All the neoclassical shredders don't achieve the same charm as Brian May. There's something very Baroque about his playing. He has such a beautiful tone, and an amazing touch. Nobody sounds like Brian May.
Avoine Judas well he and his father built the red special out of necessity because they couldn't afford an electric guitar. so yeah he's a humble guy :-]
I was lucky enough to meet him 3 times this past summer..Very kind and humble..goes out of his way to make you feel comfortable and appreciated for being a fan..even if you totally geek out..which of course I did ..
There is another video somewhere of him doing the same thing so i don't think it's as accidental as you may think. Perhaps he made the mistake here and went with it for other demonstrations.
i actually thought "wow, he never makes a mistake and if he would, it was punnished so hard by the delay" but he did xD. Would have never noticed... I thouhgt this would be funny to hear for you lol ^^
The note at 1:34 was used a lot for the guitar solo piece a in 1986 but not in that context of what he was playing in this video for that run he would sometimes play some power chords and proceed into a theremin type sound after that he'd occasionally use that run but because he knew it so well he could use it in the context to what he was playing. Really interesting how some old guitarists can bring something up from so long ago to help them a bit. I remember Jimmy Page played a nasty solo on Train Kept a-Rollin in 1991 with Aerosmith but he hadn't played the song since 1980 the solo was pretty bad at first but then it was turned into something that sounded like Zeppelin in there prime. U can probably find loads of guitarists who remember old bits and pieces from muscle memory... well I guess with every mistake u learn something new or just do something u haven't done in a long time.
Brian channels the diembodied spirits of long departed ancient English musicians and composers with each note he plays. Not exclusive to Brian though, The Beatles once did the same thing in order to create their masterpieces of music, only doing so accidentally killed Paul in '66 but they brought him back quickly by consulting with Aleister Crowley and subsequently the rest of the Beatles had to give up their souls to you know *who* just to make Sgt Pepper's. It's true I tell ya 🤣🤣
I'm not a guitarist but massive Queen fan, and it always amazes me just how each solo is perfectly written for each song. He's not one of those guys just trying to fit in as many notes as he can on some technical level.. he somehow created 'timeless' solos.. sigh I miss Queen ;(
@@Actiomedey It has to be fairly clean for good separation, so he rolls back on the volume for the more articulate bits. Delay parts are about basic timing and being in the grove, because they kinda have to be to work. But you need that to play well with other people anyway. If you can practice to a metronome you can play against a delay. Now - I would be the last person to say you can easily copy Brians feel, exultance and vast honed stadium attitude. But what he is playing, from a basic point view of placing your sausages is not too difficult to work out.
That tone is to die for. He plays at unbelievable stage volumes. Those AC30's are incredibly loud. He used 9 of them live! I think he has one of the most recognized guitar sounds I have ever heard.
@@frossbog Now they are, there were times in past when all the amps were on. There were also times where there were 12, 16 or occasionally even more AC30s on stage.
Actualmente ocupa 6 y en el Magic Tour 86 ❤️ tuvo un muro de 15, pero es 1 el máster, el del medio, que es el que está conectado a su amplificador Petherson que se encuentra al costado derecho de su pared de AC30, en el vídeo del backstage de Wembley se puede apreciar, el resto es solo para salida.
I can't really explain it, but Brian's playing just sounds like HOME. George Harrison is the only other guitar player whose work comes close to that for me.
He is always so genuine and humble. I think it's the man that makes the gear. For me I love it when a certain tone or effect really shines. It becomes a conduit for inspiration. The first time it happened in public was at an open mic. A beautiful Les Paul copy had just joined the heard. When noodling and going through some scales it started to speak. The best thing was it was me speaking in the most wonderful of timbres. I stood up and high tailed to the open mic. I had no idea what would happen. Secure in the knowledge that I could hang w some of the heavier hitters the tall Bacardi coke tasted so sweet. The MC called me the wrong name and up on stage I went. Secure in knowing that I could do it I went up there blew peoples minds. It felt soooooooo good. I had 1 pedal in my chain and a semi-custom built Vox VT20+. Instantly every player's ears perked up when I hit that first chord. & years of toil came exploding out. Everything felt so good and easy. Blues,Rock and stuff I never knew I had Just oozed from that ax. All the good players wanted join me onstage. Every note fit perfect, even the mistakes were good. So cool to back up the veteran players on stuff new to me. I took a break and passed my ax off to a 35 yr player. He player a couple a numbers and asked if he could use his guitar w my rig. Not even close to what I had. People were coming up shaking my hand and thanking me. The lesson I took awawy were 1) RELAX Beauty passes from soul to strings far easier thru calm loose body. 2) Guitar Face: don't focus to hard just let the music pass thru your body.... if your face coveys honest emotion than so will your guitar 3) Lay back Play in little phrases and rest for few bars then it builds anticipation and adds dynamics it doesn't always have to be going 100 mph. 4) study the crowd Once you get the listeners on your side... It's on. At 46 I picked up the guitar and seven years later it remains welded to my fingers. Thank you Brian May for being one of the many who inspire. Truly a giant in a forest of redwoods.
Can we all just agree that, not only is Brian May one of the all time great guitarists, he wields the best electric guitar known to man. It’s a shame the Red Special isn’t as know as well as the Telecaster or Stratocaster because that guitar is probably one of the most beautiful and versatile instruments ever made, being able to rock your socks off in Dead on Time yet being able so play a beautiful melody in You Take My Breath Away or Love of my life. May, you’re amazing.
ericpierre53 there's no other guitar that sound like the red special. It has an altogether unique sound. Brian is a genius on many levels - that he and hid dad built the RS, he plays like a genius, and well he has a PhD in Astrophysics...
