How Queen’s guitarist Brian May and his dad built a guitar which ‘redefined rock’

Brian May of the rock band Queen has shared how he and his father built the guitar that “redefined rock”.

May, best-known for his work in the Freddie Mercury-fronted band, confirmed it was he and his father who built a legendary guitar he would use in studio sessions and live shows with the band. In an interview given about the Red Special guitar, May confirmed he drew up blueprints for the instrument he wanted and built it with his father. He recalled: “I was seventeen and my dad was a great electronics engineer and a craftsman. We couldn’t afford a guitar. I couldn’t afford a Stratocaster or a Gibson, or whatever.

“And we thought, we can make a guitar. Maybe we can make something that’s better than anybody’s ever made. My dad had that attitude, which I inherited, for things worth doing; it’s worth doing properly. And I extend that, I think for things worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. So that’s kind of a Queen thing.”

May has since shared what materials were used in the making of the guitar, which was restored in 1998 and upgraded in 2005 to replace the zero fret for the first time. Speaking in the interview, May added: “The materials we used were all things that were just lying about. Literally, the oak panel which takes the strain here is from an old tabletop.

“The neck is from a fireplace which was one-hundred-years-old at the time, which makes it about three-hundred-years-old now. This guitar evolved in the hands of me and my dad. We had no power tools. We had no experience in making guitars. You can still see the wormholes that were filled in using matchsticks, and this was all just done with spokeshaves and sandpaper and chisels.

“The dot markers were from my mum’s button box. Pretty much this is the guitar that I made. There’s nothing really changed.”

In 1998, the Red Special went through some minor changes, with May touching up the piece and using as much time-period specific material as he could. A veneer fix and new piece additions were part of the process for fixing up the long-serving instrument.

A few further revisions were made in 2005 after the conclusion of the Queen + Paul Rodgers tour. A zero fret was replaced for the first time and a larger opening for modern-day jack sockets was made. The original frets have, at the time of writing, never been replaced. Further minor improvements were made in April 2016, when the guitar was serviced with new lacquer finish over cracks. The zero fret was again replaced.

Fans have praised May and his father for building the guitar, and plenty of fans were thrilled to hear May still uses the Red Special in live performances.

One user of the r/TodayILearned subreddit wrote: “There’s no doubt that it makes a contribution to his unique sound. Numerous attempts have been made to recreate his guitar but given the very unique materials, never been fully matched.

“I remember reading an interview with May where he said that his Dad was able to pick out his guitar on a track where he’d been a guest player no matter how simple the part.”

Another added: “He also uses a coin as a pick, which gives him that extra sharp sound.” A third wrote: “I saw a video of the coin once, maybe slightly thicker (if that) than a current US dime if anyone is wondering.”