Hey,Sam,good to see your still hard at it,hope Maurice and your wife are doing well,Cheers!nice red special.
@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
4 ай бұрын
We're all good - in the scheme of things. Maurice is in good health - past his 10th birthday now but still our favourite pom-pom tailed little fellow. He'll be smiling from my guitars for many years yet (his furry likeness will outlive both of us I'm sure) :D
@paressehylton
4 ай бұрын
This guy is a legend. I wish i lived in england so i could bring my guitars to him.
@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
4 ай бұрын
You’re too kind!
@AndrewAHayes
4 ай бұрын
I started learning to play in 1975 at 8 years old, after a couple of years my dad's Fender twin amp packed in and so I connected to the phono arm of the record player that was connected to a stereo valve amp and it sounded awesome, of course the amp had a new valve fitted and the stereo was returned to normal function. I wonder what Brian first plugged into once the Red Special was completed? I also wonder when it was first referred to as The Red Special and by who?
@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
4 ай бұрын
Andrew - that's exactly how I made my first (trashy Satellite 65/T) electric guitar make a sound - by taking apart my dad's stereogram, finding my way to the output from the stylus, tracing it to some blobs of solder and then sellotaping (yes!) my jack plug across the two contact points. I was thrilled a) not to electrocute myself and b) to make a noise, albeit pretty distorted one! Good question about what Brian plugged into... from reading the Red Special book (gifted to me by a customer some years ago now) I *think* it was probably an amp that his dad built. Harold May made their television set amongst other things if I recall correctly - a true electrical engineer of the 40s and 50s. I think Brian does talk about the guitar's name... but I don't recall when 'Red Special' occurred or which came first, the 'Old lady' or the 'Red Special'.
@julialacey1604
4 ай бұрын
Regarding the low area above the 12th fret, Ken Parker makes some interesting comments about this in his Archtoppery videos. He believes that all wood guitar necks, but especially Maple, suffer from a phenomena he calls "creep", particularly in the area where the rear neck profile transitions from a curved cross section to a rectangular cross section. He believes this is caused by the constant steel string tension over an extended period causing the wood fibres to slide past each other to a small degree. This is one of the main reasons he started skinning the back of his guitars (and latterly his floating necks) in carbon fibre - specifically to resist/eliminate this "creep" effect. Ken Parker believes Mahogany isn't affected by this as much as Maple, but this results in Mahogany being more brittle, and hence more prone to headstock/neck breaks.
@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
4 ай бұрын
That's fascinating Julia. I think with my levelling method I don't have to 'conceptualise' that too much i.e. wooden necks do what they do under load and the 'Banana' approach deals with the resultant effect quite well. I call it the 'bumpy topography' of the compressed neck. What's certain is that it's different from the unloaded, uncompressed neck. Obviously we only play the guitar loaded / strung up so what matters is that the frets are relatively level in THAT state, not any other. I'm certain that the change in thickness / profile of the neck will affect the relief curve and compression 'bunching' or bumpiness... interesting that someone has such detailed theories about it!
@julialacey1604
4 ай бұрын
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Absolutely, Sam. But if Ken Parker ( of Parker Fly fame) is right about his "creep" theory, the "valley" above the 12 fret will gradually deepen over time - which explains why a lot of guitar techs like to put a fall-off on the high frets above this "valley" area - particularly on Fender (maple) necks. Apparently Ken Parker trained as an engineer and started his working life as a guitar tech doing a lot of precision set-ups, much like yourself. He developed this theory during this time, before he teamed up with Larry Fishman (the piezo pickup king) to found Parker Fly guitars.
@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
4 ай бұрын
It's definitely an interesting idea / theory... my experience though is that the hills and valleys aren't always in the same place. It's not scientific but I would say that while there IS often a 'valley' at some point past the 12th fret, that's only as meaningful as saying 'there is a valley (or two) in the 2nd half of the neck' - and for every guitar where that's true, there's usually a valley in the 1st half somewhere as well. I've never had to do 'fall off' since I started; the Banana method seems to gently 'impose' its smooth(ish) curve onto the less smooth fingerboard and in doing so, it obviates the need to scrape a 'fall-off' into those top frets. I mean, literally, in 2000+ set ups I've never had to put 'fall-off' into a fretboard.
@paulmcleod8370
Ай бұрын
Very interesting - especially what you have to say about the red special not being used by other groups. As you know Sam I have been a Queen fan forever - I have been thinking about this since watching this video. If you take the personalities out of the Queen line up and just listen to the sound. For some reason I find that Freddie’s voice and Brians guitar are sonically paired. It can be heard in all their songs and lends itself to their music. Brian often plays with other people himself and therefore plays songs outside of Queen - it can be noticed that when he does he tends to play more of a rhythm guitar part. Although he sometimes does play a solo all be it more muted than he would play on a Queen song. That guitar definitely does need the semi - circle behind the bridge. Take care 👍
@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
Ай бұрын
Hey Paul, you're right about that semi-circle! :) Shame about Brian May having a small stroke recently. I wish he would slow down and take life a bit easier - maybe he will now. I worry for him, he's always had an air of sadness and depression about him, right from the earliest days. It's so tempting to look in and say "C'mon Brian, you've given us so much enjoyment and happiness over the years; those achievements must make you happy..." But most of us know that nothing outside of us (things, achievements, people, money etc) will fix us if we are depressed or struggling with mental health issues. I wish him a full recovery and many more days doing what makes him happy!
