Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody" Isolated Guitar Solo

Here's the most beautiful and passionate solo that guitarist Brian May played on Queen's magnificent "Bohemian Rhapsody." He's always been one of the most underrated players, both for his soulful playing and for his smooth-as-silk tone, and this isolated solo track shows him in all his glory. Listen for:

1. The amplifier noise before the solo starts.

2. The string noise in between phrases. We guitar players sometimes obsess over getting rid of it, but you never hear it when the other instruments are added to the track.

3. How unprocessed Brian's sound is. What you hear is a man with a guitar and amp, with no special effects added. He obviously knows how to drive his gear very well.

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Brian May On Vox AC-30 Amplifiers

Like most guitar players, I'm pretty much a tone freak. It was a long and sometimes painful journey to figure out how to get the sounds that I heard on so many of the records that I loved, one that I've outlined in The Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook.

One of the things that I discovered is that you can sometimes get the best tone just by going back to basics with a good sounding guitar plugged directly into a good sounding amp with no pedals in between. With the amp cranked to a level where it breaks into a nice creamy distortion, if you turn the volume on the guitar down, you get a great clean sound. Want more distortion or any amount in between, turn up the guitar volume. No pedals required.

In this short video, Queen's Brian May shows you that's the way he does it as well, using his trusty Vox AC-30 amps. You can't argue with the great sound.

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The Making Of "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Here's a great video where Queen guitarist Brian May takes us through the making of the bands seminal "Bohemian Rhapsody." It's really interesting to hear it all built up, especially the basic track with only Freddie Mercury's piano, John Deacon's bass and Roger Taylor's drums, which wasn't to a click but sounds incredibly in time. They're completely locked in together.

One of the interesting bits that came from this video is the way engineer/producer Roy Thomas Baker recorded the bass, using 3 tracks; direct from the bass, direct from the amp, and the miked amp, then playing with the phase switches on the desk to get the right sound.

One of the things that I talk about in The Music Producer's Handbook and The Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook is about layering different guitar sounds using different guitars, pickup settings and amplifiers. Brian explains how he does just that in the song.

Then listen to how they stacked the vocals, with Freddie, Brian and Roger singing each line then tripling it. Finally, listen to the overdubbed percussion that everyone seems to miss when listening to the song, then how they miked the drum kit.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.