“I managed to stay behind at The Marquee when everyone had gone home. I asked him, ‘How do you get that sound?’ He said, ‘Well, it’s easy...’” In 1969, a young Brian May hid in a venue to speak to Rory Gallagher – and it led to his tonal breakthrough

Certain elements of Brian May’s gear are imprinted in the consciousness of guitar players. The Red Special is, of course, as inextricably linked to May as his halo of curls. His devotion to the Vox AC30 comes in at a close second.

Now, more than half a century after the release of Queen's self-titled 1973 debut – and with the recent reissue of the Queen I box set, a reworked version of the album that started it all – May looks back on those early days and tips his cap to the legendary guitarist who converted him into a Vox disciple.

“[The AC30 and Dallas Rangemaster treble booster] was there from the moment I saw Rory Gallagher,” May tells Guitarist. “I managed to stay behind at [legendary London venue] The Marquee when everyone had gone home.

“I asked him, ‘Rory, how do you get that sound?’ And he said, ‘Well, it’s easy, I have the AC30 and this little box, and I turn it up and it sings for me.’ The next day, I went to a guitar shop and found two secondhand AC30s for £30 each.

“I found a treble booster. I plugged in with my guitar, turned all the way up and it just melted my stomach. That’s my sound. And it’s different from Rory’s. His is much more bright.”

In an interview for the film What's Going On - Taste Live At The Isle Of Wight [below], May discusses the same meeting – and how he would watch Gallagher and his band Taste on a near weekly basis during the latter’s residency at the London club in the late ’60s.

“We were boys and we hung around and hid when The Marquee was at turning-out time and then we strolled over as if we ought to be there...” remembers May.

“He was incredibly patient. He was packing up his own gear – that’s the kind of man he was... and he had the grace to speak to us. He didn’t go, ‘Get out of here!’”

Later in the Guitarist interview, May reveals that he also experimented with Fender Strats and Gibson Les Pauls during that period – and even recalls one ill-fated gig in which he tried running through a Marshall stack.

“I plugged into a Marshall stack with my guitar and treble booster, turned it all the way up – and it sounded so awful. I could hardly play,” May tells Guitarist.

“I didn’t know what to do. It sounded like an angry wasp. It didn’t have any depth or articulation, I couldn’t play chords. It was a really hard experience for me.”

May notes with good humor that the night’s headliner – Jimi Hendrix – did not suffer from the same issues with the Marshall.

For more from May, plus new interviews with Eric Johnson and Rosanne Cash, pick up issue 521 of Guitarist at Magazines Direct.