Bohemian Rhapsody
A singing, piercing lead from out-of-phase pickups into a treble-boosted AC30.
What is the Bohemian Rhapsody guitar tone?
The Bohemian Rhapsody guitar tone is a singing, piercing lead from out-of-phase pickups into a treble-boosted AC30, heard on Queen's 1970s rock recording. It is a distorted solo tone, and Queen reportedly tracked it with Brian May's Red Special into Vox AC30s with a treble booster and, as a rule, no effects boxes beyond some delay, the rig he named when asked how the song's different tones were made, with the neck and middle pickups in series and the middle out of phase for the main solo, a setting he says cancels almost everything but the high harmonics; producer Roy Thomas Baker recalls the solo going down on a single track, May says he used almost every sound the guitar has somewhere in the song, the heavy section's riff was Freddie Mercury's, and the twin guitar melody in the outro went through the Deacy Amp, a small amp John Deacon designed; the song was recorded in August and September 1975 at Rockfield in Wales and four London studios. Much of this character comes from an amp worked hard rather than from a pedal, so master volume and pickup output matter more than the gain knob.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a high-gain head and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Bohemian Rhapsody amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5.5, Bass 5, Middle 7, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the neck and middle pickups together, the middle out of phase.
- Gain 5.5
- Bass 5
- Middle 7
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Treble booster → Vox AC30 turned up high
- The control that matters most
- The pickup selection. May played the main solo on the neck and middle pickups in series with the middle out of phase, which cancels almost everything but the high harmonics, a setting most guitars cannot make. Simon Bradley, who wrote the book on the Red Special, gets a pretty good version from a Strat in position five with Fender's S-1 switch on, or from a Les Paul with out-of-phase pickups in the middle position; on a standard guitar, use a two-pickup position into a treble-boosted, loud amp.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Neck and middle pickups together, the middle out of phase
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
Published settings
What amp settings did Brian May use on Bohemian Rhapsody?
A Vox AC30 turned up to about nine and a half, with a treble booster in front and, as a rule, no effects boxes beyond some delay. That is how May described the song's sound in a 2021 interview published by Guitar World: that far up, he said, the AC30 saturates without distorting much, so chords still sound like chords. It is the only number he gives, for how far the amp is turned up rather than for its tone controls, and he was describing his sound 46 years after the session, not reading from a note made at the time.
Source: Guitar World: Brian May goes deep on Bohemian Rhapsody
What gear did Queen use on Bohemian Rhapsody?
Brian May's Red Special into Vox AC30s with a treble booster and, as a rule, no effects boxes beyond some delay, the rig he named when asked how the song's different tones were made, with the neck and middle pickups in series and the middle out of phase for the main solo, a setting he says cancels almost everything but the high harmonics; producer Roy Thomas Baker recalls the solo going down on a single track, May says he used almost every sound the guitar has somewhere in the song, the heavy section's riff was Freddie Mercury's, and the twin guitar melody in the outro went through the Deacy Amp, a small amp John Deacon designed; the song was recorded in August and September 1975 at Rockfield in Wales and four London studios.
Sources: Guitar World: Brian May goes deep on Bohemian Rhapsody, Guitar World: how to get Brian May's Red Special tones from a Strat or Les Paul, Wikipedia: Bohemian Rhapsody
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Bohemian Rhapsody tone on your own amp?
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Bohemian Rhapsody tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Bohemian Rhapsody?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5.5, Bass 5, Middle 7, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the neck and middle pickups together, the middle out of phase. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same singing, piercing lead from out-of-phase pickups into a treble-boosted AC30 from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Bohemian Rhapsody tone?
The pickup selection. May played the main solo on the neck and middle pickups in series with the middle out of phase, which cancels almost everything but the high harmonics, a setting most guitars cannot make. Simon Bradley, who wrote the book on the Red Special, gets a pretty good version from a Strat in position five with Fender's S-1 switch on, or from a Les Paul with out-of-phase pickups in the middle position; on a standard guitar, use a two-pickup position into a treble-boosted, loud amp.
Can you get the Bohemian Rhapsody tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Brian May's Red Special into Vox AC30s with a treble booster and, as a rule, no effects boxes beyond some delay, the rig he named when asked how the song's different tones were made, with the neck and middle pickups in series and the middle out of phase for the main solo, a setting he says cancels almost everything but the high harmonics; producer Roy Thomas Baker recalls the solo going down on a single track, May says he used almost every sound the guitar has somewhere in the song, the heavy section's riff was Freddie Mercury's, and the twin guitar melody in the outro went through the Deacy Amp, a small amp John Deacon designed; the song was recorded in August and September 1975 at Rockfield in Wales and four London studios, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Bohemian Rhapsody a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a solo part with a distorted character, from Queen's 1970s rock catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that both plans start with a 7-day free trial: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
