Guild Brian May Signature Model

most of you know the construction and features of this guitar so i wont bother retyping the details. Mine is a red one which i have had for 3 years. its a lovely guitar which takes some getting used to however because of its wide pallet of sounds, makes it possibly one of the most versatile guitars around.... along with a tele.

i am posting this review for inform owners of the potential of this guitar if everything is set up right. i have made setain adjustments to the guitar which have improved the tone and sustain of the guitar incredibly.

1. i adjusted the tremolo strings increasing the tension somewhat with the block slightly angling the arm upwards.... the sustain improved incredibly. this is done by simply by removing the tremolo cover and tightening using a spanner.
2. the pickups seem to have a very focussed magnetic field. raising the pickups higher and angled with the pickups a little closer to the high E made a heck of a difference. on the high E, distannce to strings are as follows: bridge 2.5mm, middle 3.5, neck 4mm. on the low E all the heights are about 1mm further away from the strings. pickup height adkustment can be done easily by removing the pickguard carefulle and shimming under the screws which fix the PU's to the body.

3 careful adjustment of the truss rod. the truss rod can be set to almost perfectly flat. i adjusted it with little or no relief and i get no buzz and plays flawlessly....after adjusting the truss rod you may need raise the bridge a little to compensate fpor the higher notes, but this axe now plays flawlessly all over. like butter!

the pickups are low in output individually, however output increases when you turn them on in series. the guitar responds better to higher gain settings and an amp which tolerate lots of input gain. i use a digitech GNX4 into a 70's ac30tb and the guitar screams.

its great for rock, rockabilly and just about any sound. even with the neck and bridge out of phase and the tone turned down a little you get a convincing peter green sound ..

wonderful.

flawless.

remember to wind the strings all the way down the tuner posts so that you get some pressure on the nut/zero fret.

have had it 3 years and never a prob

never needed it

what can i say.... its unique. it is a guitar with a very wide pallet of sounds and capable of being used in many styles from metal to country to jazz. playability is excellent and tremolo great.
i would have to replace it if i lost it.
probably the best playing guitar (after my own mods) and i have many great playing guitars.

the guitar is expensive but there is nothing else like it.

My guitar is the 93' Guild signature model with the whammi bar and the sound chambers in Red. Its S/n is BM20176, and has the white switches, 3 Seymour Trisonic pickups (very low output) and all the usual features.

It also has a very wide neck that hardly tapers all the way down.

Well, this is one bizarre guitar! First things first the pickups are very low output, and very bass heavy making the guitar sound like mud. The way to make this guitar come alive is using a booster in the front end of your amp. I use a Boss GE7 graphic EQ pedal. This boosts the output and lifts the top end a little too. The switch combinations allow you to get single coil and series humbucker sounds too. The phase switches are pretty useless as they make the guitar 'waffa' thin, though I would imagine in the studio they would cut through a mix. The bridge pickup seems to be reverse wound, meaning that bridge and middle, and bridge and neck are hum cancelling. all other positions hum to some degree. The guitar and the pickups are a little microphonic, expecally as the guitar is a semi.

The general level of finish is excellent. Hardware, pickups and build are first class. I wonder if all Guilds are as good as this?

When I got it (used) it was in unplayed (un-touched!) condition. The top E kept popping out of the nut slot. I had a new graphite nut put on and this fixed it. Then I had the problem of the zero fret buzzing, which was fixed by having this fret replaced. The guitar after a couple of set ups, and changing to 10 - 46 strings plays like a charm. Nice and bendy and comfortable to boot.

I play this guitar from time to time depending on how much Brian based I am feeling!

I have removed the whammi bar completely, as I do not use them. This guitar does not hold its tuning as well as a fixed bridge, but I suppose that is to be expected. I have also put schaller strap locks on as I dont want a broken neck!

I would imagine that it will last more or less forever, though I do baby it a bit. Guitars are made to be played and thrashed about a bit, not hung on walls. I think I will just treat it as a tool and if 'battle scars' appear on it so be it.

From what I have heard Guild aka Fender basically deny all knowledge of it! When Chandellers did some work on it, they lost a roller saddle, and had to speak to Schaller in Germany direct to get another. Aparently not even Brians guitar tech had any (though he has plenty for Brian's guitar!!)

