Brian May Guitars BMG Tenor Uke - Ukulele REVIEW

Something quite different this week on Got A Ukulele with a model I have been trying to get on reviews for some years now. This is the 'BMG Tenor Uke' from Brian May Guitars. Will this one be a kind of magic?

And that 'trying' extends to me reaching out to the brand several times directly and several of my readers doing the exact same thing. I do this a lot, but in this case never with any response.. Getting turned down happens.. and it's a hard life.. But you don't get to avoid Got A Ukulele that easily, so as I was under pressure from readers I bought one with blog funds and now i'm here with a review at last!

SUMMARY VIDEO REVIEW

The BMG Uke is instantly recognisable as a 'Brian May' uke on account of where the looks are derived from. The brand itself is something set up by / endorsed by Brian May himself as a means to counter the copies of his original, hand made 'Red Special' electric guitar which were cropping up from time to time. As I understand it he wanted to avoid that and play the game himself so Brian May Guitars was born offering a range of authentic looking electric guitars shaped on his iconic model, to which they have since added basses, other shaped electrics, an acoustic and this one, the BMG Uke. So these are a not just 'copies' as he has chosen to put his name to them himself. They are, equally, not luthier built instruments either with the guitars made in Korea, and this uke made in China. Still, country of origin is not all that important if they deliver and the guitars (at least) have a lot of fans.

So yes, this is reminiscent of his signature guitar, but with some very obvious differences that are down to it being a uke and not an electric guitar. And I personally think some of those differences let it down for reasons I go into below. Still, it has enough 'nods' for you to know what it is derived from, though by that I really just mean the shape. This is an all laminate sapele wood ukulele in the tenor scale, shaped with that large round lower bout (kind of a 'fat bottomed girl' I suppose...) and asymmetrical cutaways and horns on the upper bouts that mimic the shape of the Red Special Guitar.  Naturally, it comes in only one colour, named as Antique Cherry, but otherwise you get the idea. More on the finish and decor below, but I do like the general overall shape which is quite different to most regular double bout ukuleles. What I'm not so much a fan of is just how deep it is. It's a chunky old thing!

The bridge is a tie bar style specified as 'techwood' (which usually means either stained hardwood or laminate hardwood - cheap in other words), and that holds a straight topped saddle made of PPS (which is a hard plastic variant similar to NuBone). String spacing here is 41mm. Pretty standard, and pretty tidy to be fair if basic. The shape is what they call a 'moustache' in the guitar world and now I can't stop thinking it looks like the cookie duster of a certain lead singer...

There is no other decoration to the body other than the satin open pore finish which is quite 'agricultural' and unevenly applied in several areas with colour variation and mis-matches on joints that stand out to me. There are also one or two dings which might be the fault of the dealer, but still... A gloss could have made this look quite beautiful I think and made it really shine.  The website specs clearly suggest 'white ABS binding' but as you can see there is nothing of the sort here and not even a sound hole rosette - nothing. I think the instrument looks empty and stark because of that and the white binding would have given a greater nod to the original as well as being a simple easy addition. Of course another big part of the 'look' of the original guitar is a large black scratch plate running from the top of both upper bouts and down to the lower. Being an acoustic uke though this would totally dominate the top and likely kill sound projection so I understand its absence here. I think that's why binding would have helped tie it all together a little more. I say 'acoustic', but you will spy that this comes with a pickup fitted as standard. Sadly it's the sort that puts me off for all the extra weight and wiring, an ugly and large control panel in the side and a cell battery /  jack socket mounting on the lower bout (in a place that is NOT the strongest place to put one!). Fitments like this almost give me a sheer heart attack and, despite me just not liking them personally, putting controls in this location under where my strumming arm rests is even worse. It's a Fishman Kula brand pickup which is a half decent name, but i'd still prefer a passive pickup of my own choice. This thing is huge... Maybe, just maybe though, being a Brian May instrument it NEEDED to be capable of being plugged in. I kind of get that.. so maybe i'm going slightly mad on this point, but a passive pickup would still have allowed that. As ever though, that is my subjective view, but you know how it is with me and reviews -  I want it all... and you are free to ignore these subjectivities yourself.

