Burns Brian May Red Special set up

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  • čas přidán 4. 06. 2024
  • This is 'Brian's Burns Brian May Red Special. Yes, Brian is a made up name in a lame attempt to protect a GAS-afflicted individual from marital conflict :D First thing to say is that while this is a singular and recognisable guitar (designed by Brian May and his father Harold with a mixture of common-sense and innovation) it is still 'just' a guitar. In that sense it suffers from the basic guitar set up faults: this 2nd hand one arrived so badly 'set up' that it's no wonder that the previous owner sold it. To have tried to play it in that state would have been the most.... disappointing experience.
    As a guitar, it was designed with intelligence and inspiration with Brian and his dad knowing exactly what they were after. The result is a unique guitar that is resonant and feeds back in a controllable, usable way. With the 3 Burns 'TriSonic' pickups it delivers a clang-y tone that's completely unlike a Strat. Add to that the Rangemaster treble boost and a hot Vox AC30 valve amp and you've got the tones that Brian used to create and define the sound of Queen.
    This Burns version of the 'Red Special' is a credible version and the first commercially-available Red Special to the masses. It's very similar to the later BHM Guitars version (where Brian set up and controlled the production of this iconic model); the main differences being the kind of bridge used. In the BHM Guitars version the bridge is a Wilkinson model, here it's a Burns Of London model.
    In all the important ways, the Burns model is a great Red Special. It's only flaws are slightly lifting fret ends (causing occasional annoying E string hook-ups), a general tendency to be slightly heavy... and - perhaps most irritating of all, a clash between the front edge of the bridge and the back edge of the thick pickguard as shown in the video thumbnail.
    If this was my guitar, I would probably find somewhere to stash a little lead ballast to balance the guitar up better and I'd have to 'edit' that pickguard to allow the free range of movement of the bridge plate when tilting forwards for big down bends.
    In summary; these criticisms are relatively minor. The Burns Red Special is a very good reproduction of one of the most iconic electric guitars in rock and with a good set up and fret work no different from other quality brands it's a great instrument. There's an irony here in that the first people who would have rejected the compromises and slight quality issues would have been Brian May and his dad Harold themselves. Why? Because they would have thought this through in advance and designed these flaws OUT of the finished guitar. What we see here are some of the compromises that come out of consumerism and mass manufacturing.
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Komentáře • 16

  • @blkjckgtr3075
    @blkjckgtr3075 Před měsícem +2

    Hey,Sam,good to see your still hard at it,hope Maurice and your wife are doing well,Cheers!nice red special.

    • @SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
      @SamDeeksRelovedGuitars  Před měsícem +1

      We're all good - in the scheme of things. Maurice is in good health - past his 10th birthday now but still our favourite pom-pom tailed little fellow. He'll be smiling from my guitars for many years yet (his furry likeness will outlive both of us I'm sure) :D

  • @paressehylton
    @paressehylton Před měsícem +1

    This guy is a legend. I wish i lived in england so i could bring my guitars to him.

  • @julialacey1604
    @julialacey1604 Před měsícem +2

    Regarding the low area above the 12th fret, Ken Parker makes some interesting comments about this in his Archtoppery videos. He believes that all wood guitar necks, but especially Maple, suffer from a phenomena he calls "creep", particularly in the area where the rear neck profile transitions from a curved cross section to a rectangular cross section. He believes this is caused by the constant steel string tension over an extended period causing the wood fibres to slide past each other to a small degree. This is one of the main reasons he started skinning the back of his guitars (and latterly his floating necks) in carbon fibre - specifically to resist/eliminate this "creep" effect. Ken Parker believes Mahogany isn't affected by this as much as Maple, but this results in Mahogany being more brittle, and hence more prone to headstock/neck breaks.

    • @SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
      @SamDeeksRelovedGuitars  Před měsícem +1

      That's fascinating Julia. I think with my levelling method I don't have to 'conceptualise' that too much i.e. wooden necks do what they do under load and the 'Banana' approach deals with the resultant effect quite well. I call it the 'bumpy topography' of the compressed neck. What's certain is that it's different from the unloaded, uncompressed neck. Obviously we only play the guitar loaded / strung up so what matters is that the frets are relatively level in THAT state, not any other. I'm certain that the change in thickness / profile of the neck will affect the relief curve and compression 'bunching' or bumpiness... interesting that someone has such detailed theories about it!

    • @julialacey1604
      @julialacey1604 Před měsícem +1

      @@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Absolutely, Sam. But if Ken Parker ( of Parker Fly fame) is right about his "creep" theory, the "valley" above the 12 fret will gradually deepen over time - which explains why a lot of guitar techs like to put a fall-off on the high frets above this "valley" area - particularly on Fender (maple) necks. Apparently Ken Parker trained as an engineer and started his working life as a guitar tech doing a lot of precision set-ups, much like yourself. He developed this theory during this time, before he teamed up with Larry Fishman (the piezo pickup king) to found Parker Fly guitars.

