Hello,
I have just bought a new Brian May guitar, I am confused on the pickup Switches, Does anyone know what order i should have them in from 1-6 to get the Queen Tones?
1 up
2 down
3 up
4 down
5 up
6 up
Knob 1 full
Knob 2 half way
Fuck knows what sound you'll get but it's an answer.
have a look here: link it might help some.
Brian used them all, so the answer to this question depends on which Queen sound you want.
The top switches are on/off switches. The bottom switches are phase switches. Brian's most often used sound was the bridge and middle pickups in phase.
Johnny Knoxville wrote: Hello,
I have just bought a new Brian May guitar, I am confused on the pickup Switches, Does anyone know what order i should have them in from 1-6 to get the Queen Tones?
Johnny, you got the guitar, you havn't got the Amp, nor the Treble booster, or phaser. I honestly think you are trying to get something which isn't gonna come out of your set-up.
Be patient, experiment, and you may well get a sound or two which sounds like BHM, but trust me my friend, there are lot's of sounds you just can't get.
Hi
This is my very first post on QZ
I downloaded a manual from Brianmaycentral.com but this seems to be dead now.
I've found a manual for the Guild version and it should be the same. The link is below link
It's worth getting the Vox BHM amp, which does help the sound a little, but you really need all the other bits that were mentioned in earlier posts.
Hope this helps
I really dislike all this, "you need this" or "you won't sound like him without this" etc. etc. Rubbish! Even in my most basic configuration of guitar and amp, I can get a close Brian tone. And I don't even have a Brian may guitar or AC30. The amp's a Vox Cambridge 30 reverb twin model. That will get you closer. And I believe, as already stated in a previous Brian May sound thread, that the VBM1 will get you most of what you want. Btw, by inserting a behringer V-amp into my guitar to amp chain, I was able to setup Brian's AC30 sounds. It really worked and sounded sweet.
You just gotta know how to make the sounds work for you. Too many people think it's all about the gear. I swear I remember this guy from my brother's band playing really great Brian may tones and all he used was a Strat with a Zoom 8080 effects pedal and a Marshall Amp. It's all about what YOU can do with what you've got.
Sure, getting all those Brian May bits and bobs will get you there. But at what cost? It's up to you. But it's nice, I know. But I'm a firm believer in trying out anything to get these sounds. Hey, if you have the cash, go for all the gear!
Peace,
Adam.
My advice - link
This is (in my view) the best resource on the web for information on Brian's guitar. The messageboard on there is also great for answering any and all question about the guitar.
Alternatively - there are a few articles that give some indication as to what settings Brian used throughout the years.
1 - Guild BHM1 and/or 1993 Signature Guitar owners' Manual. This gives some of Brian's favorite settings as well as indication of what tone* they will each produce.
2 - StarLicks Master Sessions - (I believe) this recording clearly shows what settings Brian uses for a number of songs.
(off the top of my head, here are a few other articles)
1998-99 Guitar World 'Wire Choir' articles - written by Brian. I believe he makes reference to some settings in these articles that ran from Oct98 to May(or June)1999. Well worth the read.
Jan.1983 Guitar Player magazine. There is some discussion on the guitar and settings etc.
Andy Young's Queen page has most of the articles mentioned above transcribed - with the exception I believe of the 'WireChoir' articles. link
Hope this helps.
Andrew
Couple of more things..
1 - re: switches on the Brian May guitars...
If you're wearing the guitar and looking down at the switches...
Each row runs parallel to the pickups.
Top row - On/Off (the row closer to pickups)
Bottom Row - Phase (the row closer to the edge of the guitar..obviously)
The thing that might be easier to understand about the switches is that each pickup has '2' switches - 1 On/Off and 1 Phase switch per pickup.
I'm likely stating the obvious here - lol
Anyway...for what it's worth
Andrew