I heard that the old Guild distributor has some white switches but that is about it!

Well the who escapade was a hero worship based purchase. I nearly sold this guitar to fund an amplifier purchase but I glad I didnt, especally after seeing Brian on the roof of Buckingham Palace!

At the end of the day its somebody elses idea of a perfect guitar, but not mine. However I do love it, and like to bring it out every now and again as it rases a few eyebrowes. What with the Burns on the market now, I think the rarity of seeing a BM guitar has diminished, though this guitar is better put together.

I don't want to be Brian May, but I am a guitar playing fan, and owning one of these just gives me a kick!

It's '93 Model.Transparent red. Cames with the brown molded case.
I think everyone who read this reviews,knows the specifications so it's no need to repeat all the features again.

I play in a rock band, we do german rock stuff.
Check it at http://www.bullermann.de.vu
I became to a big fan of this BHM sound. My favorite sounds are:
Bridge and Middle in phase. Only Neck pick in phase (like strat)
Or all three picks together in phase (very fat sound) and.....
Somehow I almost like all the sounds. But I don't like out of phase sounds. Sound very thin and trebly.

I bought mine used before 2 years. A little lack damage on the headstock, but no damage on the wood. Pre owner didn't play it much.
Frets are like new (with one exception, see below) The finish is in very good condition. No dings at all.

Unfortunaly the screw which runs through the tremolo arm into the block breaks in two pieces. I explore that the screw consists of crap cast-iron. Further the zero fret has some notches from the strings.
You can always hear a little "pling" when bending the strings in the lower frets. Never play live without a backup guitar.

Try to contact them ('cos the screw problem) but on the Guild site
there was no email add. Write a letter but no answer 'til today.
And Fender didn't reply.
On those parts, Guild gave a lifetime warranty. Probably you need a lifetime to reach them.
A friend of mine was able to reproduce the screw for me.
This one is a high grade steel screw. Best quality now. Thanks Pulle!
I would be afraid to send my baby by mail.
Sorry Guild, for the rating...

I love the shape. Especially the neck. Was a little tricky in the beginning to get in use with the tighter frets.
If mine would be stolen I would look for a new.
Good luck by searching.
I played it over various amps. At this time I play an Engl Savage 120
head with a Marshall 4x12" cabinet.

Exact rep of Brian's guitar but in the coolest green color. Was not sure til I went to see it & was blown away!!! As much as I'd like a red one, I would take another green one in a heartbeat!!! Even came with the treble booster & OHSC!!! The combo of guitar, pedal, & my Vox AC15 nails it, the coolest tones ever!!! I was blown away by the switching system at first but I got it down now, & I love it enough to convert my Strat this way. Has a "ME" serial # not the "BM", but what's the diff?

This guitar will play anything and sound great doing it. It shreds, it cries! Words can not say enough until you've experienced it, sorry.

I bought mine used from the original owner who wiped it with a dapier!!! This thing was so clean I almost died. Needless to say I could not buy the man fast enough. The only changes I've made were to string 10's on it & thats it.

This guitar feels so solid and I swear it sustains in it's case. I'd put it up against any Les Paul, and I know it will kick ass. Thought the tremelo was freaky at first but it is the best nonlocking trem I've ever played. 9.9/10 for staying in tune.

Now that Fender owns Guild, I don't know what the situation is. I couldn't even get Seymor Duncan to make me a set of pickups because they say Guild/Fender owns the rights. I'd love to see a reissue so that maybe the market for these guitars would come down a bit.

I've seen 2 of th green ones sell for more than $3000.00 which makes mine a steal. The seller knew he could get more but said "I paid 2K so I'll sell it for 2K". O.K. No questions asked here! Like I said I'd love to see the prices come down (I don't think 2K was tht bad but 3K or more?). Come on Fender, you're sitting on a gold mine!!!

I live in Switzerland and I have two Guild Brian May Signature- Guitars. The serial numbers are BM20175 (red) and BM20229 (green). I bought the first Brian May, the red one(price USD 2500.00), from Everett Wood, Tennesse. Everett is a great collector of Guild Brian May-Guitars and sold me one of his collection (thanks a lot!!).

