Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
In this video, I take an in depth look at one of the rarest and most spectacular of the Brian May Red Special guitar variants: the 12/6 double neck. Andrew Guyton of Guyton Guitars made a prototype for Brian in 2009 and this has inspired several other luthiers to make replicas including Everett Wood of RS Custom Guitars (RSCG) in the USA who made three examples.
To be able to make this video, I am indebted to Mark Tolcher from Liverpool in the U.K. who commissioned this stunning instrument from Raymon Guitars in Spain (run by luthier Raimon Bruguera) for lending it to me and Will Barbero @WillBarbero for demonstrating its capabilities.
Perhaps the two most famous guitarists to play 12/6 double necks live are Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin for Stairway to Heaven and Don Felder of Eagles for Hotel California (both using a Gibson EDS-1275). Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi played an Ovation double neck acoustic guitar for Wanted: Dead or Alive and owned this custom built PRS.
The amplifier we have been using for the demonstration sequences in this video is the KAT Studio-One unit hand built by Nigel Knight of Knight Audio Technologies. It is equipped with three valves and is essentially a mini Vox AC30 with its Baltic ply cabinet and two 6.5 inch twin-cone speakers to give extended low frequency response. As I hope you can appreciate from this video, it exhibits the nuances of Brian May's amplifiers at more controllable levels. The KAT Studio-One produces just over 1W RMS of clean power, yet, in Brian May mode, it is still loud enough to be used for small gigs. Nigel Knight designed it to be a domestic practice and recording amplifier so it includes an integral six position loudspeaker attenuator. The tone control provides a wide range of control of the upper frequencies rather than a typical 'cut' only function generally found on these types of amplifier. The unit weighs 6 kg and measures just 385mm (W) x 170 (D) x 290 (H).
00:00 - Introduction (Will Barbero 6 string neck improvisation 1).
00:18 - Introduction (Will Barbero 6 string neck improvisation 2).
00:33 - Introduction (Will Barbero 12 string neck improvisation 1).
01:16 - Introduction with footage of the Raymon Guitars 12/6 Red Special double neck.
02:07 - Jimmy Page, Don Felder and Richie Sambora's 12/6 Double Neck Guitars.
02:31 - Brian May playing the Guyton 12/6 Red Special Double Neck in 2012.
02:58 - dsgb YouTube video thumbnails.
03:19 - A closer look at the Raymon Guitars 12/6 Red Special double neck.
04:19 - Introduction to Will Barbero's 12 string neck demonstration.
04:51 - Will Barbero demonstrating the 12 string neck with different pickup combinations.
06:29 - Will Barbero YouTube video thumbnails.
06:58 - Raymon Guitars 12/6 Red Special double neck build pictures.
08:05 - Introduction to Will Barbero's 6 string neck demonstration.
08:19 - Will Barbero demonstrating the 6 string neck with different pickup combinations.
13:47 - KAT Studio-One all valve guitar amplifier by Knight Audio Technologies.
14:43 - Outro 1.
14:49 - Guyton 12/6 double neck Red Special serial no. 1209079 pictures.
15:45 - Outro 2.
Please check out my other YouTube videos and my website, dsgb.net for a wealth of information on Brian May's guitars and musical equipment and all my related build and modification projects.
#BrianMay #RedSpecial #guitar
In this video, I take an in depth look at one of the rarest and most spectacular of the Brian May Red Special guitar variants: the 12/6 double neck. Andrew Guyton of Guyton Guitars made a prototype for Brian in 2009 and this has inspired several other luthiers to make replicas including Everett Wood of RS Custom Guitars (RSCG) in the USA who made three examples.
To be able to make this video, I am indebted to Mark Tolcher from Liverpool in the U.K. who commissioned this stunning instrument from Raymon Guitars in Spain (run by luthier Raimon Bruguera) for lending it to me and Will Barbero @WillBarbero for demonstrating its capabilities.
Perhaps the two most famous guitarists to play 12/6 double necks live are Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin for Stairway to Heaven and Don Felder of Eagles for Hotel California (both using a Gibson EDS-1275). Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi played an Ovation double neck acoustic guitar for Wanted: Dead or Alive and owned this custom built PRS.
The amplifier we have been using for the demonstration sequences in this video is the KAT Studio-One unit hand built by Nigel Knight of Knight Audio Technologies. It is equipped with three valves and is essentially a mini Vox AC30 with its Baltic ply cabinet and two 6.5 inch twin-cone speakers to give extended low frequency response. As I hope you can appreciate from this video, it exhibits the nuances of Brian May's amplifiers at more controllable levels. The KAT Studio-One produces just over 1W RMS of clean power, yet, in Brian May mode, it is still loud enough to be used for small gigs. Nigel Knight designed it to be a domestic practice and recording amplifier so it includes an integral six position loudspeaker attenuator. The tone control provides a wide range of control of the upper frequencies rather than a typical 'cut' only function generally found on these types of amplifier. The unit weighs 6 kg and measures just 385mm (W) x 170 (D) x 290 (H).
00:00 - Introduction (Will Barbero 6 string neck improvisation 1).
00:18 - Introduction (Will Barbero 6 string neck improvisation 2).
00:33 - Introduction (Will Barbero 12 string neck improvisation 1).
01:16 - Introduction with footage of the Raymon Guitars 12/6 Red Special double neck.
02:07 - Jimmy Page, Don Felder and Richie Sambora's 12/6 Double Neck Guitars.
02:31 - Brian May playing the Guyton 12/6 Red Special Double Neck in 2012.
02:58 - dsgb YouTube video thumbnails.
03:19 - A closer look at the Raymon Guitars 12/6 Red Special double neck.
04:19 - Introduction to Will Barbero's 12 string neck demonstration.
04:51 - Will Barbero demonstrating the 12 string neck with different pickup combinations.
06:29 - Will Barbero YouTube video thumbnails.
06:58 - Raymon Guitars 12/6 Red Special double neck build pictures.
08:05 - Introduction to Will Barbero's 6 string neck demonstration.
08:19 - Will Barbero demonstrating the 6 string neck with different pickup combinations.
13:47 - KAT Studio-One all valve guitar amplifier by Knight Audio Technologies.
14:43 - Outro 1.
14:49 - Guyton 12/6 double neck Red Special serial no. 1209079 pictures.
15:45 - Outro 2.
Please check out my other YouTube videos and my website, dsgb.net for a wealth of information on Brian May's guitars and musical equipment and all my related build and modification projects.
#BrianMay #RedSpecial #guitar
