Queen’s Brian May has gifted Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi with a left-handed replica of his classic Red Special guitar.
The original Red Special was assembled from scratch in the early 1960s by May with his father Harold, as he was unable to afford a major brand. Built with mahogany from an old fireplace mantle and an oak fingerboard with mother-of-pearl buttons, it remained May’s primary guitar on stage throughout Queen’s success in the ‘70s and ‘80s and became synonymous with the band’s sound.
Now, Iommi has revealed that May has given him a customised left-handed replica of the model, thanking him in a social media post on Tuesday (December 9).
Alongside photos of himself playing the instrument, Iommi wrote: “Huge thanks to my best friend @brianmayforreal and master builder Andrew Guyton @guyton_guitars for this incredible left-handed Red Special replica. Andrew personally delivered it last week – a true gift from Brian, two years in the making. Christmas came early!”
Guyton added: “It’s built with the exact vintage construction of Brian May’s original Red Special, but shaped to match Tony’s iconic Jaydee Old Boy neck. Features a built-in treble booster and authentic vintage-style pots and pickups to replicate the classic tone.”
Earlier this year, May teamed up with Gibson to launch a new limited-edition 12-string acoustic guitar, the Brian May SJ-200. Only 100 were made available, with a design including AAA rosewood back and sides, a AAA Sitka spruce top and a two-piece AAA maple neck.
This week, May’s wife Anita Dobson implied that despite Queen working on new music with Adam Lambert, it was unlikely that they would resume full-scale touring. “They will do little bits and bobs, but they won’t do those big tours,” she said.
May suffered a minor stroke last year, which he said came on “all of a sudden, out of the blue”. He said it left him without any control over one of his arms and described it as “a little scary”.
As for Iommi, he gave a surprise performance at the press night for the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s performance of Black Sabbath – The Ballet in London in October. He treated the live audience to the guitar solo from ‘Paranoid’, with May also in attendance at the show.
Iommi’s longtime bandmate and friend Ozzy Osbourne passed away from a heart attack in July at the age of 76.
