fras444 20.10.2014 04:08 |
With Brian Mays Red Special from day one lasting the whole duration of Queen and is still going strong today... What about the other members instruments... John's bass, Roger's drums and Freddie's mic and piano? Did their instruments stand the test of time and the rigors of touring, was there a "pet" one or two favorites that lasted/played on every tour/album or where they swapped out with new manufacturer promotions..? And where are those instruments today..? John Deacon had many Bass guitars... but from what I have read he had two favorites...? The Fender Precision 1962 model and the black 1967...? I would give my left one for that 1962 and with that sunburst finish... It looks amazing on the Rainbow..!!! |
Vocal harmony 20.10.2014 06:43 |
With Queen Brian used other guitars too, a strat and les Paul were used as back up guitars in the early years. Then the John Birch RS from 76 to 82. Then Guild Guitars RS for the 84 and 86 tours. He also had a Flying V during 82. For acoustics, Tokia, Martin, ovation and Gibson. Freddie used an Ovaition 12 string from 79 to 82 then a Tele for 84 and 86. his pianos, Bechstein or Steinways were hired for tour prior to 78 when I bought a Steinway D9, which was modified for touring with a Hapenstil piano pickup and two 8ft long 2x1 pine "Rails" which were screwed to the long straight side of the piano to make it easier to slide in and out of flight cases. Johns two most used basses were sunburst 68 Precisions which he had stripped back to bare wood and lacquered, one of these was sprayed black for the Magic tour. He also used a Music Man Stingray from 77 until 1980, although it was still toured in 82. he also used a red precision as a spare during the 86 tour and had a Kramer Bass as a spare for a short time. He bought the slab body 62 while on the Jazz tour and only used it on a handful of 79 shows. He also played a Tele on Staying Power. Roger used various Ludwig kits through the 70's a light maple kit, and then the black cortex kit. Later a silver sparkle then a chrome finish kit. In 86 he used a Yamaha kit. |
Rick 21.10.2014 08:47 |
I believe one of John his bass guitars is being used as an exhibit in a Rock Cafe. Also, the one used on Under Pressure was specially made for him, I believe. The grey finish (Fender Precision). |
master marathon runner 21.10.2014 13:27 |
Brian's red special was actually made from an old fireplace, by him and his dad. I once heard. |
KumoNin 21.10.2014 13:31 |
^ Not even attempting to be funny or contribute. |
master marathon runner 21.10.2014 15:10 |
Haha, or so you think. |
winterspelt 22.10.2014 01:16 |
I read that Brian used a Joe Satriani custom in Mother Love instead of the RS. Roger gave as gift the kit used in the FM tribute to someone from Extreme. As for Freddie's piano, I know it is in Garden Lodge but I dont know if its the same he used to take on tour. Brian used a Washburn flying V which I think was used just for the POTU video... |
ZBGM0 22.10.2014 04:00 |
It would be interesting to know where the white piano (Bechstein) is, the one used for recording Bohemian Rhapsody. I believe the same piano was used for Hammersmith gig 75. I think this piano is forgotten. It is quite possible that even the owner doesn't know its important history. As far as black Steinway D with cosmetic damage at its left side is concerned (the one that you can see in all later gigs, also Live Aid). Correct me if I am wrong but I believe Brian owns it now at home. But I am not sure. |
fras444 22.10.2014 04:06 |
I do remember seeing that piano in some doco or garden show short on you tube... Going around Brians house and garden and yeah the piano is the main focal point at the entry from memory |
Sebastian 22.10.2014 05:07 |
winterspelt wrote: I read that Brian used a Joe Satriani custom in Mother Love instead of the RS.No, it was Nothin' But Blue. On Mother Love he played a Parker Fly. Fred had a house piano (a Yamaha, still in Garden Lodge) and a touring piano (a Steinway, now in Brian's hill). There was also a recording piano in Montreux (another Steinway, now in Roger's studio) and of course plenty of other keyboards. * Edited to correct the song where the Ibanez was used. |
ZBGM0 22.10.2014 05:23 |
thank for confirmation. I believe that Freddie's Steinway D was shown at Brian's place during an interview few years ago. Do you know where is white Bechstein? It should be regarded as one of the most (historically) important pianos of rock music. I think this piano supposed to be over a century old. |
Vocal harmony 22.10.2014 09:04 |
