How To Sound like Brian May with Sh*t Gear

In this follow-up to my "Ultimate Queen: How to Sound
like Brian May" video trifecta - technique, guitar, effects and "amp" - I show you how you can get a reasonable representation of his tone with the sh*ttiest equipment you can get your hands on! What could possibly go wrong???

Corrections: the action on the guitar was almost 1/4" high before shimming, about 1/16" after. Will annotate this video as soon as I figure out how.

[QueenCelebrationLive]

_>It may not be Red Special, but it's red... and it's... special_
This is gold! 🌟🏆

[ThatllShowEm]

"It may not be a Red Special, but it is red... and it's... special." :)

[philstevenson]

Having owned the Vox 'Deacy' amp I was extremely impressed with what you achieved. I agree with another comment that you got closer to Brian's violin like tone than people who have all his gear. Brilliant video. Loved it.

[fviannaval]

Loved the approach, especially the tea towels!

[ransomwatts]

This sounds so amazing! Finally a way to sound like Brian without busting the bank

[RickLaForce]

I saw Queen at Winterland on March 30, 1975. It was their Sheer Heart Attack tour and they shared the bill with local favorites Yesterday and Today (Y&T) and a little band you might remember, Mahogany Rush. Brian May sounded EXACTLY like this that night . . .

Thanks for the best laugh I've had all day. Even though you were joking around, you still sounded more like May than anyone I've heard cover him, despite some of the high-$$$ equipment they were using.

[Shred_The_Weapon]

It was during that upload by Premier Guitar from the 2014 Summer tour of Queen with Adam Lambert that Pete made that comment about how Brian could sound like himself on any guitar. He mentioned one of the cats that used to accompany Meat Loaf picking up Brian‘s Red Special, playing it and sounding nothing like him. I also believe that ‘Brian will sound like himself no matter what he plays.

For my part, Tristan, my goal has never been to sound like Brian (although I was once totally flattered when someone actually told me my playing reminded them of his). However, what I’ve always enjoyed about the red special is its features, the 24-fret fingerboard, the zero-friction stringing, the semi-hollow cavities and the aces to all 3 pickups w/ the phase switching. In that interview from 2014, I believe Brian said he wondered why other people weren’t trying to implement that feature in the guitars that were being built.
under my real name, Eric Benjamin Gordon, I have uploaded a video of myself demonstrating a parts caster that was built with that type of switching. I have dubbed that guitar “Roebling”, since that guitar was my main ax during the making of a record of mine called *Brooklyn Bridge.* In that video, I do play a small smattering of Queen riffs, but I focus on simply trying to demonstrate everything the guitar can do beyond the realm of emulating Brian May. There’s not remotely enough examples of people playing guitars with that pick up configuration and not trying to emulate him.

[thiscorrosion]

I have a sneaking suspicion that after rec. this video, the "Hammer Will Fall" on this gear! LOLZZSZZ mirth mirth mirth

[margherita]

Thanks for this video 🙂
The cloth trick is amazing, the sound changes a lot!
I hope you can shoot some videos on the road with UQC (nice t shirt by the way)

[ThinkGarza]

This was great playing above all else!

[tonymadad]

Hammer to fall solo sound more like the album that the majority of the owners of brian may guitar .... of which I am!

[AndyMangele]

One of the most entertaining guitar videos I have ever watched - your (very) dry sense of humor made my day! 😂

[jacobh]

2:09 I got a cheap guitar for my 15th birthday, and that was how the pots sounded. About a year later I realised that there was wrapping plastic. Wtf?!

[pickman]

Another great video. Thanks for sharing Tristan!

[jessicabaxter]

Really enjoyed this vid it was interesting and fun. Awesome show last night at perth concert hall!

[olegtolmachev]

much info and funny to see! result - no bad tune!

[chrztl]

this video was very interesting! didn't know about the tea towel! that sounds so helpful i guess it can slightly help bring downsome high frequencies!

I dont think there are people making videos like these!! keep it up! and you're an awesome guitar player

[randomelvis]

Nice content Tristan, young guitarists with little funds can be inspired by the old school t-towel trick and cheap set forward to your next posts...I’m Subbed 👍

[Casetube]

A nice proof that it is always a good way to spend some time and effort in the actual setup first... instead of buying expensive custom shop stuff.

[cb]

What did I just hear? That guitar really sounds like the RS