Brian May Rig

Estimated build cost: ~$14,445 (based on current listings)

Rock Queen Brian May

Brian May, Queen’s guitarist since 1970, built his sound around the homemade Red Special — oak body, mahogany fireplace-mantel neck, 24-inch scale and three Burns Tri-Sonic pickups with individual on/off and phase switches — into a Dallas Rangemaster treble booster driving the Normal channel of cranked Vox AC30 combos loaded with Celestion Alnico Blues. Studio guitar orchestrations on Killer Queen and Procession also used John Deacon’s ~1.5-watt germanium Deacy Amp, while live delay-harmony parts such as Brighton Rock came from a pair of modified Maestro Echoplex EP-3 tape delays and a Foxx Foot Phaser on the plywood Queen pedalboard.

 

The 1980s stadium system Pete Cornish built swapped the Rangemaster for a silicon BC149 treble booster, replaced the Echoplexes with two MXR Digital Delay II units, added a modified Roland CE-1 chorus and stacked twelve AC30s in dry/delay/delay/chorus groups. Touring Queen + Adam Lambert today, May still plays the original 1963–64 Red Special (Greg Fryer ‘John’ and ‘George’ as backups) through a strap-mounted KAT treble booster into three AC30s in a wet/dry/wet wall of nine; chorus and the 800/1600 ms delays now live in a TC Electronic G-Major 2, wah is a Dunlop Cry Baby DCR-2SR, and the signature fans can buy is the BMG Super from Brian May Guitars.

~$14,445 Estimated total
13 Pieces of gear
Rock Genre / style
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Brian May Rig
Photo by Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Brian May guitars, amps and pedals

Red Special
Guitar
Red Special
Brian May Guitars BMG Special LE Signature - Emerald Green
Throughout 1963–present: homemade with Harold May from fireplace mahogany and oak; three Burns Tri-Sonics with series/phase switching; still the only electric he really wants on stage.
$937
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Vox AC30
Amp
Vox AC30
Vox AC30BM Brian May Custom Limited Edition 30W 2x12 Combo
Throughout 1967–present: bought beaten-up AC30s after hearing Rory Gallagher; Normal channel full up, Cut down; still tours a wall of nine combos (three sounding) with Celestion Alnico Blues.
$2,495
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Classic / iconic era

The breakthrough pieces they are most associated with.

Pedal
Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster
Classic late 1960s–c.1973: OC44 germanium booster May copied from Gallagher; drives the AC30 Normal channel into singing EL84 distortion on the first Queen albums.
Not listed Compare prices
Amp
Deacy Amp
Classic 1972–1990s studio: ~1.5W germanium amp John Deacon built from a discarded Supersonic PR80 radio; the stacked-harmony tone on Killer Queen and Procession.
Sold — replacement pending Price history
Maestro Echoplex EP-3
Pedal
Maestro Echoplex EP-3
Maestro Echoplex EP-3 Solid State 1970 - 1991 - Grey
Classic 1970s–early 80s: two modified EP-3s at roughly 800 ms and 1600 ms into separate AC30 groups for Brighton Rock delay-harmony.
$1,000
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Foxx Foot Phaser
Pedal
Foxx Foot Phaser
fOXX Foot Phaser Studio Model 7 - Black 1970s - Serviced
Classic mid-1970s–early 80s: analog phaser on We Will Rock You, Bohemian Rhapsody guitar parts and the plywood Queen pedalboard.
$575
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Mid-career

A real in-between era or endorsement — not what they use now.

Pete Cornish Treble Booster
Pedal
Pete Cornish Treble Booster
2011 Pete Cornish TB-83 EXTRA Treble Booster – N/0916 – Factory Sealed – Ultra Rare
Mid 1974–c.1998: silicon BC149 booster (and later dual TB Extra) that replaced the lost Rangemaster from Sheer Heart Attack through the Magic Tour.
$1,499
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Pedal
Roland CE-1 Chorus Ensemble
Mid 1982–c.2005: Cornish-modified CE-1 fed three dedicated AC30s in the twelve-amp stadium rig; the sparkle on 1980s live chorus.
Sold — replacement pending Price history
Pedal
MXR Digital Delay II
Mid 1982–early 2000s: pair of Digital Delay IIs that replaced the Echoplexes in the Cornish 12-AC30 system (dry / delay 1 / delay 2 / chorus).
Not listed
Current / most recent

What they tour or record with now, or the newest signature line.

BMG Super
Guitar
BMG Super
2023 Brian May Guitars - BMG Super Black - Limited Edition - ID 4727
Current: official Brian May Guitars replica (Czech-built from 2014); May has said if he closes his eyes he cannot tell it from the original, and it is the signature fans can buy today.
$6,256
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Pedal
KAT STB Treble Booster
Current 2010s–present Queen + Adam Lambert: strap-mounted KAT STB (later RED-18) sits between the Red Special and the wireless pack, replacing the Fryer touring booster.
Not listed
TC Electronic G-Major 2
Pedal
TC Electronic G-Major 2
Rick Savage's, Def Leppard, TC Electronic G-Major/2 Guitar Processor (RS #5007)
Current c.2010–present: two G-Major 2 units supply stereo chorus for most of the set and the 800/1600 ms Brighton Rock delays into the wet AC30s.
$995
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Dunlop Cry Baby DCR-2SR
Pedal
Dunlop Cry Baby DCR-2SR
Dunlop Dunlop DCR-2SR Cry Baby Custom Shop Rack Module
Current: rackmount Cry Baby DCR-2SR with a DC-15C controller at May’s feet — the only effect he still operates himself on the Queen + Adam Lambert tours.
$688
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Estimated build total ~$14,445
Rig Overview
Estimated total ~$14,445
Pieces of gear 13
Genre / style Rock
Classic / iconic era 4 items
Mid-career 3 items
Current / most recent 4 items
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