Brian May

The homemade guitar had its issues at first, but the guitarist and his father refused to give up and forged one of rock’s most iconic guitars

May says guitars were illegal at his school, but he snuck one in and practiced Hank Marvin, Elvis and Buddy Holly songs with his friends

He’s also revealed how he had initially craved a second guitarist in Queen but moved away from the idea after learning how “to make people feel they’d heard an orchestra”

He tried out the amp in front of 7,000 people before Jimi Hendrix showed him how to make it sing

While the Beatles used the technology to complete their last single, Brian May and Sting are among those who are worried about the potential for harm

Behold the genius of Gilmour, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Brian May and many more — as voted by the readers of Guitar Player

The Queen legend made his surprise appearance at a Red Special convention over the weekend

Launching his debut solo album back in the early 1990s, Brian May enlisted Slash for some added firepower during his 'Tonight Show' appearance

In Queen's early days, May didn't have backup copies of the Red Special – let alone a company that manufactures replicas of it – leading him to keep both models around as Plan Bs

May famously built the original with his father while in his teens. The duo even originally built the guitar's pickups themselves, though on that particular front they faced some headwinds