Riff Tone

It's Late

Queen

Guitarrock1970s

Original Gear

GuitarHomemade 'Red Special' (Brian May's original, semi-hollow, 24-inch scale, three Burns Tri-Sonic single-coil pickups wired in series)

AmpVox AC30 (mid-1960s, Normal channel, Celestion Alnico Blue speakers)

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

Amp Settings

gain7.5

bass6

mid7

treble7.5

reverb1

presence3

Effects & Signal Chain

boostDallas-Arbiter or Pete Cornish Dallas-Arbiter Rangemaster Treble Booster (or Pete Cornish Treble Boost, era-correct variant)

Notes

Studio recording, 1977 (News of the World sessions). No evidence of live rig or alternate gear for this specific riff. Treble booster (Dallas-Arbiter Rangemaster or Pete Cornish) used as always-on front-end boost. No evidence of additional effects or pedals in the main riff section.

Tone Character(10)

British crunchaggressive power chord grinddistinctive hollow, nasal midrangetight and percussive rhythmsinging sustain (when volume up)edge-of-breakup crunchbright and articulate top endfull-bodied midrangeslightly compressed attackdynamic response to picking

Difficulty

The riff requires tight, aggressive rhythm playing with fast chord changes and dynamic volume control, making it challenging for most intermediate players.

Sources

Brian May's Guitar Gear, Pedals & Amps | Equipboard The Secrets Behind Brian May's Guitar Sound on Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down" | Guitar World What are Brain May's amp settings? : r/queen - Reddit

This tone has been researched 2 times by the community

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