90s Kid's Japan Custom Shop Brian May Red Special! SOLD!
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Wow! One of the hardest to find Brian May Red Special replicas! Never heard of Kid's? I hadn't either until I get obsessed with the Red Special. Evidentially the Kid's Brian May was one of the only Brian May replicas available in the 90s. Unfortunately you could only buy them in Japan. Started by luthier Hiroshi Kido, the Kid's Custom Shop built other rare guitars. I found this quote HERE: "One man started Kid’s with a desire to make the most amazing one-off guitars in the history of the Japanese guitar market. He used woods that are next to impossible to get (my gold Lenny Kravitz Flying V replica has real Korina wood) on many of his models. He made Gibson, Fender and Zemaitis replicas and custom one-off guitars as well. His guitars are regarded by the Japanese as one of the best and most rare brands of all Japanese vintage guitars." Pretty ringing endorsement! This red special is a cool replica of Brian's Old Lady. Typical Japanese attention to detail and good quality. The body looks to be mahogany. The mahogany neck features an ebony fingerboard with dot inlays. A trio of TriSonic style pickups are hooked to phase and on/off switches. Pearl button Schallers, a roller bridge and Brian's cool trem design keep it rock solid. The finish is cherry red transparent and is set off by a single layer of binding. A really cool guitar that will compliment almost any collection!
This guitar plays and sounds great. The neck is slim and feels more like a Fender neck than the other Brian May guitars I own. The frets are good showing a little wear at the zero fret. The pickups are clear with good articulation. Lots of tones thanks to the phase switches. I don't think the Kid's models are wired in series. A few minutes with a soldering iron can fix that. That is, if you want. I like the tones of the pickups in parallel. Fender like, they make for a nice compliment to the thicker tones of my Guilds and RS guitars. A good feeling and sounding instrument. This is a solid used guitar. It shows light to moderate pick and clearcoat scratches as well as some light indents and tiny dings. Nothing major. Still very, very nice. Comes in a gigbag.
If you're looking for your first Red Special style guitar or perhaps a compliment or backup for your existing one, you can't go wrong. Less than the higher end replicas, it provides the look that the recent Burns models don't have. The Kid's Red Special model is extremely rare and you're not likely to see another anytime soon. I looked for several years for one. This is only the 2nd one I've ever seen. Grab this one while you can.
