Hola!
Maybe the guitars become out of tune, he wants a specific sound for each song, technical problems, broken strings, advertising subjects,... or just for fun or to experience new sounds.
For one of two reasons:
1. The Red Special was buggered in some way, i.e a string broke.
2. He was playing a song in dropped-D tuning, as one of the replicas was always tuned to this.
I've read that due to its unique hinged-blade bridge construction, the Red Special was, and still is, almost impossible for regular guitarists to play. You can see Brian constantly adjusting the tremelo (vibrato, whammy bar, etc) to keep it in tune during performances, but it may from time to time go so far out of whack, he needs a roadie to retune it. The other reasons listed are good too. Either way, playing that guitar is a labour of love, and like Excalibur, only one man can wield it. Hail King Brian!
That's not correct.
There is an unusual tremelo design, but it does not make the guitar unplayable.
The most common comment from those that HAVE played it is that the neck is extremely thick, which makes it harder to play.
The main reason is that he changes from the "Old Girl" to the copy because he plays in a "D" tuning on some of the songs.
I have never seen Brian having problems with the "Whammy", I think what you see is him turning the volume up and down, and working the pickup switches.
There have been a couple of times when strings broke, but to be honest with the way Brian bends strings to hit the notes he does, it is understandable to have the odd broken string.
Hope that helps
kagezan1313 wrote: I've read that due to its unique hinged-blade bridge construction, the Red Special was, and still is, almost impossible for regular guitarists to play. You can see Brian constantly adjusting the tremelo (vibrato, whammy bar, etc) to keep it in tune during performances, but it may from time to time go so far out of whack, he needs a roadie to retune it. The other reasons listed are good too. Either way, playing that guitar is a labour of love, and like Excalibur, only one man can wield it. Hail King Brian!
Where on earth did that info come from ? It isn't the case at all.
I made it all up. I've been tasked by Brian to take a count of how many people know too much about the Red Special so that he can knock them off before they try to steal it from him. He's really gone a bit mad in recent years to tell you the truth, but a job's a job, and you've revealed yourselves quite nicely. See you soon...