Gibson hosted a special event to launch the brand-new Gibson Custom Brian May SJ-200 12 String acoustic guitar on February 18th, his first model with the iconic and leading global instrument brand. The launch kicked off Gibson Garage Fest, a week-long series of events celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Gibson Garage London (61-62 Eastcastle St, London, UK). The limited-edition Brian May SJ-200 12-String acoustic from Gibson Custom now available to purchase at the Gibson Garage London, the Gibson Garage Nashville, and online via www.gibson.com.
Alongside the unveiling at the Gibson Garage London, Sir Brian May, who still occasionally performs as part of Queen, wowed guests with a surprise performance on the12-String acoustic, including Queen’s Love Of My Life and a beautiful cover of So Sad (to Watch Good Love Go Bad) by The Everly Brothers. Next up, Sir Brian rocked the Garage with Love Token, from his 1992 album Back to the Light. Singer-songwriter Arielle was a special guest and performed her songs Devil’s Disguise, Weakness For You and Magick Again, – before dueting with Sir Brian on So Sad and Love Token. The launch also featured an interview with Sir Brian May, moderated by Absolute Radio host Leona Graham. Sir Brian spoke in depth about creation of the signature guitar, Queen songs he’s written on the acoustic guitar, links to his love of astronomy and more.
Presence
On collaborating with Gibson and the creation of the SJ-200 12-String guitar, Sir Brian May says: “It’s a dream come true, as soon as I held the guitar, I thought this is what I need. It has such presence and such a beautiful breadth of sound. Gibson has done the most beautiful job, it has the lovely solar system on it, including Mercury, but the most important thing is it sounds massive.
“It’s very traditional old school technology, not made with AI or mechanised in any way. I take fantastic pride in it and I’m very honoured to have worked with Gibson. From the days when I used to gaze enviously at the guitar catalogues, sitting there with my dad, I wish he was here to see this amazing fusion of the collaboration we’ve made.”
Talking about the Gibson Garage London – marking its one-year anniversary this week – Sir Brian May adds: “It harks back to the days when I used to go to music shops and drool over the guitars and wish that I could touch one, but you couldn’t in those days. Gibson has done a wonderful thing by making it a place that people can come to, even if you are a kid and you’re not rich or famous and you’re not that great a guitarist, you can still come in here and you will be welcome, and you can get into the world of guitars.”
“When Queen was starting out it felt like there was no way in… There wasn’t a place like this to get accustomed to people. There wasn’t a place that you could play because you couldn’t play anywhere unless you had a record deal and you had a record out, and you couldn’t get a record deal unless you were playing, so it was a complete Catch-22 situation. It’s still hard, but a place like this can really help.”
In attendance on the day was a host of special guests including actor Jason Momoa, former Whitesnake bassist Neil Murray, and Dave ‘Bucket’ Colwell from Bad Company.
The SJ-200
Gibson SJ-200 12-String features an AAA rosewood back and sides, an AAA Sitka spruce top with a Vintage Sunburst finish, and a 2-piece AAA maple neck with a Rounded profile, walnut stringer, and a rosewood fretboard with agoya shell 8-point star inlays. The headstock also features an 8-point agoya shell star inlay, along with the Gibson logo in mother-of-pearl and gold Grover® Mini Rotomatic® tuning machines. The Moustache bridge is solid rosewood with four 60s-style agoya inlays. The planetary-themed pickguard was designed by Sir Brian May and further reinforces the astronomy motif.
The strings are mounted in reverse order, with the thicker strings at the top, followed by the octave strings beneath, giving it a distinctive sound that’s unlike other Gibson 12-string acoustic models. Fishman® Matrix® electronics make this guitar stage and studio-ready from the moment it’s taken out the included hardshell case. Only 100 of these exceptional instruments have been handcrafted by the expert luthiers of Gibson Custom in Bozeman, Montana. It’s an instrument that is worthy of a guitarist who not only became a star, but who continues to avidly study them.
Read more about the Sir Brian May launch event at for Gibson Garage Fest Week in London HERE.
Gibson Garage London
61-62 Eastcastle Street
London, UK
W1W 8NQ
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