Sebastian wrote:The Ibanez BM used was a Chrome prototype built for him by Ibanez and given to him by Joe Satriani. The back if the head stock is stamped "Prototype" built for Brian May. It has no serial number. He in fact used it on the song Nothing But Blue from Backwinterspelt wrote: I read that Brian used a Joe Satriani custom in Mother Love instead of the RS.No, it was Lost Opportunity. On Mother Love he played a Parker Fly. Fred had a house piano (a Yamaha, still in Garden Lodge) and a touring piano (a Steinway, now in Brian's hill). There was also a recording piano in Montreux (another Steinway, now in Roger's studio) and of course plenty of other keyboards. to The Light album, the guitar was taken on that tour but not used live. Although BM is on record as saying the stienway he has was the piano they toured with, it appears to have a high gloss finish. Freddies touring piano had the less expensive satin finish, and by the time of The Works tour it was looking almost matt. The reason for this choice was practicality, the satin finish was more durable and less likely to show scuffs and general abuse from loading in and out of it's flight case. It is of couse very possible that Brian had the piano refurbished. |
Sebastian 22.10.2014 10:17 |
Vocal harmony wrote: It is of couse very possible that Brian had the piano refurbished.According to one of the 1994 issues of the Fan Club magazine, Steinway (the company) had volunteered to refurbish that piano, so that might have been what happened. |
ZBGM0 22.10.2014 13:28 |
This is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Drd032G0Wg The piano really looks high gloss, not satin. It probably was refinished. It was necessary, old tarnished finish looked terrible. Maybe the piano was also rebuilt. Try to imagine all the shit this piano went through when touring: loading, moving, extreme humidity and temperature changes, rain etc. |
winterspelt 22.10.2014 13:38 |
Sebastian wrote: No, it was Nothin' But Blue. On Mother Love he played a Parker Fly.Yeah, you are correct! I got confused. I remember I had (or still have, I dont know) a Korg magazine with a Brian interview, the guys gave Brian a Parker Fly, I wonder if that's the guitar he used on ML... I cant remember the year of the interview, I will look for it. Also, Malmsteen have a RS Brian gave to him, does anyone knows if Yngwie had use it? |
The King Of Rhye 22.10.2014 14:04 |
winterspelt wrote:I never heard about that! Interesting...............somehow I can NOT picture Yngwie shredding away on a Red Special...............Sebastian wrote: No, it was Nothin' But Blue. On Mother Love he played a Parker Fly.Yeah, you are correct! I got confused. I remember I had (or still have, I dont know) a Korg magazine with a Brian interview, the guys gave Brian a Parker Fly, I wonder if that's the guitar he used on ML... I cant remember the year of the interview, I will look for it. Also, Malmsteen have a RS Brian gave to him, does anyone knows if Yngwie had use it? |
mooghead 22.10.2014 16:21 |
Is milmy malwasteen one of those people you see in guitar polls that no one actually knows? He could walk into my flat right now playing his thing and I would tell him to get the fuck out. What the fuck is it? |
winterspelt 22.10.2014 22:32 |
The King Of Rhye wrote: I never heard about that! Interesting...............somehow I can NOT picture Yngwie shredding away on a Red Special...............There's a pic somewhere with his collection, among others, you can see one or two Les Paul's an ESP, a 7 string JEM, a Chet Atkins, the RS a SKY guitar and a few others. There are a few videos out there but I couldnt find them still, here's this, you wont see the RS but you'll see some of his axes... link |
fras444 22.10.2014 22:59 |
The reason for this topic is, my former team leader, her and her partner have a studio in West Auckland and she said on day about one of her partners pet peeves about people who throw away their musical instruments more in regards to your first guitar and that they are like your children which got me thinking about Queen.... Brian for obvious reasons his guitar gets plane seat tickets and the full first class treatment.. John Deacon from what Vocal Harmony has noted and what I have roughly read from wiki.. he has stuck with a select few primary basses he likes... The 12 string freddie used for Crazy little thing called love on stage.. was that Brian's? |
fras444 22.10.2014 23:12 |
