mkstewartesq
Well-known member
I hope everyone has been doing OK. For those that even remember me, I’ve been lurking a lot but haven’t been building much in the way of pedals in the past six months – mainly just because I’ve already built one (and sometimes multiples) of all the types of pedals I think I need to have a full range of sounds for now. I really want to get back into it but I’m waiting for a board to come out that strikes my fancy. But I still enjoy coming here every day and reading.
In any event, one or two of you might recall that one of my favorite guitarist is Brian May of Queen - if you look at my build reports, a lot of my early pedals had graphics in tribute to that band, and I even designed and built my own strap-mounted treble booster so I could get his sound (TB to an AC 30) while using a wireless system. I’ve always been a huge admirer of the guitar he designed and built with his father (which is what he has used on almost exclusively his entire career). Up till now I had been playing a replica made by Burns in the late 1990s/early 2000s - it was really inaccurate but there is a company here in the US called RSConversions who specializes in modifying them to install the correct knife edge tremolo, etc. and generally make them more accurate. But they are still basically a “normal” guitar that has been dressed up a bit.
In any event, three years after placing my order, I finally received my hand built replica of Brian’s homemade Red Special guitar. It was built by Dansan Guitars in France to a very high standard of accuracy and is a true bucket list item for me after having been a fan of this guitar for over 40 years.
As far as how the new “real” accurate RS plays? Just awesome. The one thing that I had been really nervous about was the “baseball bat” neck. When Brian carved the neck, he forgot to account for the extra thickness the fretboard would add so the neck is over an inch thick along the entire length of the neck with no taper, So it’s a handful.
A lot of players, even well known guitarists who have tried that guitar, say that the neck is unplayable because it is so much thicker than a standard guitar neck - and I don’t have the largest hands in the world. But I was surprised at how incredibly comfortable and natural it feels in my hand. Zero adjustment time or learning curve needed for me.
Just a few quick pictures – sorry for the quality and also, because I am posting on mobile, sorry if they come out looking really huge.
First, the guitar in its case:
Second, a comparison of it to my converted Burns RS (the new guitar is on the bottom and you can quickly see that both the color and the overall shape are more “right”).
Lastly, just to give you an idea of the thickness of the neck:
Best,
Mike
In any event, one or two of you might recall that one of my favorite guitarist is Brian May of Queen - if you look at my build reports, a lot of my early pedals had graphics in tribute to that band, and I even designed and built my own strap-mounted treble booster so I could get his sound (TB to an AC 30) while using a wireless system. I’ve always been a huge admirer of the guitar he designed and built with his father (which is what he has used on almost exclusively his entire career). Up till now I had been playing a replica made by Burns in the late 1990s/early 2000s - it was really inaccurate but there is a company here in the US called RSConversions who specializes in modifying them to install the correct knife edge tremolo, etc. and generally make them more accurate. But they are still basically a “normal” guitar that has been dressed up a bit.
In any event, three years after placing my order, I finally received my hand built replica of Brian’s homemade Red Special guitar. It was built by Dansan Guitars in France to a very high standard of accuracy and is a true bucket list item for me after having been a fan of this guitar for over 40 years.
As far as how the new “real” accurate RS plays? Just awesome. The one thing that I had been really nervous about was the “baseball bat” neck. When Brian carved the neck, he forgot to account for the extra thickness the fretboard would add so the neck is over an inch thick along the entire length of the neck with no taper, So it’s a handful.
A lot of players, even well known guitarists who have tried that guitar, say that the neck is unplayable because it is so much thicker than a standard guitar neck - and I don’t have the largest hands in the world. But I was surprised at how incredibly comfortable and natural it feels in my hand. Zero adjustment time or learning curve needed for me.
Just a few quick pictures – sorry for the quality and also, because I am posting on mobile, sorry if they come out looking really huge.
First, the guitar in its case:
Second, a comparison of it to my converted Burns RS (the new guitar is on the bottom and you can quickly see that both the color and the overall shape are more “right”).
Lastly, just to give you an idea of the thickness of the neck:
Best,
Mike
