“I wanted to sound like Jimi Hendrix on his first album. It was good to have that there for a while”: Brian May reveals the off-the-wall Red Special mod from his pre-Queen days that he ended up removing

Brian May and his Red Special electric guitar are inseparable, and across his career the Queen legend has used the humble DIY build to cement his status as a bona fide rock legend. But that doesn’t mean his beloved six-string is immune to criticism.

Back in 1963 – with a Fender, Gibson, or Höfner guitar way out of the May family budget – Brian and his father set to work on a custom guitar, which would eventually become the iconic Red Special.