the studio.  They didn't specifically mention the Red Special/Tele thing though (too guitar-geeky for the general viewer, I guess!)

[AndyR]

Yeah, I looked at some of the Queen CDs and saw the bonus stuff wasn't enough to drag me in. If they've made the actual albums, er, better... then mebbe.

But they're kind of restricted. When they did the last lot, they were thinking "hey we can fix the muffled bvox on You're My Best Friend". But when they got the multitrack out they realised they couldn't - it's a bounce, and the original tracks are long gone.

I suppose I ought to do what I did last time: pick either Sheer Heart Attack or Night At The Opera and just buy it. Then there'll be hours of comparison, making Mrs R listen, etc.. I'll end up justifying the purchase (forgetting it was a trial) and thinking "yes, it's better" .... and then I'll have to buy all the others...

Pink Floyd, I've only got the "big three", don't listen to them much anyway, so I probably won't get too excited :lol:


I'm sure where I heard/read the story about the Red Special and band arguments there-on... but it was Brian May telling it. I wasn't entirely sure that he's actually over what happened yet!

[blue]

i'm one of the seemingly tiny number of people that bought DVD-Audio discs, and i have Night At The Opera and The Game.  it got criticism from some silly people, but the high resolution audio sounds great, and personally i really enjoyed the 5.1 mixes, especially ...Opera.  if any of you happen to come across one of these discs i'd personally recommend them over any cd re-master.  they have the original stereo mixes in hi-res audio as well as the new surround mixes.

[Ian Price]

SO! Ian "man of fender" etc... my advice is this: Only lust after a Red Special and, even more important, only buy one for the reason that I did - "I know it's a bit self-indulgent, but I want a Brian May guitar so that I can pretend to be Brian May in the privacy of my own playing area..." :lol:

 :D

Definitely still man of Fender (and probably always will be) I think the GAS was one of those moments when you see a sh!t hot guitarist playing a particular guitar and think "if I just had one of those I too would sound great". Of course this type of thinking is all folly and I would end up just sounding like a sh!t Brian May. I also have short hair so would need a wig to at least half convince myself.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Yeah, I looked at some of the Queen CDs and saw the bonus stuff wasn't enough to drag me in.

I'm sure where I heard/read the story about the Red Special and band arguments there-on... but it was Brian May telling it. I wasn't entirely sure that he's actually over what happened yet!

I hate re-buying a classic album and it's got some extra iffy tracks or live versions tacked on the end it really spoils the flow of the original album. I'm much happier if you get an extra disc with items on  and the original disc is left intact

As far as Red Specials goes - I tried this one a number of years back but found the neck a bit huge

My respect for Brian and what he was able to play on this guitar went up even further

[AndyR]

I hate re-buying a classic album and it's got some extra iffy tracks or live versions tacked on the end it really spoils the flow of the original album. I'm much happier if you get an extra disc with items on  and the original disc is left intact

A BIG +1 to this.

Originally I was enticed by the bonus stuff when people started doing it. But I loathe it now. For example, I loaded up some Gillan albums in the night-time CD player last night, and was somewhat dispirited to find a bunch of bonus tracks on them.

I think it might be that I still listen to "albums" not tracks - I want to hear the package that they put out as a finished album. Even if I don't really like a couple of tracks, I'll still listen to them as part of the whole experience. I understand this is a "boy" thing. Where the missus runs her mp3 player on random shuffle, and sets up randomn playlists of favourite songs on her PC, I'm still listening to albums (with the bonuses carefully removed!).

On the Red Special:

I'd still like to find out how thick/square that neck actually feels :lol:. I suspect some of it's offset by the shorter scale-length. I always used to be amazed at how he does sus4s on barre chords (eg the 7th fret E in something like the fast version of We Will Rock You, and a lot of other songs). I've even seen footage of him effortlessly using the pinky for alternate sus4s on the second string and sus6s on the fourth. I could never manage it like that... until I got one of these guitars - it's a lot easier to do on a Red Special. In fact, it was that that made me realise it was a shorter scale-length.

Leaving out the thickness of the original, that shorter length but wider board (even though it's 7.25 radius) is really easy to play. Usually I don't go above 15th fret or so, and then single notes or double-bends only. On the RS, I'm happily playing barre chords up there, even with apparently less space, and I'm doing lead stuff all the way to the 24th.

If you're a big Brian May fan and can afford something like this as a "toy" - it is WELL worth it guys :D. (You need to get sixpence as well though...)

It is so versatile that I'm sure someone could make one into "their" guitar, to create their own sound. But only if you can get over the "ghost of Brian May" vibe... I can't personally, because a lot of my own rhythm and arranging style has been learnt/filched from Queen albums for the last 30 years! :lol:

[Philly Q]

Oh God, now you're giving me GAS for a Brian May guitar, and I'm not even a particularly big fan.  :lol:

Looking at the specs, I know the neck shape doesn't copy the original but it sounds reasonably chunky - 22mm at the first fret and 24 at the 12th.  The ebony board is an attractive feature too.

It looks pretty bloody funky in some of the alternate colour schemes - I like the green and the sunbursts.

Where are they made nowadays?  Korea presumably?  And what's the weight like?

[Modular1]

Queen were the first band I ever loved. Being a queen fan at 13 years old in 85 was not particularly cool. Even I wasn't really enthused about the post "The Game" albums.

But to this day I will still remember my joy and vindication of the piss take I used to get as a queen fan after they played Live Aid. It was shite until they came on and it was shite after they went off. They owned it.

If it wasn't for the likes of Queen 2 (get this cd if you dont have it) I wouldn't have such a rich and varied taste in music.

[AndyR]

Philly - Yeah, the green does look very cute.

Mine seems quite light - I'm guessing it's probably my lightest guitar (I'm assuming the hardboard Dano is lighter, but I've not compared :lol:).

It does have a fairly vicious neck-dive if you let go of it, but you don't notice when you're playing.

The only thing that vaguely bugs me is that the waist on the body is NOT where your arm crosses the edge of the body - I guess Mr May didn't consider comfort too much when building it! Aesthetically it's no problem, but it wears into your arm... You definitely want to be wearing long sleeves or a big ole sweatband on your right wrist if you're playing for any length of time.

[FELINEGUITARS]

This expires on the BBC iPlayer  on Wednesday night - so go and watch it now if you've been promising it to yourself

[plastercaster]

I kept thinking ahh, but they were never as good after x album and there was always another perfect pop song next to come. The Live Killers version of we will rock you is one of the best live cuts of all time.