    • @SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
      @SamDeeksRelovedGuitars  Před měsícem

      It's definitely an interesting idea / theory... my experience though is that the hills and valleys aren't always in the same place. It's not scientific but I would say that while there IS often a 'valley' at some point past the 12th fret, that's only as meaningful as saying 'there is a valley (or two) in the 2nd half of the neck' - and for every guitar where that's true, there's usually a valley in the 1st half somewhere as well.
      I've never had to do 'fall off' since I started; the Banana method seems to gently 'impose' its smooth(ish) curve onto the less smooth fingerboard and in doing so, it obviates the need to scrape a 'fall-off' into those top frets. I mean, literally, in 2000+ set ups I've never had to put 'fall-off' into a fretboard.

  • @AndrewAHayes
    @AndrewAHayes Před měsícem +2

    I started learning to play in 1975 at 8 years old, after a couple of years my dad's Fender twin amp packed in and so I connected to the phono arm of the record player that was connected to a stereo valve amp and it sounded awesome, of course the amp had a new valve fitted and the stereo was returned to normal function.
    I wonder what Brian first plugged into once the Red Special was completed?
    I also wonder when it was first referred to as The Red Special and by who?

    • @SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
      @SamDeeksRelovedGuitars  Před měsícem +1

      Andrew - that's exactly how I made my first (trashy Satellite 65/T) electric guitar make a sound - by taking apart my dad's stereogram, finding my way to the output from the stylus, tracing it to some blobs of solder and then sellotaping (yes!) my jack plug across the two contact points. I was thrilled a) not to electrocute myself and b) to make a noise, albeit pretty distorted one! Good question about what Brian plugged into... from reading the Red Special book (gifted to me by a customer some years ago now) I *think* it was probably an amp that his dad built. Harold May made their television set amongst other things if I recall correctly - a true electrical engineer of the 40s and 50s.
      I think Brian does talk about the guitar's name... but I don't recall when 'Red Special' occurred or which came first, the 'Old lady' or the 'Red Special'.

  • @alfioinsaudo4179
    @alfioinsaudo4179 Před měsícem

    Una brava persona e ottimo chitarrista

    • @SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
      @SamDeeksRelovedGuitars  Před měsícem

      Agreed. I feel heartbroken sometimes when I see his recent videos; he's become quite melancholy in his old age. You kind of hope that someone a) so talented and b) so successful and c) so intelligent would have found contentment from all of those gifts and blessings... but the reality is that no amount of achievements, possessions or talents can make us feel whole or better. It's as if he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

  • @julialacey1604
    @julialacey1604 Před měsícem +1

    Fascinating video again Sam. I have a question for you about zero frets, if you don't mind. I'm considering refretting my Steinberger Spirit with Hosco Stainless Steel Jumbo Fretwire, but I'm unsure if it's OK to use the same Fretwire for the zero fret, or do I really need to use something a bit bigger?

    • @SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
      @SamDeeksRelovedGuitars  Před měsícem

      The basic 'geometry' of a triangle based on nut / bridge / neck straight line (OK we know it's not quite exactly that i.e. there might be some slight relief etc) shows that on an 'averagely low' set up a regular height zero fret (AKA a capo if you will) will give enough clearance without the zero fret having to be higher. You intuitively know this because if it wasn't true, a capo literally would be useless - and it clearly isn't.
      The reason manufacturers make the zero fret a bigger gauge is (I believe) because they know full well that it's going to notch almost immediately and that, assuming players don't like clicky bends near the nut, they're going to get their techs to crown and remove the notches, the need that extra height to allow for one or two 'filings / re-crownings'. If you like a capo-style first fret action you could instead just fit a regular height stainless and put aside two or three spares while you're at it. Stainless WILL notch, trust me - but you can then just replace the zero fret with a new ready-made stainless one. Just try to avoid superglue when pressing it in to make near-future removal easier.

    • @julialacey1604
      @julialacey1604 Před měsícem

      @mrman846 The zero fret on the Steinberger Spirit is a few tenths of a millimeter higher than the others, just the same as the zero fret on this Red Special Sam's setting up. The problem I have is that I want to fit the highest Stainless Steel frets I can find - so finding an even higher zero fret presents a bit of a problem. Sintoms do make a 1.6mm high zero fret, but it has an offset crown which would probably give intonation problems if fitted in the conventional zero fret position. I was wondering if shimming a conventional fret would be possible, but Sam's answer (as always) makes MUCH more sense.

    • @julialacey1604
      @julialacey1604 Před měsícem

      @@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Thank you for that Sam. Now you've said that, it seems so obvious - lol.
      I want to change the frets for bigger ones as the alleged "medium-jumbo" frets are plenty wide, but not very high - only around 0.9 mm before I levelled them (which was much needed by the way). Hosco rate 0.9 mm fret height as "Small". Another reason to criticize Gibson group made guitars, I feel. I went for the Steinberger as I want a very compact "proper" electric guitar for travel. Great design but very poor execution, I feel.
      I shall, indeed, allow for further changes of the zero fret in the future. Thank you again for your sagacity, Sam.