I found the green BM Signature in Switzerland to a very, very cheap price of USD 1'500.00. It was really a lucky moment... Both guitars are used, but in +++ condition.

The sound is really fantastic. I don't know other guitars with so many options (in phase, out of phase...) I use the guitars with a ZOOM effect prozessor and it sounds great!!

Guild did really a great job... The Brian May is a solid contstructed guitar and all electronic connections are cleanly and tightly soldered. Both guitars are something special for me and I'm very carefully.

Since I'm owner of this guitars, I had no problems and everything is OK...

I asked them for a Guild Brian May Signature-User-Manual. I have received a copie in only two weeks (I live in Switzerland!) and they were very friendly...

If I would have more money, I would buy more of this guitars (like the Brian May Standard or Special-Models)... If you have the luck to find one... Take it!!

I dont know what year the guitar was made. But it was made in the USA. the serial number begins with ME instead of BM. I have been told ME stands for "Made for Export" and "May Europe". It has three seymore ducan copies of the burns trisonics. The tuners, Bridge and tremelo unit are made by Schaller.

Great sounding guitar for rock music. I've tried the parker fly, gibson les paul, Fender stratocaster, I cant get the sounds I get from the Brian May guitar. I use a vox ac-30 of course, with digitech rp something or other. If I stand tooo close to the amp with the degitech on, I get a nasty hum which disapates when I move away. Must be a function of the pickups or poor sheilding

the pick ups are not adjustable. I bought mine used so I dont know how the factory set it up. I have owned four of these guitars, three red and one green. The first one I owned was direct from Gruhn guitars new. It had a lot of fret buzz due to the zero fret and lack of angle at the headstock. I had it professional set up, had a new nut put on it and it was ok. The other three were playable without any further work.

I have played the guitar live and play without a back up. All I take are extra srtings. I've had to have a custom made bold for the tremelo arm made, Schaller was no help. Generally, no replacement parts are availible for the guitar

I havent tried to get any warranty work done. Given the rarity of the guitar, I would not want to sent it through the mail.

I can't see being withou this guitar ever, unless I lost all my fingers in an accident. The only complaint I have in that its had for me to play at the upper octave because the frets are so close together.

I own two Brian May Signatures, one red, one green. Never thought I would own a green guitar, but the translucent finish over the mahogany is beautiful, and the green is dark enough to be attractive. Main features that attacted me to the guitar were - Exceptionally wide tonal variations provided by the pickup phasing and switching combinations. A superb neck allowing access to all 24 frets, wide enough for long fingers, but with very little taper - it is very different, but great for anyone who also plays a lot of acoustic guitar, as I do. The smoothest tremolo arm I've found - but see below for a problem.

I certainly appreciate Brian May's innovative approach to the guitar, particularly his early to mid period with Queen, but this guitar can sound almost any way you want it to, and certainly encourages creativity!

I recently used this guitar, through a Dean Markley Signature amp fitted with Fender output transformer, to put in some lead breaks on our latest CD, which is almost entirely acoustic / vocal based. One of the other members of the trio is not a big fan of electric guitar, but when he heard all the sounds to choose from, he was converted to the point that he wants one. Similarly, the sound choices convinced a jazz enthusiast friend (normally plays a 1951 Gibson L5C) that he needs a Brian May as his solid body. (OK, technically, semi-solid!)

I usually play straight into the amp with the Dean Markley. With my old Selmer Zodiac 50, I'll often use a chorus pedal. It also sounds great through my 1958 Fender Champ tweed, driving it nicely into warm distortion.

I have played with the set up somewhat, while experimenting with 009, 009.5 and 010 high E string sets. The necks seem stable, and respond evenly to small truss rod adjustments. The red guitar has a fractional mis-alignment of the tremolo block knife edge where it fits to the body, but it doesn't affect playability, so I'll leave it alone. Action is low, and string bending is a delight, with the wide neck and short scale. It is important to wind the strings onto the tuning posts carefully, to give a little extra pressure on the zero fret, otherwise the top E string can pull out of the (graphite)nut. I am amazed that tuning stability is so good, considering no locking tuners, and the ability to grop the G string down about an octave with the tremolo arm.

