Welcome

April 19, 2012April 12, 2024 / fryerguitars

Welcome to the my website and I hope that you find it interesting and informative.

The website features information and photos about the Fryer guitar effect pedals that I am currently making, as well as the guitars, amps and pedals that I have custom handmade over the years since 1980.

This includes the Red Special replica guitars effect pedals and Vox AC30 amplifiers which I handmade for Brian May from 1996-2007, the Brian May/Fryer effect pedals which I handmade for general sale from 1999-2008, the ‘UK production model’ Brian May/Fryer guitar effect pedals made from 2008-2018; the Brian May Deacy Amp developed from 1998-2011; the Brian May ‘Super’ Red Special guitar developed in 2008 with Kazutaka Ijuin from Japan; and the custom handmade guitars that I built for Australian guitarist Ian Moss from 1989-1996.

Also included is info about the new 2024 ‘Astronaut’ guitar which Kazutaka Ijuin is producing in Japan. The ‘Astronaut’ guitar is my redesigned and re-imagined version of Brian May’s Red Special, designed to Fender 25 1/2″ scale. The layout and switching etc has been drawn with Fender players in mind, so that they may feel at home on this instrument exploring the wonderful sound and technical innovations developed by Brian and Harold May back in the mid 1960s. In 2005 I began drawing the Astronaut ideas, and kept on chipping away and refining the concept over many years. This instrument has been a long time coming. Kazutaka Ijuin has also kindly contributed ideas to this guitar project, and we hope to have the first prototypes available in May 2024.

(Please note that I am no longer making guitars myself or building AC30 amps)

For photos and videos featuring the 3 Fryer Red Special guitars John, Paul and George Burns made in 1998 for Brian May please see this page below, and also other pages on this website:

Greg Fryer Red Special guitars

Brian May playing the Fryer Red Special replica ‘John’ live in concert 2005 from the Queen The Greatest Live video ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’

The Fryer guitar effect pedals can be ordered from my webshop:

Treble Booster Touring:

https://fryerguitars.bigcartel.com/product/treble-booster-touring

Treble Booster Super:

https://fryerguitars.bigcartel.com/product/treble-booster-super

Treble Booster Deluxe:

https://fryerguitars.bigcartel.com/product/treble-booster-deluxe

Treble Booster Special:

https://fryerguitars.bigcartel.com/product/treble-booster-special

Or visit the Fryer Guitars webshop: https://fryerguitars.bigcartel.com/

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20th February 2024:

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Brett Kingman and chatting with him and Shaun Klinger about treble booster pedals, Red Special guitars, Deacy Amps, and many other things. Thanks Brett and Shaun for a very enjoyable visit!

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The Fryer Guitars YouTube channel features some videos of me demonstrating equipment such as Deacy Amps replicas, Fryer pedals and the Kz RS Jnr Hybrid guitar:

https://www.youtube.com/@gregfryer/videos

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The Fryer Guitars vinyl stickers are now available and are included with every guitar effect pedal

8th April 2022 Fryer Guitars sticker

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For all News, product development info, latest updates etc, please see the News page at: https://fryerguitars.wordpress.com/news/

The News page also includes photos and videos of the 15th February 2020 ‘Queen + Adam Lambert’ Sydney concert and their headlining of the Fire Fight Australia bushfire benefit concert held on Sunday 16th Feb 2020.

Brian May playing ‘George Burns’ at ANZ Stadium Sydney 16th Feb 2020

Please also take a look at the ‘Romney Godden’ page which is a tribute to the legendary guitar maker and repairer who was the grand master in Sydney in the 1970s and 1980s. Romney first gave me a job in early 1980 as ‘junior guitar repairer/anything goes’, and I owe a great deal to this generous talented and extraordinarily funny man, a truly beautiful and humble person.

Romney was skilled in electrical work, electronics and guitar making/repairing, could literally build or repair anything and in the late 1970s invented most of the guitar making methods that I have carried on since then.

During 2013 sadly Romney became seriously ill and on 23rd Nov 2013 threw a ‘farewell party and gig’ to celebrate his life and to say goodbye to the many people from the many areas that he was passionately involved in.

A webpage marking Romney Godden’s prominence in the Australian guitar scene is long overdue and hopefully this will give people insight into the remarkable man that Romney was.

Making music and having a passionate interest in musical equipment are the reasons that inspired my journey of tinkering with guitar, amp and pedal making which began in the late 1970s. I hope that people who love guitars and guitar equipment will enjoy this website.

All the best,

Greg Fryer

Fryer Guitars Australia

Brian May at WWRY Opening Sydney Oct 2004

Pictured above is Brian May at the WWRY Sydney Premiere After Show Party 9th October 2004. In this pic Brian is playing the Greg Fryer Red Special guitar ‘Paul’.

