Top 5SponsoredUses
“To me, this was a joy that they would offer to make me a guitar.”
Said in Premier Guitar: Queen's Brian May Talks About His New Gibson Signature Acoustic, February 2025
Photo: See Li · CC BY 2.0
Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Brian May. Every item links to its public source.
22 items · Last checked What guitar does Brian May play?
Brian May plays through Vox AC30s driven by a treble booster, which he told Guitar World was his voice from the first moment he plugged in. On tour he has been seen with a Fryer treble booster, a Dunlop Cry Baby Rack Module, BMG Special and BMG Super replicas of the Red Special, and in 2025 his Gibson Brian May SJ-200 12-string.
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Top 5
Where to start with Brian May's gear.
01
02
Top 5SponsoredHas said they use
Brian May Guitars
BMG Super“If I close my eyes with the Super, I don't know that it's not my guitar.”
03
Top 5SponsoredSeen using
Brian May Guitars
BMG Special“I'll always take another guitar or two too, usually a BMG and a BMG Super”
Seen in MusicRadar: Brian May rig tour with his tech Pete Malandrone, October 2020
04
Top 5Seen using
Guild
F-512“On the thrust [stage] he plays a Guild F-512 acoustic”
Seen in MusicRadar: Brian May rig tour with his tech Pete Malandrone, October 2020
05
Top 5Has said they use
Vox
AC30“The moment I first plugged into an AC30 with a treble booster, I knew that was me.”
What gear Brian May uses: a sourced gear guide
Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.
Guitars
SponsoredUses
“To me, this was a joy that they would offer to make me a guitar.”
Said in Premier Guitar: Queen's Brian May Talks About His New Gibson Signature Acoustic, February 2025
SponsoredHas said they use
Brian May Guitars
BMG Super“If I close my eyes with the Super, I don't know that it's not my guitar.”
SponsoredSeen using
Brian May Guitars
BMG Special“I'll always take another guitar or two too, usually a BMG and a BMG Super”
Seen in MusicRadar: Brian May rig tour with his tech Pete Malandrone, October 2020
Seen using
Guild
F-512“On the thrust [stage] he plays a Guild F-512 acoustic”
Seen in MusicRadar: Brian May rig tour with his tech Pete Malandrone, October 2020
Seen in Premier Guitar: Rig Rundown: Queen's Brian May, July 2014
No store page for this one.
Andrew Guyton
Red Special replica (green, used in dropped D)Seen in Premier Guitar: Rig Rundown: Queen's Brian May, July 2014
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Andrew Guyton
Red Special replica with f-hole and internal piezoSeen in Premier Guitar: Rig Rundown: Queen's Brian May, July 2014
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Burns
Pickups on the Red Special
Seen using
Seen in Premier Guitar: Rig Rundown: Queen's Brian May, July 2014
No store page for this one.
Optima
24 Carat Gold strings (.009-.042)
Seen using
Seen in Premier Guitar: Rig Rundown: Queen's Brian May, July 2014
Royal Mint
Sixpence coin (played as a pick)Seen in Premier Guitar: Rig Rundown: Queen's Brian May, July 2014
No store page for this one.
Amps and effects
Has said they use
Vox
AC30“The moment I first plugged into an AC30 with a treble booster, I knew that was me.”
Seen using
“The only real effects May uses is his Fryer Treble Booster mounted on his guitar strap”
Seen in Premier Guitar: Rig Rundown, Queen's Brian May, July 2014
Seen using
Dunlop
Cry Baby Rack Module“The main signal then goes first through a Dunlop rackmount wah, a Crybaby DCR-2SR”
Seen in MusicRadar: Brian May rig tour with his tech Pete Malandrone, October 2020
Has said they use
Catalinbread
Galileo“There's a great simulator; it's a pedal [Catalinbread Galileo] that really does a very good job of simulating my sound.”
Seen using
Korg
Pitchblack“The tuner is a Korg Pitchblack which is permanently on”
Seen in MusicRadar: Brian May rig tour with his tech Pete Malandrone, October 2020
Pedals
TC Electronic
G-Major 2 delays
Seen using
TC Electronic
G-Major 2 delaysSeen in Premier Guitar: Rig Rundown: Queen's Brian May, July 2014
Records that shaped him
Has said they love
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Bold As Love“Hendrix's tone is enormously fat, yet incisive.”
Said in Guitar Player: Brian May on Jeff Beck and the guitar tones that changed his life, February 2025
Has said they love
Jeff Beck
Where Were You“This, in spite of my lifelong devotion to Hendrix, might just be the greatest recorded piece of guitar in the world. Ever.”
Said in Guitar Player: Brian May on Jeff Beck and the guitar tones that changed his life, February 2025
Has said they love
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
Key to Love“Nobody could hear this and not get chills.”
Said in Guitar Player: Brian May on Jeff Beck and the guitar tones that changed his life, February 2025
Has said they love
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin“I never get fed up of listening to those Zeppelin albums, and I never will.”
Has said they love
Ricky Nelson
Hello Mary Lou“For me, this solo changed the path of history.”
Said in Guitar Player: Brian May on Jeff Beck and the guitar tones that changed his life, February 2025
Has said they love
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
I'm Looking for Someone to Love“A mighty clang. Raw power that made me and a million other kids want to make that noise.”
Said in Guitar Player: Brian May on Jeff Beck and the guitar tones that changed his life, February 2025
Questions
About Brian May's gear.
What guitar does Brian May play?
His own homemade Red Special. He told Guitar World in 2024 that the BMG Super from Brian May Guitars is an exact replica, and his tech has said a BMG and a BMG Super travel as spares. On acoustic he has been seen with a Guild F-512 and his Gibson Brian May SJ-200 12-string.
What amp does Brian May use?
Vox AC30s. Since seeing Rory Gallagher he has played AC30s with a treble booster, and Premier Guitar saw a trio of modded AC30s in a wet, dry, wet setup in 2014.
What treble booster does Brian May use?
He started on a Dallas Rangemaster. Premier Guitar's 2014 Rig Rundown shows a Fryer Treble Booster mounted on his strap, and in 2024 he praised the Catalinbread Galileo pedal as a very good simulation of his sound.
What effects does Brian May use?
Very few. His tech Pete Malandrone described a Dunlop Cry Baby DCR-2SR rack wah, two TC Electronic G-Major 2 delays and a Korg Pitchblack tuner, with the delays feeding the two outside AC30s.
Which records shaped Brian May's guitar tone?
He named Hendrix's Bold As Love, Jeff Beck's Where Were You, Key to Love with Eric Clapton, Ricky Nelson's Hello Mary Lou and Buddy Holly's I'm Looking for Someone to Love, and says he never gets fed up with the Zeppelin albums.
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Brian May
About this guide · Last checked
Brian May is the guitarist of Queen, still touring as Queen + Adam Lambert with the Red Special he built with his father in 1964. This guide covers the Brian May Guitars replicas, Vox AC30s, treble booster and rack effects from his Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, his tech's MusicRadar rig tour and his own interviews, plus the records he says changed his tone.
truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Brian May didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.
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