He's not especially "humble," he know his own worth. But he's not "stuck up," and doesn't need to act any different from what he is to impress people. He's just incredibly NICE, unlike many gifted people. 💜
@@sallylynnschur4278 He actually IS incredibly humble. He has said many times that he doesn't consider himself a particularly accomplished guitarist. But he understands and accepts his technical limitations, be those what they may, and absolutely maximizes his musical talent. Same goes for David Gilmour.
Wow, never seen this before - fab - used a delay back in the 80s as a teen just to try and recreate the Brighton rock madness - love how he acknowledges it can go out of control too. Fab
@HolyGK I hate it when people compare guitarists. I hate it even more when they falsify facts about the guitarist that they don't like. You sir, have done both.
Brian May is awesome. When he plays his Red Special becomes part of him. He makes playing seem so effortless. It is a joy to listen to him and I will never tire of that superb sound!
I bought a may red special in December and it is the most fantastic guitar I have ever played. The neck is a little wider than my les Paul but the sound from the tri sonic pickups are to die for
I got one in 2008 and immediately played some large shows here in Taiwan. I've never played anything like it. Used it so much and just today, the shaft of the volume pot fell out, lol.
He is the master of layered guitars. He makes multi-part harmonies go on & on & on....It goes one place & winds up going in many CRAZY directions. I'm in awe of that effect. You don't need another guitarist playing with you with this effect, It's ALREADY THERE ! He plays call & respond with the guitar effortlessly. He may mess up but it (delay) covers up many flubs & you can't tell If he did or didn't flub. Anyway. This is one great (overlooked) guitarist.
Yes you are absolutely right. When Brian played at the saville with Steve Vai, Joe satriani, Joe Walsh, just name a few. Steve Vai played Brian's guitar. It sounded like Steve Vai. He said it's all in Brian's fingers.
That typical British understatement - he is quite unpretentious about his (many!!) skills... And of course there's thát guitar! Such a distinctive and warm midrange you can not ever get from, say, a Strat.
I've just noticed; I was at this clinic, which I believe was in the December of 1999. There's a video around these parts called Brian May guitar 1992 and he's wearing the same T-shirt, which raises 2 questions. Is the man too busy to shop for clothes, and why am I such a dork...
The one guitarist on this planet that can inspire James Hetfield, The Edge, and David Gilmour. May is just the pillar of electric guitar. From any genre.
Brian´s playing has something very classical to it. I dunno if Baroque or not, but I love listening to it. The dual guitar parts are really the trademark of Brian´s sound, I wonder why a lot of people mention cranked AC30s and Rangemasters but not the dual guitar aspect.
I have always wondered about the delay and how it is achieved - if it is mentioned here I missed it - first time I saw Queen, the Queen II tour, but then even more so on the Sheer Heart Attack tour, his solo bit with the delay was beyond stunning - so anyway - is it achieved via gear on the board, a pedal, in the Red Special itself? Would love to know - thanks
He uses 1 or 2 single repeats set at 800 and 1600 milliseconds going across the stereo left and right. I think back in the early days he used a couple of tape echo units. Then probably swapped to rack units. I'm sure some of the modern pedals can replicate it.
Some nice references in this short clip. aI can absolutely hear bits and pieces from Russian Headlong, White Man and quite a bit from his live guitar solo performances (like the one from Rock Montreal 1981). Just really really cool for some reason.
Delay has become an emotive subject in modern playing . I think it all started with Hank Marvin, Maybe his Apache type numbers. Its now become almost a science. I must admit Brian makes it interesting to watch. . The edge uses it so well on some of U2s albums.
Any delay pedal can do it. Generally you'd get a setting for the delay time in milliseconds and a setting for the amount of repeats, from 1 repeat to infinite repeats. You don't need a special delay pedal for it
Probably, if you can find the right delay (900 milliseconds - 1800 milliseconds). The BEST (but most expensive way) is like this: Three VOX AC30's, a three way splitter and two delay pedals. Oh, and a new house somewhere with NO NEIGHBOURS since they'll do deaf (or power soaks in the voxes)
(in addition and in no certain order) David Gilmour. Alex Lifeson. Steve Howe. Steve Hackett. Robert Fripp. Allen Collins. Billy Gibbons. Eddie Van Halen. Jimmy Page. Wes Montgomery. Pat Metheny. Stevie Ray Vaughn. Alvin Lee. Charlie Christian. Eric Clapton. Jeff Beck. Joe Satriani. Steve Vai. Nancy Wilson. Andre Segovia. John Williams (the guitarist). Julian Bream. Greg Lake. Mike Rutherford. Trevor Rabin. (etc.)
i love brian ihave an exact replica made for me by filipe from portugal of the red special its georgeous even the neck has rustins plastic coating and gives it that shiney look anyway brian rocks he makes you want to play guitar
i know right.. there was a limited edition guitar pedal ("DigiTech Artist Series Brian May Pedal") some time back that replicated the sound pretty well, but it's around $400+ on all the sites i'm looking at..
Cobalt Nolastnameforyou Yeah I heard about that. Actually I heard about it in a list of the worst guitar pedals of all time or something. They said it was really complicated. Probably sounds good though. Thanks.
oh really?? ahh, i've seen some reviews of it, it sounds pretty neat i think. (youtube)/watch?v=HBtphe_u8u8 but yeah no worries buddy, good luck figuring out this tone if you're still going for it.
I'm not quite sure, but AFAIK, May uses the Vox AC-30s with Flanger, Chorus, Delay effects and perhaps others. He also uses other pedals but on delay, I'm sure he uses VOX AC-30S amp.