I have used the red guitar as my performing electric since its purchase. I probably tend to be more careful than most with my instruments (my acoustics are high-end Larrivees) but so far the Guild is holding up well. The only tiny ding is the result of dropping one of the tremolo bolts on the finish, and I was surprised that the small bolt, from an inch or so up, made any ding at all. It just keeps me even more careful!

The tremolo arm block holes through which the strings pass have very sharp edges, which accounts for the high E string breakage. This is VERY hard steel, so the option I took was to press in a soft metal sleeve (a small pop-rivet sleeve) in the top two string holes. This has worked very well - no more breakages.

The frets are showing almost no wear after six years of pretty regular use and the scratch guard seems to polish up well.

Haven't had any cause to use company warranty. I would probably use a trusted local guitar tech, even though it would cost me, so as not to ship the guitar. (Barring catastrophic failure, that is!)

There's nothing else quite like it, and there wasn't a choice - I got the last new one Portland Music could get hold of. The green one was used, but in excellent shape. It plays almost identically to the red one.

1993/4 USA made, the Guild Brian May Signature guitar has 24 frets on its ebony fingerboard including something you rarely see on an expensive and well-made instrument: a zero-fret at the nut. This compensates for the fact that there is no tilt to the headstock (like a Gibson) or string trees (like a Fender). The guitar itself is reportedly semi-hollow, with two tone chambers on either side of the pickup cavity; I won't be pulling the top off any time soon to see if this is true. The body & neck are mahogany; the body is fairly thin but the wood makes it very heavy. The neck is both thick & wide and if you have the hands for it, plays very well. There are three custom-made pickups (Seymour Duncan) that, while they look like single-coils, produce a sound kind of in-between single-coils and humbuckers. When used in pairs and in phase, they sound very thick. The electronics are quite unique, even for a passive setup: each pickup has an on-off switch and a phase switch, allowing for a wide variety of settings and sounds. Standard volume and tone are affixed, but they are reversed in location (volume is higher than & behind the tone). The semi-translucent deep wine red finish is flawless, and the small double-cutaway body is much more round in the lower bout than most electrics. The two-piece bridge is a custom-made piece by Schaller (who also made the tuners); the pieces are heavy and of high quality. Mine came with a brown rectangular hard case and the special Brian May treble booster stomp box.

The great thing about this guitar is that it can reproduce nearly any sound you can think of, from the twangy surf-stylings of The Ventures to the muddy grind of Black Sabbath. The pickups are fairly quiet when used alone; when in phase and in humbucking mode they are very quiet. Out-of-phase settings can get a little noisy if you're too close to your amp (watch out for feedback in high-volume environments). I play mostly hard-driving rock and "math" metal (meaning there's a lot of counting going on -- meters, measures, odd stuff) and run my BMSig straight into a Peavey Classic 50 (2x12 + 4x10 extension cabinet); the sensitive volume control on the guitar means I can crank my amp up and control my volume, tone, and distortion from the guitar -- a wonderful feature. The biggest hitch to the guitar is switching sounds; sometimes changing pickups can lead to fumbling and missed changes, especially when you're trying to incorporate the phase switches.

I got mine from another player; it was set up perfectly for .009's. I put .010's on it and had to adjust the truss rod, bridge height, and intonation. Once properly adjusted, everything was perfect. The frets extended minimally beyond the edges of the fingerboard, though, and because of my playing style this resulted in torn-up flesh on my palm and at the bottom of my fingers. Not something hard to overcome or get used to, but definitely a defect in the finishing process. The paint is flawless; the neck joint is totally solid and well-constructed. After several months of hard use (nightclubs, studios, etc. -- common rock band stuff) I had to clean the switches with TV-tuner contact cleaner to get rid of some scratchiness that was creeping in occasionally.

The Signature is a solidly contstructed guitar. All electronic connections are cleanly and tightly soldered and look to last a long time. I replaced the stock strap buttons with Strap-Loks and have been using those for close to 15 years without a hitch. After using my Signature on stage and in the studio for nearly four full years now, I can see no fading in the finish where my arm contacts the guitar on the body or where my hand goes on the neck. The lower six frets are starting to show some wear at this point, but I estimate three or four years before they will need replaced (I'll probably crown them in 2001 or so). If I could only take one guitar to a gig with me, this would be the one.