Inside is fairly standard on the bracing and kerfing and I can't see much mess bar the ridiculous mass of wiring that hasn't been properly taped down and eventually may buzz. The top laminate is also thicker than I would like.

The neck wood is not specified and is hard to inspect fully as it is also stained and satin coated but I can see a heel joint and one at the headstock. I'm not a fan of the very wide heel here with an odd black painted heel 'cap' which is very scruffy when you look at it closely - decoration that just isn't needed. The neck tapers to a skinny, generic and overly rounded profile that I am not a fan of either, nor am of of the 35mm nut width and 28mm string spacing for a tenor. This is not my kind of a uke neck and I prefer wider nuts that will save me when I'm playing, but again, that's a subjective point too.

The fingerboard is more 'techwood' and in reasonably good condition and even in colour. It's edge bound in black hiding the fret ends of which you have 18 with the 17th placed at the depth of the upper cutaways. They are largely unsharp, but come close at the body end and a fair few of them have some remnants of red stain that hasn't been polished out which is bizarre considering the board is not red. Oddly, there are no outward facing dots at all, which I say is 'odd' because the Red Special guitar has an abundance of them including some triple dots. Again, this makes the instrument look bare and missing something that would have been easy to add and tie the design back to the original concept. As it is, it just looks empty. Thankfully it has white side dots at the 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th and 15th.

Beyond the PPS plastic nut, the headstock is another nod to the Brian May guitar with the distinctive slim tapering arrow head shape. It's otherwise quite simple and carries the Brian May signature in white. Sadly there is no sixpence attached to the top which is something Brian fixes on his own guitar (a nod to the fact he picks with a coin), but then you wouldn't want to be playing nylon uke strings with a coin! Don't worry - I haven't adjusted the score for that!

The tuners are extremely generic cheap open gears with ugly die casting marks and small-ish cream buttons. They hold tune but are grindy to turn, and are all different tensions. One of them is not even screwed in place on the right angle. Cheap as chips and they look it too with one or two mounting screws already sheared..

It comes with that Fishman pickup, a set of Aquila strings and a branded, but very simple padded gig bag which is really more of a dust cover and is also very cheap with basic zips and a horrid handle. Before I come on to the price, the general summation here is of a fairly well built, but actually very simply made instrument  using cheap materials. There really isn't much going on here - it's just a basic laminate box and the 'Brian May' credentials extend to the overall shape and colour though not much else. And when I say 'cheap materials' I mean not much greater than something like a Makala or an 'Amazon special' if I am honest. When you see the price you will see why things like binding and fret markers, which would have gone a long way to link the design to the original are very stupidly missing here.  This has an RRP of £269 and I call that as being utterly ridiculous. OK, I sometimes see them down to about £250, but that is still far too much for this spec. Take away the name and the shape and look at what you can get for that RRP.  A Flight Pathfinder electric with change in your pocket? An all solid Snail M3? An all solid mango PONO uke? And many others with greater specs for less money in other scales too. Ludicrous.

Let me put it this way, I understand that to fan collectors of Queen memorabilia they will pay more - they consider themselves devoted fans and, friends will be friends of course... But I think you need to be a VERY SERIOUS fan to pay this much more! Judged against the uke market this is a silly price. And this isn't being sold as a novelty or wall hanger - it's being sold by a guitar company.  I find that crass and a scandal to be honest. Arrogant.

Anyway, that aside, shall we get on to the playing of it? Don't stop me now...

