The Story Of Paul Crook Playing Brian May's Red Special Guitar: It Feels Like A Baseball Stick

Brian May and his Red Special guitar (Instagram @brianforreal)

JAKARTA - Meat Loaf guitarist Paul Crook recalled several opportunities when he played Brian May's iconic Red Special guitar.

Tells her experience in Greg Prato's book Long Live Queen: Rock Royalty Discusses Freddie, Brian, John & Roger, Crook who handles guitar assignments for the musical 'We Will Rock You' said I'm happy to have played Brian's guitar several times."

I was at his home in Surrey one time. I was in England with Meat Loaf, and I went to Brian's house. And the guitar was lying on the sofa of his living room like a library. I thought he went to the kitchen to get tea, and he said, please sit down. And the guitar... I took it and moved it just like that! "

"I mean, I'm not saying this guitar is special, but it's a special person. It looks like I've felt dead about the instrument now. It's so funny it feels like that. The guitar is good, but it's not Brian. Well, this one is him (Brian). That's his hand.

Crook explains that Red Special'sounds amazing, even acoustically,' even though his'very fat' neck makes playing it a real challenge.

It feels like a baseball bat. It's also a 'catching it non-stop'. My stupid hand can't play it. I can't bend it," he said.

"Witing Brian's hands bent was amazing. I asked him how he took his vibrato approach (on his head) because his vibrato looked very strong when he looked closely. Scary. Intimidating. He really pressed the fritboard. Most players do push ups. He imagined a small spring as he pressed.

Crook also shared the reason May chose a large neck profile for his guitar, saying: "He's mentioned that he's tired of embedding it! [Obviously] Even so, it was one of the best decisions he could make. He never had to adjust the frame bar. It's crazy if you think about it. Guitars have been around the world many times, through various climate changes. Not a single adjustment."

"Also, all the support came from him. The guitar reads."

He continued: A tramolo system is so cool. I'm sure he makes it use spare parts from the bike seat and sewing machine. It feels great! What I think is amazing is that even at such a young age, he implements a straight pull system. That means the strings run straight from the bridge to the tackle. Cemerlang. The last time I played it, during the soundcheck Queen. It was great fun playing through the wall AC30 with the guitar. It was very interesting.