Brian May Signature Guitar - Honey Sunburst

The Brian May Honey Sunburst. In the history of guitar-based music, no other guitar has such an iconic status as Brian May's Red Special. Even such treasures as Hendrix's white Strat, Jimmy Page's '58 Les Paul Standard and Jeff Beck's battered Esquire pale into insignificance simply because, rare though they are, those models were production instruments. Irrespective of the music that May subsequently produced with his guitar, what makes the Red Special unique is it was made at home by two people -Brian and his dad -who had no prior experience of guitar building.

Stories of the construction of the Red Special -the use of motorcycle saddle springs, knitting needles and pearl shirt buttons, not to mention a mantelpiece riddled with woodworm holes - have become legendary. But the bottom line is that the guitar turned out to possess several innovative designs that have yet to be fully copied by other manufacturers, even today.

Many companies have attempted to persuade and cajole May into allowing them to produce a signature model, but only Guild - and more recently RS Guitars and Greg Fryer - have grabbed the bull by the horns and taken on the daunting task of copying a guitar that is idolised by millions. As good as these guitars are, although the Guild models are no longer available, they are all exclusively expensive and May has had the idea of producing what he describes as an 'affordable' copy on the back-burner for years. The story of how he ultimately chose Burns for the job is described by both Brian and his tech Pete Malandrone elsewhere within the issue, but here we have one of the first production Burns Brian May Signature models to roll off the Korean production line in late August 2001.

Optional Extras:

• Hiscox Brian May Guitar Case
• Brian May Gig Bag

Rare white with tortoiseshell plate in stock, please call for details