Tone on a Budget Brian May

 

Brian May's tone is without a doubt one of the unique voices in Rock guitar

Jamie Humphries

Searching for that unique Brian May tone? Want to do it without breaking the bank? After countless hours spent with the We Will Rock You show, Jamie Humphries probably has more experience than anyone at getting the perfect sound. Here's Jamie's guide to doing it the affordable way.
The origins of 'that sound'
Brian May's tone is without a doubt one of the unique voices in Rock guitar. It's almost like a mystical chain of events resulted in the equipment that came together to produce his sound. Although that sound has evolved and changed slightly over the years, it has always stayed faithful to Brian's initial vision of how he imagined his tone to be. I think that in itself is a very interesting fact that, from the very conception of the Red Special, he knew in his mind how he imagined his voice on the guitar.

Right from the outset, he wanted a rich smooth distortion that would produce feedback, inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck. Originally, in fact, the Red Special was going to have an 'F'