It’s bewildering that Gibson never gave its big-bodied super-jumbo the 12-string treatment and offered it in its regular line-up.
The company did create the occasional special based around the concept, but in reality left the door open for Guild to fill the 12-string jumbo hole with its F-512 – a big, bold beast beloved of players as diverse as John Denver and David Gilmour.
And indeed the subject behind this month’s Wishlist, who used one (and in earlier days an Ovation Pacemaker 12-string) for his solo spot with Queen, performing the spine-tingling Love Of My Life.
Brian May is already using his new guitar live and loving it: “I used the Guild for a long time, but I have to admit to favouritism now – because this is it!” he says.
Brian and Gibson spec’d the instrument between them, the company deciding on the timbers and Brian stipulating personal design elements. So we find AAA Indian rosewood for back and sides, matching fingerboard and moustache bridge with 60s-style agoya shell inlays, AAA Sitka spruce top, and a neck of AAA flamed maple.
Other classy appointments include a walnut ‘stinger’ on the headstock’s rear, 12 gold-plated mini Grover tuners, bone nut and bridge saddle. The guitar also comes equipped with Fishman’s Matrix preamp with undersaddle piezo pickup and soundhole-mounted volume and tone controls.
Where things become more personalised is in the aesthetics department. Look to the headstock, fingerboard inlays and pickguard, and you’ll find some very special ornamentation – all designed by Brian himself.
The elongated headstock is the perfect setting for Brian’s ubiquitous ‘eight-pointed star’ logo, inlaid in iridescent agoya shell and mirrored along the fingerboard.
But the resistance part is the pickguard, where the usual floral pattern is replaced by a design reflecting Brian’s other love, that of astronomy. It’s both elegant and rather touching since pride of place, perhaps unsurprisingly, is given to Mercury.
Could you have imagined that the company that made J-200s for Elvis, Bob Dylan and Jimmy Page would offer to build you one – a special one at that?
“It was beyond my wildest dreams, and I so wish my dad had been around to see it because he would have been so happy and so proud. I mean, even touching one of those things back then was a dream.
“You’d go into a guitar store and if you didn’t have any money, and it was obvious that you didn’t have any money, people wouldn’t let you touch anything. They made you feel so unwelcome. And that’s why I love what Gibson has done with the Garage in London; they encourage kids to come in and look and play and make a noise.”
The Brian May SJ-200 has a rosewood body like the earliest examples and not maple, as later ones would be. Was this decision based on historical factors or for sonic reasons?
It’s a gorgeous instrument. And it’s friendly, too. It’s easy to play; your fingers just fall in the right places and it doesn’t hurt you
“Ah, now you’re asking me technical questions that I probably can’t answer! I’m more of an instinctive player and, while, of course, it was a bit about Elvis, for me it was more of an Everly Brothers thing.
“They were such a huge influence on me, not only because of the harmonies but also because of the way they played their guitars. They had ‘12 strings’ because they played two acoustics.”
And Phil had his in regular tuning while Don was tuned to open G, which gave them an even broader, more spacial sound.
“Ah, I didn’t know that. That explains Wake Up Little Susie with that opening riff. I was playing it last night, funnily enough, and I’ve got this guitar with the bottom E tuned down to D, which is such a glorious sound. It’s a gorgeous instrument. And it’s friendly, too. It’s easy to play; your fingers just fall in the right places and it doesn’t hurt you.”
We can see you playing a prototype of the guitar on Love Of My Life during 2022’s Rhapsody Tour at The O2. It certainly sounds fantastic live.
“Well, the guitar has quickly become an old friend. And that’s a very lovely moment as it’s a ‘me and the audience’ thing. I hardly have to sing at all. I just play and they sing – and, of course, at the end Freddie kind of ‘comes back’.”
The strings are configured like a Rickenbacker, with the thicker of each octave pair uppermost.
“Yes, I strung it that way because I pick the strings upwards. And Love Of My Life is a good example because if you pick upwards you want the finger to hit the high string, the melody note, first.”
The planetary motif pickguard and eight-pointed star inlays are tasteful touches, especially as Mercury takes pride of place.
“Well, Freddie is always with me. He was like a brother, and now I have a Mercury on my guitar, too, which makes me very happy.”
Were the fingerboard inlays influenced by the stars on the Gibson Everly Brothers jumbos?
“Indirectly. Gibson offered that to me at first, but I said I’d rather have my cosmic stars. They said, ‘We can’t promise anything because it’s very tricky cutting the shell.’ But after a few weeks, they said, ‘We’ve done it, just wait until you see it!’”
We were pleasantly surprised at the price tag here compared with other artist models that have been around £15k. So will Gibson make a Standard model available?
No news from Montana as yet. Whatever happens, it’s clear from Brian’s enthusiasm that he and his fabulous SJ-200 are meant for one another. In fact, one could say the stars have aligned!
- The Gibson Custom Shop Brian May SJ-200 12-String is available now, priced $7,999/£6,899. See Gibson for more details.
- This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.
