Solo Tone

Don't Stop Me Now

Queen

Guitarrock1970s

Original Gear

GuitarHomemade 'Red Special' (Brian May's original, 24-inch scale, chambered body, three Burns Tri-Sonic single-coil pickups wired in series with individual on/off and phase switches)

AmpDeacy Amp (studio, for solo section on 'Don't Stop Me Now')

PickupsBurns Tri-Sonic single-coil pickups (bridge and middle in series, in phase)

Amp Settings

gain7

bass6

mid7

treble7.5

reverb2.5

presence6.5

Effects & Signal Chain

boostDallas-Arbiter Dallas-Arbiter Rangemaster Treble Booster (or clone)

delayUnknown Delay pedal (model unknown, likely analog or tape-style)

Notes

Studio recording, 1978. For the solo section, Brian May used the Deacy amp (custom built by John Deacon) with a treble booster. The rest of the song and live versions typically used Vox AC30s, but the solo is confirmed to use the Deacy amp. No evidence of other guitars or amps for this section.

Tone Character(10)

very smooth-sounding overdrivesinging sustainnasal midrange toneharmonically richtight and focusedbright and articulatenot fizzy or harshclear note separationclassic Queen lead soundtouch-sensitive response

Difficulty

The solo requires fast, articulate picking, expressive bends, and precise phrasing typical of Brian May's style, making it challenging for most intermediate players.

Sources

Queen guitar tone - Don't Stop Me Now - The Gear Page How to get Brian May's Red Special tones from a Strat or Les Paul | Guitar World

This tone has been researched 6 times by the community

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