The underside of the six switches, still in their original metal frame as built by Brian. The top row of switches as pictured here (the bottom row when the frame is within the Red Special, of course) reverse the phase of each pickup, as the wiring clearly shows.

The number of tones that this deceptively simple configuration gives is incredible and it’s interesting that no other commercially available guitar possesses anything like it, the myriad Red Special-style guitars notwithstanding.

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Don’t miss Simon’s six-part blog that goes behind the scenes of the book in much more detail

For part one click here
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A cool shot from the book’s launch party. Here, the Red Special nestles up to the guitar Brian received on his seventh birthday in 1954, his Egmond acoustic. The latter is looking especially fine thanks to a flawless restoration job by Andrew Guyton, while the Red Special is comfortable in the fact that it’s a significantly louder beast altogether…

Brian played at the launch party and used three Vox VBM1 amps driven, as ever, by a treble booster. The Fryer Touring model he used can be seen on top of the flight case to the left, while an amp splitter sits just behind the Red Special’s headstock.

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Don’t miss Simon’s six-part blog that goes behind the scenes of the book in much more detail

For part one click here
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For part three click here
For part four click here
For part five click here
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The Red Special – New Picture #6

An attractive shot of the Red Special prior to her dismantling. Particularly of interest here is the bolt holding the tremolo arm and the original knobs. Notice, too, how flush the white switch tops are to the scratchplate; it does take dexterity to make pickup changes during the heat of a gig, be it Live Aid or down the Red Lion.

The original jack input has long been replaced with this high-quality Switchcraft unit, but the black perspex plates remain from the original build.

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Don’t miss Simon’s six-part blog that goes behind the scenes of the book in much more detail

For part one click here
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For part three click here
For part four click here
For part five click here
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The Red Special – New Picture #5

The metal frame and sextet of pickup switches, laid bare upon the removal of the Red Special’s scratchplate. The frame and switches are the originals, but some of the wiring, not to mention the tone pot that’s just in view here, have been replaced several times over the course of the guitar’s life.

Apologies for the out-of-focussness too…

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Don’t miss Simon’s six-part blog that goes behind the scenes of the book in much more detail

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Some more relics that were considered for inclusion in the book ‘Brian May’s Red Special’.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

The small brown box just below the glass is labelled ‘Bri’s Continuity Tester c. 1959’, while just to the left of the laptop is a plastic bag labelled ‘Red wooden dot taken from Red Special – 5th fret marker’ on 15th January 1998, presumably by Greg Fryer.

There’s also a box of homemade tools including the ‘template for fretboard curvature’, a collection of pickup surrounds, some modern Burns bass Tri-Sonics and a further box of screws and wires that were replaced on 3rd June 1998 during repairs, again, we presume, by Greg Fryer.

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Don’t miss Simon’s six-part blog that goes behind the scenes of the book in much more detail

For part one click here
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For part three click here
For part four click here
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Here’s the second exclusive shot of various parts of the Red Special, taken during the dismantling of the guitar for the book ‘Brian May’s Red Special’.

This is the somewhat substantial nut and washer array that secures one end of the Red Special’s truss rod. It’s hooked around a hefty bolt (not shown here) that goes through the body and is secured by these unassuming pieces. They remain from the original build…

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Don’t miss Simon’s six-part blog that goes behind the scenes of the book in much more detail

For part one click here
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For part four click here
For part five click here
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As a treat to help lift the dark clouds of Blue Monday, here’s the Red Special in a state of undress. It’s an outtake from the photo session that provided incredible images that formed the heart of the ‘Brian May’s Red Special’ book.

The screws that secure the mahogany neck to the guitar’s oak insert are clearly visible, as are the contacts of the middle pickup, one of three that Brian made and wound before discovering that Burns Tri-Sonics did a far better job.

We can also see that, in the guitar’s dim and distant past, the bridge pickup has been moved back towards the bridge a couple of mm and a rubber base has also been included. Greg Fryer applied the copper shielding to the control cavity, and we can also see how thin the mahogany veneer is atop the lighter-coloured blockboard.

This photo, snapped by co-author Simon Bradley, was obviously taken before Andrew Guyton‘s more recent restoration and we’ll be posting a few more shots like this over the coming weeks and months, so keep checking back to www.theredspecial.com.

By all means share this photo, but please credit The Red Special.com should you do so.

Don’t miss Simon’s six-part blog that goes behind the scenes of the book in much more detail

For part one click here
For part two click here
For part three click here
For part four click here
For part five click here
For part six click here

The August 2016 issue of UK publication Guitar & Bass features a detailed piece on Brian’s Vox AC30 amps, written by the co-author of the Red Special book Simon Bradley. Here, for your viewing pleasure, are a selection of phone shots taken on the day by Simon that show just a little more than could be squeezed into the feature.

Rest assured that the images that feature in the magazine itself, courtesy of Eleanor Jane, are of an infinitely higher, nay professional, standard but we hope you enjoy this exclusive peek.

Read the whole feature, plus loads more, in the August issue of Guitar & Bass, which is on sale from 5 July 2016. Find out how to order a single print or digital copy of the magazine via this link: http://www.guitar-bass.net/magazine/the-august-2016-issue-of-guitar-bass-is-on-sale-now

More information on the magazine can be found at www.guitar-bass.net