So, both Brian and John had their favorites from almost the beginning. Both had many back ups on stage... Brian: Dose he still have/use the same black stratty that he used on Crazy little thing and the same 12 sting and classical guitar from 39 Love of my life and is this the world we created, did he keep the v from POTU? John: What bass is the one at the rock cafe? and the one he biffed at Knebworth? Guessing he used the same acoustic from Queen 1 and may still have it...? Freddie: Brian has one of the pianos and one is at garden lodge... how many did he own? and his white 6 string is still missing..? Roger: From what has been mentioned so far.. he has been through many drum kits no surprise over the years... got to admit the wembly/magic tour was very minimalist..! 70s was when he had the big kit! Being big bulky things he probably wouldn't have kept many over the years in Queen..? The guitars he used on the albums, were they his or just studio owned ones..? |
fras444 22.10.2014 23:16 |
I remember reading somewhere during the very early years when piano based songs started appearing more and more in Queens live line up and when they were still skint... They had to plan more and more around venues that had a piano on stage just with the cost involved with lugging one around the world etc... You would have to tune it almost every time it was moved wouldn't you? Or not so much |
Vocal harmony 23.10.2014 09:39 |
Sebastian wrote:94 was s long time ago, but now you've mentioned it, I do remember reading something about it.Vocal harmony wrote: It is of couse very possible that Brian had the piano refurbished.According to one of the 1994 issues of the Fan Club magazine, Steinway (the company) had volunteered to refurbish that piano, so that might have been what happened. |
RafaelS 23.10.2014 09:55 |
What kind of bass John used in Headlong? I think it was the same as in I want it all? |
winterspelt 23.10.2014 10:55 |
fras444 wrote: (...) Brian: Dose he still have/use the same black stratty that he used on Crazy little thing and the same 12 sting and classical guitar from 39 Love of my life and is this the world we created, did he keep the v from POTU? (...) Freddie: Brian has one of the pianos and one is at garden lodge... how many did he own? and his white 6 string is still missing..? (...)The guitar on CLTCL its a telecaster that happened to be at the studio, its not one of his guitars. To my knowledge, the black telecaster used live is a different guitar and he still have it in storage. As for the acoustics, it seems that Brian used lots of acoustics. In 1984/1986 his 6 strings was a Gibson Chet Atkins for ITTWWC. As for the 12 string I have seen Guild's, Takamine's and other brands... As for the Freddie's white telecaster, is not missing, it was stolen from the storage... |
Oscar J 23.10.2014 11:38 |
I believe the CLTCL guitar wasn't a real tele, it was one of Rogers guitars I think. Too lazy to find a source though. |
Sebastian 23.10.2014 12:40 |
The CLTCL guitar is a composite, the neck comes from one guitar and the body from another one, or something like that. Anyway, it's been reported as an Esquire, a Broadcaster and a Tele, but according to what can be seen in the headstock when the guitar was photographed for an article about Brian's non-RS guitars, it's a Tele (at least it's got the headstock of a Tele). Brian then acquired a black one to use on the song live. He played loads of Ovations live, but in the studio he mostly played Martins, including '39. He also played other acoustic guitars in the studio including a Hallfred, a Tokai Hummingbird and, potentially, an Egmond Student. The Gibson Chet Atkins CE he used on some songs live and in the studio was reportedly also originally Roger's, or found by Roger somewhere. Frederick had a Martin guitar at home, on stage he played one of Brian's Ovations. He'd tried another Tele before, according to Peter Hince, but didn't stick to it until Peter found the famous white/cream one for him, which was then stolen as it's been said earlier. John's most famous guitar is the Tele he played on stage, which can also be seen at Musicland Studios in the making of One Vision. He played something else in the studio up until Flash Gordon (possibly Hot Space), he reportedly had several Telecasters and Stratocasters. Brian also had a Danelectro Longhorn six-string bass, (a.k.a. baritone guitar), which was probably not used for an actual record but it can be seen in the famous Jazz photo at Mountain Studios in 1978. Same for other instruments such as a Kramer guitar (Roger's, presumably). When the band rehearsed at the Ridge Farm in 1975 and were photographed for a Japanese magazine, Brian was shown playing a Baldwin Bison and there was an Epiphone Crestwood in the background, which was then listed as part of Brian's equipment in the same publication. There's nothing documented to confirm or deny whether he used either one of those in the studio or not; he might have, but most likely he was faithful to the guitar he and his father made most of the time (not all of the time, though). |