@paulmcleod8370
Ай бұрын
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Hey Sam - thanks for your reply - yes total shame about Brians stroke - it caught us all by surprise. I agree he has had issues with depression for many years sometimes he has been able to mask it sometimes not. He finds it hard to deal with some issues - like not talking to his dad for many years during Queens formative time - his dad wanted Brian to be a lot more academic than he was. Even tho his dad did come round to Queen being the right thing to do I think the rift was already made. Brian - can’t slow down he’s so driven - by perfection as much as by anything else. I think Roger will out live him because he’s more fly it by the seat of your pants kinda guy. It will be a sad day when we loose either of them. Take care mate 👍 power to your elbow 😁😁
@julialacey1604
4 ай бұрын
Fascinating video again Sam. I have a question for you about zero frets, if you don't mind. I'm considering refretting my Steinberger Spirit with Hosco Stainless Steel Jumbo Fretwire, but I'm unsure if it's OK to use the same Fretwire for the zero fret, or do I really need to use something a bit bigger?
@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
4 ай бұрын
The basic 'geometry' of a triangle based on nut / bridge / neck straight line (OK we know it's not quite exactly that i.e. there might be some slight relief etc) shows that on an 'averagely low' set up a regular height zero fret (AKA a capo if you will) will give enough clearance without the zero fret having to be higher. You intuitively know this because if it wasn't true, a capo literally would be useless - and it clearly isn't. The reason manufacturers make the zero fret a bigger gauge is (I believe) because they know full well that it's going to notch almost immediately and that, assuming players don't like clicky bends near the nut, they're going to get their techs to crown and remove the notches, the need that extra height to allow for one or two 'filings / re-crownings'. If you like a capo-style first fret action you could instead just fit a regular height stainless and put aside two or three spares while you're at it. Stainless WILL notch, trust me - but you can then just replace the zero fret with a new ready-made stainless one. Just try to avoid superglue when pressing it in to make near-future removal easier.
@julialacey1604
4 ай бұрын
@mrman846 The zero fret on the Steinberger Spirit is a few tenths of a millimeter higher than the others, just the same as the zero fret on this Red Special Sam's setting up. The problem I have is that I want to fit the highest Stainless Steel frets I can find - so finding an even higher zero fret presents a bit of a problem. Sintoms do make a 1.6mm high zero fret, but it has an offset crown which would probably give intonation problems if fitted in the conventional zero fret position. I was wondering if shimming a conventional fret would be possible, but Sam's answer (as always) makes MUCH more sense.
@julialacey1604
4 ай бұрын
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Thank you for that Sam. Now you've said that, it seems so obvious - lol. I want to change the frets for bigger ones as the alleged "medium-jumbo" frets are plenty wide, but not very high - only around 0.9 mm before I levelled them (which was much needed by the way). Hosco rate 0.9 mm fret height as "Small". Another reason to criticize Gibson group made guitars, I feel. I went for the Steinberger as I want a very compact "proper" electric guitar for travel. Great design but very poor execution, I feel. I shall, indeed, allow for further changes of the zero fret in the future. Thank you again for your sagacity, Sam.
@danbrown4772
18 күн бұрын
very simple fix to the balance is a higher rear strap button. Parallel to the neck and the front one
@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
15 күн бұрын
I'm going to need to experiment with that on a a cheaper / unloved guitar!
@danbrown4772
8 күн бұрын
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars it works because I did it,
@ericcrawford9827
14 күн бұрын
I asked my woodwork teacher when I was 13 to help make a guitar. The response was, ''no, see me later''
@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
14 күн бұрын
For my A level Art I made a clay sculpture of George Harrison sitting on an AC30 playing (of all things) a Strat. Anything to be making guitars... or even small clay guitars!
@ericcrawford9827
14 күн бұрын
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars As a 'mature student' at 32, I passed A level art. A painting of a violin, bottle of whiskey, rusty chain and a flower. Should have learned to play a cello bass. Maybe.
@alfioinsaudo4179
3 ай бұрын
Una brava persona e ottimo chitarrista
@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars
3 ай бұрын
Agreed. I feel heartbroken sometimes when I see his recent videos; he's become quite melancholy in his old age. You kind of hope that someone a) so talented and b) so successful and c) so intelligent would have found contentment from all of those gifts and blessings... but the reality is that no amount of achievements, possessions or talents can make us feel whole or better. It's as if he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
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