Brian Mays red Special

[darwinswrong]

Brian Mays Red Special

[wokkaboy]

haha Darwin I think this has been suggested a few times. I'd love a red special kit too but think the wiring side of it is very complicated and might be too hard for the factory to put a kit together

[Simon Barden]

There are probably licensing issues too. I don't think any commercial copies of this guitar have been made without Brian May's approval. You've also got issues with items like the trem and bridge. You could substitute a standard Tune-O-Matic bridge (though it wouldn't look quite the same) but the trem is pretty unique. The PBG factory don't do anything like it at all. Even the JM models have a standard Strat trem rather than the Jaguar/Jazzmaster style trem. You'd also get Strat style pickups rather than the Burns style ones.

Electrics wise, I'm sure the factory could provide a pre-wired scratchplate which would make it really easy to put together, though the extra time involved in the wiring would add to the cost of the kit.

You've also got the issue of a shorter 24" scale, 24 fret neck and the special dot-markers, which obviously can be done, but again, it's unique to that guitar so the cost goes up.

Of course there's nothing to stop you making your own like Brian did.

[adam]

Hi Darwinswrong (that was painful to type), we did ask about this style kit and it was a definite "no". Not sure the reason, but I think the other guys are correct, it's probably to do with licensing issues.

If you are inspired by this guitar, then you could do what Brian May did and make it from scratch.

I'm sure there would a lot of interest in your build, as this one comes up a lot, but no kit company is offering it.

[Hobastard]

I'm sure that there is something in the range that you could customise.......
Isn't that why we are here?????

[dingobass]

Had a look at this some time back.
The wiring alone caused me to have to undergo months of therapy.......

[nDR01d]

I did a S-type with the wiring kit bought from Guitar Fetish. Man it was hard - in the end I had to pay for my local tech to do the soldering because my hands shake too much and I don't own an electron microscope to see the switches etc The guitar plays well now (ash body, Entwistle neodymiums and brass trem weight only other major mods) but I wouldn't do it again.

[smeggles]

In the publication "Build your own Electric Guitar" by Paul Balmer with the the forword by Brian May, published by Haynes towards the rear of the book there are eleven colour pages showing this guitar deconstructed ... neck removed and scratch plate and tremelo sytem exposed and a double necked 6 and 12 string version , all electronics and also a company that are producing licenced replicas of the red special .. smeggles..

[Andy40]

IF it were me I would get a PBG-2 kit and mod it.

[Dikkybee007]

To make it easy just go the website http://shop.brianmayguitars.co.uk/ and depending on how much money you have you can have a copy that has been authorised by Doctor May himself. I got the cheaper model which has the following details:

Acoustic Chambered Mahogany Body (most important for the sound)
Two-Piece Scratch Plate
Set-In Mahogany Neck
24" Scale - 24 Fret Ebony Fingerboard
Grover Locking Rotomatic® Tuners
Dual Truss Rod
Graphite nut
Wilkinson WVP Knife Edge Tremolo Bridge with BM Custom Trem Arm
3 x Tri-Sonic Style, Series Wired, Single Coil Pickups
Original BM Style Electrics - Individual Pickup ON/OFF + Phase Switching System

And this came to the grand total of between $1200-$1300 and that is with the included $170 for delivery and a strap as the Ozzie dollar is pretty good at this point or if you want a hand made original copy then roughly multiply by 4 and a bit but for me I am very happy with what I am getting and from the reviews and demo's I have seen on YouTube it will do me.