Basics first - the volume is pretty decent and I have no complaints there but the sustain is quite average with sound dropping off quite quickly. The volume is not wholly surprising in view of the over-sized body though the sustain is a question mark. Whilst the setup seems ok judged by measurements at the nut and saddle there is still something amiss here as the intonation is going off on the A string at the upper frets. Fixable but annoying and I think is less about height but more about adjusting the break point at the nut or the saddle. It feels chunky to hold on account of that deep body, but isn't overly heavy at 680g (though could be a lot lighter).

In terms of the overall tone it's not a bad sound to be fair, but certainly a one dimensional laminate tone without a huge amount of character bar the thing it does do pretty well - and that's a clear, crisp tone no matter how you play it. Yet, it just doesn't have a lot of shimmer or character - it's just straight down one line. Strummed it sounds peppy and jangly but very much down that one direction on tone which is on the brighter side and not much else. It's nice that it doesn't get muddy played like this but it's just not that earth shattering to me in other ways. Still, it works and had a clear voice I suppose. Just not mind blowing or different.

Fingerpicking is pretty and clear too though massively let down by the intonation (which may not be the case with every instrument - very much a setup thing that can be fixed). It works though and is hardly an offensive sound played like this, but there isn't much going on with any character to keep it interesting. Again, just one dimensional really. Maybe they are intending you to just plug it in and throw effects at it, but if that was the case, then why not make a Brian May solid electric uke? Now there's an idea!

All in all this one has annoyed me a little too much i'm afraid. To me, someone like Brian May should have more care what he puts his name to considering he's a musician and I think it's the cheapness of the build coupled with the inflated price that's riling me. This smacks to me of the company saying, 

'Hey! We need a uke in the lineup!' 

And the response being, 

'OK! - but remember, we have just one vision here - make it as simple as you can, use cheap materials, quick as a flash, and remember that ukes are not very serious... oh, and be sure to inflate the price'... 

This sounds largely ok but isn't any greater sounding than those acoustic Fender Strat and Tele acoustic electrics that which can be bought for under £150, and in fact those are MUCH better on the finish with bindings and glosses. Heck, get an Amazon special where they throw in the works for a fraction of the cost that will probably sound similar. Sure, the core build is ok and the tone is passable for a laminate, but this screams 'cash-in' with cheap specifications to me more than most else i've seen in the uke world. Seriously, is this the world we created? This is hardly a breakthru instrument...

I'd say this should only be of interest to die-hard Queen fans. Other uke players - invest your money more wisely elsewhere because you can easily get more for less. 

Personally, I wish we could break free from ukes like this..

https://shop.brianmayguitars.co.uk/

(p.s.  I count about 19...)

UKULELE SPECS ROUND UP

Model: Brian May Guitars BMG Uke

Scale: Tenor

Body: Laminate Sapele

Bridge: Techwood tie bar

Saddle: PPS plastic

Spacing at saddle: 41mm

Neck: Unspecified

Fingerboard: Techwood

Frets: 18, 17 to cutaway pockets

Nut: PPS plastic

Nut width: 35mm, 28mm G to A

Tuners: Generic open gears in chrome

Finish: Open pore satin

Strings: Aquila

Extras: Fishman Kula pickup system, gig bag
Weight: 680g

Country of origin: China

Price: RRP £269

UKULELE PROS

Reliable core build (though very basic specs)

'Different'  shape

Decent volume

Clear crisp tone that isn't unpleasant (though generic)

'Fandom' counts for something I suppose

UKULELE CONS

Basic finish poorly done in places

Lacking several decor touches that would tie in the design in better

Cheap materials all round
Something 'off' with the setup

Average sustain

Too skinny a nut for me (subjective)

Very cheap tuners

Give me a passive pickup (subjective)

Totally overpriced - should be nearer £150 or much less

UKULELE SCORES

Looks - 7.5 out of 10 

Fit and finish - 7.5 out of 10

Sound - 8 out of 10

Value for money - 5 out of 10

OVERALL UKULELE SCORE - 7 out of 10

UKULELE VIDEO REVIEW

© Barry Maz

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