Guild was bought out by Fender a couple years back (1998?); I have made several phone calls to Fender and sent more than a few e-mails and received no useful information at all from Fender. They don't respond to e-mailed questions about this guitar (or at least they didn't to me). The only useful information I've been able to get from any manufacturer involved with this guitar (Guild/Fender, Seymour Duncan, and Schaller) was from Seymour Duncan, who told me that while they couldn't supply me with a set of the Brian May pickups, they would be happy to re-wind or otherwise repair them at any time (for a fee, I presume). I have never tried to contact Schaller, but as they are headquartered in Germany and I don't speak the language, I'm not too hopeful there. I assume they would be able to repair broken bridge pieces; the part of the bridge with the saddles on it is one of their "regular" pieces of hardware, as are the tuners, and widely available. If there was a warranty, it expired before I bought the guitar.

I've been playing for 15 years; before the Signature my main guitars were a Les Paul Studio and a highly modified Fender American Standard Strat. I'd rather play the Signature than any other guitar I've ever owned, and I've had just about everything you can think of: Gibson, Fender, Epiphone, Charvel, Jackson, Ibanez, Aria Pro II, BC Rich, and probably 8 or 10 off-brand guitars as well. My favorite thing about this guitar is its versatility sound-wise and its playability neck-wise; I have big hands and the neck is just perfect for me. I do wish it had a Strat-type pickup selector switch, but it would have to be one of those fancy Jackson/Charvel ones that allows you to have all three pickups on in all the combinations (bmf, bm, mf, bf, b, m, f). The Brian May Signature is, without a doubt, the best guitar I have ever owned -- the only thing I wish it had was more manufacturer support vis-a-vis spare parts, etc. The only guitar I've ever played (not owned) that came close to this one was a $3,000 Paul Reed Smith.

I have three of these guitars. All were made in 1993-4, but as the features are the same on all three, I'll concentrate on my favorite, the green one. First off, this is virtually the same guitar as the "Pro" model -- the only thing supposedly missing from the Pro is a copy of Brian's signature on the back of the headstock, and I've yet to see one without it. Anyway, this 24 fret, 3-pickup, USA-made guitar is top-notch. The pickups along with the on/off and phase switches give an amazing range of sound. The hollow cavities in the body lend themselves to achieving that infinate-sustain feedback with almost no effort at all. This guitar does almost everything without sounding generic. I really like the way the neck is almost as wide at the nut as it is at the body. It adds a level of playability that is unavailable on most other guitars. I can't really say much about the custom vibrato setup, however, as I'm not a big user of same. However, it works well for what I do. The tuners are probably my only issue. Since the headstock has almost no angle to it, and there are no string trees used (for sustain purposes, this is very important), the fact that the tuning posts stick up so high means that I need to put a lot of extra windings on the posts in order to get the strings to angle down a bit, thus preventing fret buzz. I'm considering going to locking Sperzels -- I'll order a special set using only the shortest posts available. Other than that minor consideration, I have no other complaints about the features of this guitar.

As I said above, the range of tones available from this guitar is incredible. From screeching, biting treble (all three pickups on, neck out of phase with middle and bridge), to mellow (neck pickup with the tone rolled off). Speaking of the tone control, it seems to affect the tone differently than on most other guitars. Somehow, even fully down, it doesn't produce a muffled sound; it just seems more mellow, somewhow. My band plays Power Pop, and that really covers a lot of different sounds. However, my main sound, middle and bridge out of phase, serves me well over 85% of the time. It has a nice jangle that cuts through the mix without biting. I love this guitar, it does almost everything I need it to do (good Gretch tones are a bit out of it's reach, however). Nothing else really sounds as good to me for overall playing.

There were no problems at all with the guitar.

This guitar has been my number one guitar for the last five years. However, I do have three -- one is mostly for backup in case of a string break (it doesn't happen often, but it almost always happens when I don't bother to bring a backup -- thus, I now bring one out of habit), the other is basically for third-level backup in case any tragedy should befall my first two. Since the guitar is out of production, and many parts are custom made for this guitar, there are no generic or factory replacement parts available. I have managed to ding the finish, but I personally think that's somewhat inevitable on a working guitar. I'd say that my biggest worry is that the vibrato arm screw that goes into the vibrato block will break. This happened once early on (in the first year), and never since, but as there are no parts available, it's a constant worry for me.

