Pickups for Brian May Guitars Red Special

[zenmojo]

Hi --

I recently got one of the new Brian May Guitars Red Specials. I like the guitar a lot, it handles beautifully, and the Burns pickups are certainly pretty accurate vis-a-vis a true "Queen" sound, but being the power-monger that I am, I'd like to put something a little less "polite" in it. I understand that Duncan once made pickups for the Guild Red Specials. Does anyone have any info on those? Are they still available, and do they sound louder/fuller/fatter than the Burns Tri-Sonics? Are there any other Duncan pickups I should consider that don't change the character of the guitar too much (I want to use the guitar for more than just Queen sounds, but I would still like to get those too).

Thanks!

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Pickups for Brian May Guitars Red Special

I have a set of the Dimarzio Brian May pickups. Since I haven't ever played a Burns I am not sure how they compare. But the Dimarzio's are very bright and they are horribly microphonic. I had to re-pott mine to make them usable.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Pickups for Brian May Guitars Red Special

welcome to the forum!!

the brian may guitars are a little trickey since the pups are put in series when more than one is on. if you use pups that are too hot youll get a fat but indistinct tone. i havent tried the duncan or dimarzio brian may pups but since the dimarzios seem to be less than stellar and the duncans are custom shop stuff you can have a couple extra turns put on to give a little more grunt if you go that way. my advice is to not go too over the top unless you want to change the wiring scheme

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Pickups for Brian May Guitars Red Special

To expand on what I wrote last night, the stock Dimarzio pickups are unusable! They squeal uncontrollably, even at low volumes and gain. They are constructed like a Charlie Christian pickup with a centrally mounted ceramic magnet without pole pieces. The magnet sits loosely in the coil so I glued it in place and then I triple potted the pickups.

I have mine in a MIM strat with a jb jr bridge and B/M middle and neck. I have three on/off mini toggles and one 500k volume pot for the bridge, one 250k volume pot for the middle/neck and one 250k tone pot for all the pickups.

They really aren't that interesting when used alone. Although the middle is possibly one of the best sounding middle single coils I have heard. The middle can easily be used for distorted rhythms since it isn't sludgy and loud like a lot of strat single coils. Instead it is bright and well balanced. Also when played clean the neck has a fat and mellow jazz box sound which is unique. When distorted the neck has a fat, focused, yet clear sound with that characteristic B/M sound. Although to get those singing leads you would need a treble booster.

When used together they get interesting! Rather than use the neck/middle in series I like to use the neck or middle in series with the bridge. I usually dial back the volume on the neck or middle and leave the bridge wide open. This yeilds a huge palate of unique tones that absolutely nail Brian May.

 

[zenmojo]

Re: Pickups for Brian May Guitars Red Special

Thanks, Jeremy. Do you know if the Duncan ones that were used in the Guild Red Specials are still available? If so, who should I contact?

 

[zenmojo]

Re: Pickups for Brian May Guitars Red Special

Thanks for the info on the DiMarzios. I probably wouldn't have gone that way anyway, because I've never really been a fan of their stuff - it always seems to me like you sacrifice a lot of tone to get the extra volume. I'm definitely going for a little more of a happy medium (not that the Burns pickups are too low, just that, for lack of a better term, they're just a little too "polite" - not quite enough meat to them for my taste).

Any other ideas?

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Pickups for Brian May Guitars Red Special

You can order the Duncan Brian May pickups from the Custom Shop but I'll be honest with you, I don't think they're goning to be much (if any) "hotter" than what you have now...all the Brian May style pickups out there are based on the original Tri-Sonics which just were not that hot.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Pickups for Brian May Guitars Red Special

but since they are custom shop you should be able to get a few extra turns on there to beef it up. call the custom shop and talk to mj, tell her what you want and she will advise you what they can do

 

[Brow]

Re: Pickups for Brian May Guitars Red Special

Adeson are usually the way to go when it comes to Brian May/Burns Tri-Sonic pickups.