The Black Queen
Woods:
- Macassar ebony neck and body core, and tremolo cover
- Swamp ash wings, quilt maple top,
- Gaboon ebony fret board with silver wire starfield inlay, and pearl 'planets'
Scale length: 25"
Special bits: Authentic Trisonic pickups hand-made by a gentleman who builds Red Special replicas and uses the spare parts bought from the Greg Fryer restoration of the Red Special and replica builds for Brian May. Replica Red Special tremolo from RS Conversions.
Hardware: Sperzel open back tuners,
Electronics: Three mini switches that control phase-off-phase of each pickup. This gives a very usable approximation of May's different voicings without the field of switches.
I've lost count of what I've built, I expect it's in the 15-20 range depending on what you count as a build. My first was at 16 in high school and I've never stopped. That one was a full V build of my own design and custom chrome parts that I made. People always ask "are you going to sell it?" and I say NOO!! I build these for myself to play, and they usually have some new technique I want to try or something my other guitars don't have. I build in my shop that is supposed to be a 2-car garage but has never held a car, much to my wife's dismay.
This particular build was inspired by the Red Special and May's building of his own instrument. That was a large influence for me and I've always loved the sound of that guitar. I wasn't interested in building an exact replica though, and wanted to use my own design. The end result plays beautifully and sounds way closer than I thought it would.
Build thread:
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