The only time I had problems was the above-mentioned screw-breakage. I contacted the repair shop and explained the problem. Guild (U.S. Music) shipped an entire new vibrato block and arm to the repair shop. I brought my guitar in, and they fixed it on the spot. There's no way I can complain about service like that!

I've been playing guitar for nearly 25 years, and after years of searching for that perfect guitar, I have found it. I still have many other guitars (like I said, there are a few tones that this guitar can't get), but I can't imagine playing anything else for more than a song or two. As I said before, I have three, and the main reason for the third is just in case anything should happen to my baby. The thought of having to play without this guitar is just not one I care to consider. I love the range of sounds available at my figertips. I love the feel. I love the way it looks (there's nothing else out there that has that unique-yet-classic look to it).
One last thing: I bought this guitar because I'm a fan of Brian's work. I was expecting to get a guitar that I'd use once in a while for something different. I didn't plan on finding a guitar that would encompass such a wide range of sounds with such playability -- nor did I expect it to become my absolute favorite guitar. Probably the most important reason for that is the fact that while I'm getting great tones out of this guitar, I sound nothing like Brian. He gets his own tone out of the guitar, while I have a completely different sound -- and it's still a great sound!

My 1993 Brian May signature model has 24 frets ( a clean double octave) , three seymour duncan Brian May pickups, and a schaller none locking trem that was custom make for this guitar. It, along with a graphite nut, stays in tunes amazingly well. The guitar also has a short 24 inch scale and is amost as wide at the nut as the 24th fret. It took getting used to, but now it feels very natural. It has a clear red finish just like Brians, and comes with a manual with some of Brian's favorite settings. You will need them because this guitar has 6 on/off swiches as well as tone and volume controls, which allow for an amazing number of pickups combinations. The guitar is also made from mohogany and has hollow sound chambers inside the body. It is definatly louder than a regular solid body, and I think this contributes greatly to the distinct tone this guitar has. The sound chambers also make this guitar very light, which also takes getting used to. I think the uniqueness of this instrument makes it stand out more tone-wise. It is supposed to be an exact copy of Brian's homemade guitar that he has played for the past 30 years.

The 3 pickups sound very different, for being the same pickups. I will explain....the bridge pickup is literally flush against the bridge, and sounds very weedy alone. In combination with middle pickup it not only warms up considerably, it can also scream. This is the combination that gives a very warm humbucking sound, and is the one Brian says he uses 85% of the time. The neck and middle pickups sound like extremely warm single coils, almost humbucking in nature, but retain the clarity of single coils. Playing with the out of phase switches and the pickup on/off switches can really individualize the tone. I love this guitar for clean playing, and think it sounds similar to a gibson 335 or a gretch. For distortion it is very warm and sounds different than other guitars in-so-far as it sounds more organic. The hollow body( without sound holes) really lets the notes resonate and you can feel it. It feeds back very naturally and controllablly. I use it with a treble boost and when plugged into an ac-30 it is heaven. The sound is very QUEEN like, but also very individual as well. The ac-30's Gradually move into distortion, and by rolling back the guitar volume you can greatly change the characteristics of the tone. This guitar was made for this set up. The out of phase pickup combinations work best in this atmosphere because ac-30's have tons of bottom end (which is lopped off when using pickups out of phase). An example might be the bohemian Raphsody solo, in which the middle and neck pickups are used together, out of phase with one another. Try this without an ac-30 and you will think it sounds like chicken scratch. Those same two pickups in phase give a very thick cello tone, and with an ac-30 cranked it also delivers infinite sustain. Personally I play songs from the police to Queen, rush, def leppard, phil keaggy, etc... and find it flexable enough for the job.( I am probably not picky enough though?) My other guitar is a strat with vintage pickups which I also think can fill most job duties.

Flawless guitar, it was made with a life time warranty and was built accordingly.

It's very dependable, and comes with a custom fit hard-shell case. Never use any guitar without a backup though.

Guild is now owned by fender, I am not sure how their support is, I haven't needed any.

With so many guitars out there that sound pretty much the same it's a pleasure to own something different. There are prescious few of these guitars out there due to the limited run over a very few years, especially the signature models. This makes it even more fun to own.