I am getting ready to throw out the Fender strat I've been playing for the past few years and pick up a Burns red special. I don't particuarly care for Fender's sound - not the Squier strat, anyhow. Twangy, reminds me of the lead guitar on an Elvis album. I'm sure some of you other guitar playing Queen fans know the answer to the following question - What kind of strings does Brian use?
deleted user 27.10.2004 23:37
He uses, at least from what I've read, Optima (or Maxima, before they were bought out) Gold Strings. If you're lucky , you can snag one on ebay cheap. I keep seeing them a few months ago, reposts.
Proof: link
In the early days Brian mostly used Rotosound strings. Simply because it was one of the few brands that were light enough (08) for his liking. He indeed later on turned onto Maxima Gold strings.
Rotosound (do they still excist at all?) does not produce strings for guitar anymore. The same strings are now available as GHS Boomers. (And they are great, I can tell you ;-))) I've been using them for years myself and would not want anything else anymore ;-)
Ah, thanks RMT. Thought they only produced strings for banjo's and bass nowadays.
Hey, Niek. Maxima not existing anymore?? You must be kidding! How many packs do you need? ;-)
Yup, Optima are the same strings as the old name, Maxima. Look here - link
I bought a couple of packs and they're amazing! I swear that I play better with these strings. Stranger still, my brother's mate bought some bass strings and came to the same conclusion. Weird, huh?
Just a shame that the guy I was buying from stopped selling them. Can someone point out some links to these strings? I realise now that I should've bought more as I can't find any shop that stocks them.
Peace,
Adam.
<font color="whitesmoke">bambam wrote: Try the ebay stores, Adam. Bound to be some there.
There are, but they're $25 per pack! Forget that! I believe they only ship to Canada and the US as well.
Shame I couldn't bid on that one posted by Juls. That was a phenomenal deal!
Peace,
Adam.
For the record, I do believe Brian used Rotosound strings in the 70's. I recall an ad that appeared in one of the guitar magazines in 78 or 79 that depicted various guitarists and bassists, and one of them was clearly Brian.
Later, in the 80's, I remember seeing an ad in Guitar Player (ca. 84 or 85) for Superwound (which were actually made by the same company as Rotosound, I believe) with several guitarists including Brian.
This does bring up an interesting point, as I've always felt the best way to get a really good guitar tone is to heavier strings, nothing lighter than a .10 for a high E (I personally use a .11, and have lately thought of go up to .12's).
Brian, of course, uses as .008, which I think is about as light as you can go with guitar strings (I recall seeing an article where one of the guys from Judas Priest is quoted as using a .007, but I don't know if that's actually true or if it was just a misprint or what).
At the same time, the Red Special, as I recall has a 24 inch scale length. Compare this to a Les Paul with a 24 and 3/4 inch scale, or a Strat with a 25 and a half inch scale. Generally, guitars with such a short scale are considered to be built for children and adults who can't quite reach as far up the neck on most guitars (interesting thought: how tall is Brian? Does hea he have shorter than normal arms?). The trade off is that you don't get quite the kind of rich tone that's generated by an instrument with a longer scale length.
Yet, Brian has some of the coolest guitar tones of all time (he was even cited in an recent overview of the greatest guitar tones in Guitar Player).
So, you can talk about the generalities of gear and how this particular guitar or amp or gauge of strings affects your tone in this or that way, but you hand any instrument to a guy with a magic set of hands and BOOM!!!!
BTW, there's lots of people who play Strats who sound NOTHING like what you hear old Elvis records. Off the top of my head, there's Ritchie Blackmore, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Terje Rypdal, Steve Hillage, Rory Gallagher (RIP), Gary Moore, Stevie Ray Vaughan, etc.
Indeed, there are plenty of strat players who pull off a heavy sound. The Squier strat, however, just doesn't cut it. Very twangy - high treble. Hate it.
I have to agree with Jordy. My first electric was a squier strat that I still have hanging around. But in comparison with my later purchase, it's a pig to play. Horrible, horrible, horrible feel and not the greatest sound. The only reason I keep it is because it's interesting to try it with the BHM Vox amp.
It's a decent starter guitar. But even these days the Yamaha Pacifica 112 is certainly very good for the money as a starter. I always get the feeling that if I'd bought that instead, I'd still be using it alongside my main guitar.
Peace,
Adam.