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Below is a list of companies to contact if you wish to buy Red Special guitars, Deacy Amps or Trisonic pickups:

Red Special guitars:

Kz Guitar Works; Kazutaka Ijuin Japan: https://kzguitarworks.com/en/

Dansan Guitars; Mickael Dansan France: https://dansanguitars.com/

Brian May Guitars London: https://shop.brianmayguitars.co.uk/

Pickups:

Matt Netherwood Yonderbosk pickups:

https://yonderbosk.wordpress.com/sovereign-standard-specification/

Burns London Trisonic pickups:

http://www.burnsguitars.com/accessories.php

Deacy Amp replicas:

Manuel Angelini Supersonic ‘Deacy Amp’ replica:

https://doxyworld.com/

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1st November 2018: Please note: Greg Fryer/Fryer Guitars and this website are not affiliated in any way with Brian May, Duck Productions, Queen Productions, Knight Audio Technologies, or Brian May Guitars (BMG/House Music).

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Copyright:

Please don’t use stuff from this website without permission. I may be very happy to give permission but please show a respectful attitude and ask first. And if you decide to ignore this and take stuff anyway, at least give a credit and link to: http://fryerguitars.com thank you.

Page last updated: 12th April 2024

Oliver Leiber from Ollywood Studios USA testimonial

August 27, 2009 / fryerguitars

Well known Hollywood Hills record producer Oliver Leiber has been using several of Greg Fryer’s handmade Brian May effect pedals as well as a custom Greg Fryer handmade AC30 amplifier for several years now and has updated us about his equipment and also about what Red Special guitars Oliver has been using for his recording work.

” Hey Greg, I’ve been enjoying recording with your amp and pedals for years now! I can’t tell you how much great use I get from them!!! I’d like to buy a Deacy Amp soon so please let me know when they’re out.

OK the gear that I use: in the studio my “go to” treble booster is my early issue maroon BM treble booster that you handmade for me in 2001. Its not the Plus Deluxe or Touring which I also use but your original handmade one. If I am looking for a “bit more” for a specific kind of lead tone, I will switch out to the Treble Booster Plus sometimes which definitely pushes the amp more and makes the sound more saturated which works nicely for single line stuff….

I have the Touring booster on one of my pedal boards which I bring in and out using a loop switcher….its also a great sounding pedal!

If I find myself in a recording situation where I don’t have a great AC30 handy and I’m staring at a Fender Twin or something super clean sounding with nothing but clean headroom, I’ll bust out the Fryer Mayhem pedal which gets me pretty close to where I like to be in that world!

As for the Fryer AC30 that you built for me, I really love both channels!! When I’m going for the Brian May thing its all about your Normal channel throttled with the treble booster in front….stick a Shure 57 and a Beyerdynamic M160 on one speaker and I’m off!!!

As far as BM guitars, well I am using BOTH a Guyton and a Kz Pro Red Special. They are both excellent guitars with incredible attention to detail and finish. At that level of quality building I would say it comes down to “different” rather than “better” in comparing the two. By virtue of the fact that they are different pieces of wood with different pickups, each has a setting or two where it seems to really shine and “speak” the best. Admittedly it is a great luxury to have both to choose from at any given time, and I would be truly happy just owning either one! Nuf said about the guitars….

Cheers,

Oliver”

Ollywood Studios logo

RoHS Compliance Statement

August 26, 2009February 4, 2014 / fryerguitars

RoHS Compliance: All Fryer electronic products are manufactured in compliance with RoHS standards.

For more info please see: http://www.rohs.gov.uk/

Custom transformers from Greg Fryer’s handmade Brian May and WWRY AC30s

March 4, 2009December 31, 2013 / fryerguitars

Background info about the ‘We Will Rock You’ theatrical production AC30s: the London WWRY production has been successfully using Dave Petersen’s custom made amps since 2002, whilst the productions in Australia, Japan, Sth Africa, Sth East Asia, Canada, USA, Germany, Zurich and Austria have used Greg Fryer’s handmade amps.

The Petersen and Fryer amps share several similarities but also have other differences in concept and circuit, and have been developed independently of one another. Both amps use Dave Petersen’s idea (borrowed from the early AC15) of having the whole HT B+ supply filtered by the choke, although Greg and Dave have pursued different ways of approaching the running of the EL84 power valves and are using different voicings and drive levels for their preamps. Both amps also use different methods of safety cutout for when the EL84s become overstressed.

Greg felt it important when he was developing his amps in 2003-4 to also develop high quality handmade mains, choke and output transformers for the WWRY amps and the later Brian May AC30s in 2005. This was because of the reliability and quality problems that had been experienced with the mass produced UK Drake and Dagnall transformers from the 1994-2004 Vox AC30 TBX series.

