ROYAL CHARTER

Queen guitarist Brian May has had his own range of guitars for some time, based around his own Red Special. But now there’s a new addition to the range, designed by US singer and guitarist Arielle

- David Mead

The sound of Brian May’s Red Special guitar is one of the most singular in rock. With its unique switching system wringing every drop of tone out of his trio of Burns Tri-Sonic pickups, it’s been Brian’s faithful companion on a hoard of hit records. American musician Arielle set out to replicate the Red Special’s tonal palette on her own self-designed instrument, ‘Two-Tone’, and it wasn’t long before discussions began regarding adding it to the stable of Brian’s guitars, albeit in a slightly modified form.

The result is a beguiling blend of influences – a little bit Firebird here, with maybe a touch of Explorer there, but at its heart it has the fire and fury of a thoroughbred with a nod to the guitar that Brian designed with his dad in the garden shed many moons ago. We caught up with both Brian and Arielle to get the lowdown on the new BMG Arielle Guitar.

***BRIAN***

How did you first connect with Arielle?

“I’ve known Arielle for a long, long time. Way before anyone had seen her, as such. We’ve kept in touch over the years and so I did know that she had designed her own guitar, but I hadn’t seen it until we bumped into each other on one of our tours. She gave it to me to play and so that was really the turning point. I picked it up and it felt like home, really; I immediately felt that I could do what I need to do on it.