bitflipper

You could start with a stack of vintage AC30's. He says in the video that he used three of them while recording Bohemian Rhapsody. Later on, he used custom-made ultra-high-gain amps. I suppose somebody must offer an authentic-sounding AC30 amp sim (I've just never heard one).

I used to think that... the AC-30 sim in the AdrenaLinn pedal is frighteningly close! Of course that's a pedal, not a VST.


The AC-30 emulation in the dbAudioware Aura and Flying Haggis VSTs are also pretty cool, maybe a little idealized, but I like them.


Other than those, I've always wondered why folks didn't create models of the AC-30. I also wonder why there are no great sims of the Ampeg V4.

batsbrew


that vox he's using is DEFINTELY NOT A SOLID STATE AMP.

the mic, is really irrelevent to may's sound.


the key is the guitar, the Deacy, the Vox AC30, and a treble booster.


actually, the key is may.


there really are no effects on his guitar.


Actually the microphone May used and the pre-amp and the desk is very important to the sound of Mays solo.  It's called the british sound and was used by The Beatles first (tubes), then Queen and then a number of Brit Pop bands in the 90's oh and I think Paul Weller.  Know thy production history.  Also I looked up when AC Vox went to a solid state amp and it would seem the early 70's so it's quite possible that May was using a solid state.  These things are super important, the OP said his guitar tone was lacking something and I deduced it was the harmonic distortion or the 2nd and 3rd harmonics that would be gleened from a particular signal path.
 
Ben
in fact, probably the only thing that would be considered an effect, is the way he uses the side of a sixpence as a pick.

Bohemian Rhapsody was released in October 1975.

The Vox AC30SS was introduced in the 1977 Vox Catalog.

 I think ^ post number 2 ^ covered it: Phaser.



best regards,
mike

there's tons of documentation out there as to what brian may used on different recordings, especially rhapsody.

Brian has his guitar plugged into the 'Normal' channel on the AC30s and has the treble booster turned up to just below the point where it goes into feedback. He has the amps turned up full and uses the volume control on his guitar to control the sound. If you want to try this setup at home, you should be aware that the AC30 is a vintage-style amp with no master volume control, so you will only get those classic sounds with everything up full (i.e. VERY loud).


The pickups on Brian's Red Special are wired in series, with phase change switches, which allow a very wide range of tones. Brian's main guitar tone uses the bridge and middle pickups together in phase, which gives a very warm rich sound, similar to that of a humbucker. He mainly uses this setting for rhythm work. For lead sounds, he often uses an out-of-phase setting, which cuts the lower frequencies and gives a much harsher 'screaming' sound. The guitar solo onBohemian Rhapsody is a good example of this tone setting.
The semi-solid construction of Brian's guitar, coupled with the amps turned up full gives a very 'live' response, which can easily lead to a ton of unwanted feeback. The solo for Put out the Fire is a great example of this. Here, Brian is using an out-of-phase pickup setting for that 'screaming' sound and has everything turned up full. The sound is right on the edge of endless feedback, but he somehow manages to control it and produce a great solo, which Brian says that he never really liked but I beg to differ!

http://www.brianmaycentral.net/play.html

and this:

But, as ever, much experimentation was undertaken before Brian May's guitar sound was perfected. 

"We used to have a few different types of mics set up, from which we would choose or blend signals for any one given sound, and it's a technique that I still use today. Brian's Vox AC30 amps were backless, so we also set up some mics behind them and near the wall, to capture some ambience and the full spectrum of the guitar sound. There was always a lot of experimentation going on during our sessions. Brian generally used AC30s but John Deacon had also thrown together something like a Tandy Radio Shack speaker with a 3 Watt amplifier, and we tried that with a treble booster. We tried putting microphones down metal and concrete tubes to get more of a honky sound, and it all seemed to work. It certainly all stands up today when I hear it all again." 
http://www.soundonsound.c...icles/oct95/queen.html

http://www.brianmaycentral.net/sounds.html

http://www.voxamps.com/legends/brianmay/

I liked the video linked to in post #2 where Mr. May pretty much gets the same sound in some small room with what ever amp is sitting there.

The camera mic is hearing it.

As mentioned, it seems like the pickup combo and the chord voicing get you 90% there... and Mr. May himself mentions the addition of an extra bit of phase effect.

My guess that he just calls his signature sound "playing guitar". :-) 


best regards,
mike

I would imagine the amp sitting there is an AC30 he brought, right?

Seems like there are 2 AC30s sitting there.