After many thousands of hours being played loud in the WWRY productions around the world and with Brian May on stage during the Queen + Paul Rodgers 2008 World Tour, these special handmade transformers have proved to be very reliable and also very good sounding. The transformers have been developed in Australia with the valuable assistance of several experienced amplifier and transformer specialists from Sydney and Melbourne, and are made in similar ways to the great old Vox transformers of the 1960s and 70s.

Particular attention was devoted to the development of the output transformer so that it produces the right tonal and distortion characteristics, with several variations being trialled and assessed by Greg Fryer during 2003-04.

(9th November 2009: please note that our custom transformers are no longer available for sale. We recommend that you consult your amp tech about suitable replacements if needed or contact Mercury Magnetics in USA, Heyboer dealers in USA, or Dave Petersen/Shere Sound in UK)

Please also see the vintage amps forum at http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/ for an excellent source of Vox and other amp info.

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Photos of Greg Fryer’s Brian May and WWRY amps:

Brian May AC30s Queen + Paul Rodgers 2008 World Tour

Photo credit: Amanda Thomas

: WWRY Zurich AC30s Sept 2006

WWRY Las Vegas AC30 head 2004

WWRY Las Vegas AC30s 2004

WWRY Cologne 2005

Photo credit: Frank Rohles

WWRY Tokyo AC30s 2006

Photo credit: James Barber

WWRY Sydney Premiere and After Show Party Oct 2004

December 2, 2008March 5, 2009 / fryerguitars

Photos from the “We Will Rock You” Sydney Premiere Oct 2004

WWRY Sydney Brian's rig Oct 2004

Brian’s 2 Fryer Ac30s and spare guitar (Kz Pro) for his appearance on stage with the cast of WWRY Sydney

WWRY Sydney After Show Party 2004

WWRY Sydney 2004 BM

WWRY Sydney Guitar Wars 1

Brian May, Roger Taylor and the WWRY show band played a set of songs from Queen Led Zeppelin Jimi Hendrix and others, and were joined on stage by Amanda Harrison and members of the Sydney WWRY cast.

Brian played the Greg Fryer Red Special guitar “Paul” and used a Kz Pro as a backup guitar. Our thanks to Kazutaka Ijuin for the lend of his Kz Pro #008

And yes, Greg got to play guitar roadie for the night and shot these pics…

WWRY Sydney Guitar Wars 2

WWRY Sydney James Barber and Kz Pro in foreground

WWRY Sydney James Barber and Kz Pro in foreground #2

WWRY Sydney Roger and Brian #1

WWRY Sydney Roger and Brian #2

WWRY Sydney #7

WWRY Sydney #8

End of Tie Your Mother Down: ….”all your love toniiiiiight”…..

WWRY Sydney BM "Little Wing"

Brian sings Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing”

Testimonial 2

November 26, 2008 / fryerguitars / 1 Comment

Dear Brian,
I bought one of Greg Fryer’s hand-built Treble Booster Deluxe pedals from your old friend Scott Van Dusen at Sphere Sound in Rochester, NY. WOW! It’s absolutely amazing. It has truly brought my guitar playing back to life. The pedal’s tone is so hot it melted my amplifier!

Best wishes from the US.

Marc Lacatell
Newton, MA USA

lac-mav-bhm_photo_

Testimonial

November 26, 2008November 26, 2008 / fryerguitars / Leave a comment

Dear Greg Fryer,

I am writing to you for a very simple and truly honest reason. I purchased one of your factory made Brian May Treble Booster Plus from A Strings shop in London a few days ago, where I am a student of politics and international relations at Royal Holloway Univ of London. All I want to say is the biggest greatest Thank You for the creation of this pedal. Up until now I thought that there were no exciting guitar sound equipment in the world. In this world of digital technology one may feel completely alienated to the real purpose and feel of sound. I was almost becoming ‘sick’ and lost of all those technologies out there, which sounded very very unnatural. With your booster I can finally say I have found the RIGHT thing that my guitar needed. Before, my guitar had a ‘pretty look’, but never had a ‘pretty voice’ (well at least not as pretty!). Your treble booster brought the pretty (beautiful!) voice to my Gibson SG Standard, and even made her truly sing and live!

I really want to say how great that people like you exist in this world. If not for people like you, music would end up completely artificial, pretentious, ‘unsoulful’, and pretty much dead. Please, never ever let your sound legacy vanish, because next generations of musicians truly need the right tone. You are the right person that can do it. Thank you for that!

Sincerely,

Refat (Ray) Shakirzhanov (21) from Almaty, Kazakhstan