A Night At The Opera Tour (14.11.1975 - 22.04.1976)
After the recordings of the album Queen set on a triumphant local tour for
which they had some new instruments and amps. Thanks to the extraordinary
Hammersmith Odeon video we've got a deep grasp on what did they use at the
time.
During the world tour the instruments were somehow different to those
used in the UK. For both American and Japanese legs the band brought a
12-string Ovation acoustic guitar and a Fender Precision fretless bass
which suggests that they may have thought of adding an acoustic set but,
as far as we know, that idea never bore fruition.
Percussion

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Roger's Ludwig kit consisted of 26" x 14" Bass Drum, 10" x 14" and
12" x 15" Rack Toms, 16" x 16" and 18" x 16" Ludwig Floor Toms,
5.5" x 6", 5.5" x 8" and 6.5" x 10" concert toms, 15"
Zildjian Hi-Hats, 20" Zildjian Crash, 18" Paiste & Zildjian Crash, 22"
Zildjian Ride, 14" x 15" Snare. The bass drum logo changed to white crest
on a black background.
Freddie played New Era tambourines, Roger used Ludwig and
New Era cowbells and John played a Ludwig triangle in
Killer Queen.
At the end of BoRhap Roger hit a Paiste 6" Gong.
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Guitars / banjo
Brian played the Red Special in all the songs. After being
disappointed with the way both his Strat and his Les Paul combined with
the Vox Ac30 amplifiers, he commisioned legendary luthier John Birch to
make a replica of his fireplace guitar and it had its debut on this tour.
Brian was still not happy with the sound of the spare guitar but it was
the best option since the other guitar he owned at the time (a Burns
Bison) wasn't adequate for the sound he wanted on concerts. During
Leroy Brown he played the same George Formby ukelele-banjo.
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Bass guitars
Sometime in the summer 1975, John stripped the paint off both his
basses and now they were natural. This could have come from the legend
that instruments sound better after the process (which happened to
Lennon & McCartney's Epiphone guitars in mid-60s). The older model
('67 - silver logo) was still the main one and the newer
('68 - black logo) was the spare.
For the world 1976 tour John switched the basses (the '68 model
has become his main bass).
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Pianos
During the concerts in England and Wales in 1975 Freddie used the same
white Bechstein he'd employed to record the album and for the
Bo Rhap video. It was mic'd through Helpinstill system; the fact
that John Reid (Queen's manager) worked with Elton John (who'd
popularised the use of Helpinstill) could have been a key factor for
this. For the concerts in Scotland 1975 Freddie used a black Steinway
baby-grand but for the famous Xmas Eve gig at Hammersmith Odeon he
played the white Bechstein again.
During the world tour Freddie used whatever pianos were available at
the venues - from baby-grand's to concert-grand's, from electrified to
externally mic'd and from American brands (Steinway, Baldwin) to
Japanese (Yamaha, Kawai).
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Vocals
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Freddie used two mics (one at the piano), Brian, Roger and John
had one vocal mic each, plus a further one by Brian for the ukelele.
Both Brian and Roger got the chance to speak with the public: Brian
used to introduce Flick Of The Wrist and
In The Lap Of The Gods... revisited while Roger spoke a bit
before the Rock'n'roll medley.
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