BHM 'Black Queen'

[DonMI6]

As a huge Queen fan, Brian May's 'Red Special' has always been the guitar I covet above all others. About a month or so ago, I saw this used one in a shop, the first one I have seen in Australia & couldn't resist it. It has a short, stumpy 24 fret neck with an ebony board, Grover self locking tuners & Burns 'Trisonic' pickups.

The pickguard & truss rod cover were originally anodised gold, but the pickguard was gouged down to the black plastic underneath. I sprayed the plastic parts with Tamyia modelling paint, Racing White, followed by a Semi gloss clear.

It is badly in need of a fret job. The zero fret has grooves worn into it & a loud ping happens when I bend the b string at the 7th & 8th frets. This is apparently a chronic issue with these guitars, including the original!

Other than that the guitar plays beautifully, with the action set very low it's what I would call a 'shredder'. The whammy bar stays in tune even with fairly vigourous use. It's also super light, with a big d shaped chamber in the upper section.

The pickups are fantastic, but do I think the switching arrangement is over-complicated. There are a lot of sounds available, with many duplicates, but my favorite tone is the neck pickup on it's own.