Oscar J 23.10.2014 13:07 |
You know your stuff! |
winterspelt 23.10.2014 13:30 |
Tottally forgot about the Tokai and the Ovations...! I knew the tele body was from many sources but I always thought it was a tele with the body of another tele (perhaps a japanese copy) As for Brian's guitars guitar, I never knew if the (Washburn?) Flying V used in POTU video was used to record the song. AFAIK that V was not his guitar and he used just to give a metal look to the video. Which brings me to the point: There are 2 unsolved mysteries (unsolved at least to me!) 1: What was used in the Father to Son intro? (the first 5 seconds, is that a guitar with some studio tricks? Some kind of keyboard? 2: The solo in GTP that sounds like some kind of "electric bagpipe/guitar" was played with the RS? |
fras444 23.10.2014 14:17 |
Brian's red special mate a great example of why queen put no synthesizers on their albums... |
fras444 23.10.2014 14:17 |
Brian's red special mate a great example of why queen put no synthesizers on their albums... |
fras444 23.10.2014 14:17 |
Pre the game anyway |
Sebastian 23.10.2014 15:48 |
winterspelt wrote: I never knew if the (Washburn?) Flying V used in POTU video was used to record the song.It wasn't, it was just for the video as you said. Likewise, Brian played the original BHM and not a skull on It's a Hard Life. There's no banjo and no acoustic on A Kind of Magic either. winterspelt wrote: 1: What was used in the Father to Son intro? (the first 5 seconds, is that a guitar with some studio tricks? Some kind of keyboard?Double-tracked guitar, possibly with open tuning (not sure about that) with a piano doing the arpeggios in unison. Brian played both. winterspelt wrote: 2: The solo in GTP that sounds like some kind of "electric bagpipe/guitar" was played with the RS?It's just a guitar with some pedalling effects and another guitar doing the drone. |
fras444 23.10.2014 15:55 |
Freddie did that piano part for the Japanese shows in 75...? Just after the main solo not sure how many times he did that... Guessing Brian would have done it on the studio recording? |
Sebastian 23.10.2014 17:54 |
Frederick played piano live because Brian couldn't play both piano and guitar simultaneously. In the studio, of course, he could do both. Same for Save Me (second chorus, solo and cycle) and Doing All Right. Likewise, there were some backing vocals sung live by Brian and/or Roger because Frederick couldn't sing lead + harmonies at the same time, but in the studio he obviously could and did (e.g. Staying Power, Another One Bites the Dust). |
Vocal harmony 24.10.2014 09:03 |
Sebastian wrote: Brian also had a Danelectro Longhorn six-string bass, (a.k.a. baritone guitar), which was probably not used for an actual record but it can be seen in the famous Jazz photo at Mountain Studios in 1978. ).BM's Danelectro is a Baritone guitar, mistakenly sometime called a Bass. A Baritone guitar is quite clearly not a Bass, being a shorter scale, than a Bass, and fitted with strings which are within the gauges found on some guitars. They can be tuned E to E like a standard guitar and played in the same way. A Baritone guitar has a longer scale length than a guitar and their for produces a richer tone. A guitar which hasn't been listed is BM's Baldwin 12 string electric, he sometime calls it a Burns 12, essentially the same guitar re badged. The guitar was used for The Byrds style jangle of Long Away |
ludwigs 24.10.2014 12:09 |
......and also the last section of 'Sweet Lady' and quite likely the rhythm guitar of 'I'm in Love With My Car' & 'Under Pressure'? |
Vocal harmony 25.10.2014 06:25 |
ludwigs wrote: ......and also the last section of 'Sweet Lady' and quite likely the rhythm guitar of 'I'm in Love With My Car' & 'Under Pressure'?Yes I believe it also featured on these songs too |
RafaelS 25.10.2014 11:37 |
RafaelSomma wrote: What kind of bass John used in Headlong? I think it was the same as in I want it all?Can somebody answer my question? |
musicland munich 25.10.2014 12:05 |
In the video ? That's a Fender Precision.. |
winterspelt 25.10.2014 12:09 |
RafaelSomma wrote:I would say its the same model, they both have the same pickups, color and both look like a Fender bass, but the one in the Headlong video have a red R very much like the Honda Type R (I have seen a very similar logo in the music instruments business but I cant remember where) also there's a black sticker in the Headlong video. I couldnt see the brand on any video.RafaelSomma wrote: What kind of bass John used in Headlong? I think it was the same as in I want it all?Can somebody answer my question? |
RafaelS 25.10.2014 14:56 |
Thanks musicland Munich & Winterspelt! |