LEGEND BM BOHEMIAN guitar strap: this strap is a black variation of the original and comes with a fascinating story that we would like to share with you:
This guitar strap is a recreation of the one worn by the legendary musician Dr. Brian May, alongside his iconic guitar, the Red Special. Here is the short version of how this replica came to be:
On August 9, 2018, we received an email from our distributor in the United States with the subject line: “Strap idea.” It said: “Hi guys, an interesting idea came to me during a conversation with a major American retailer a few days ago. They noticed that the straps used in the new Queen movie (Bohemian Rhapsody, 2018) look nothing like the actual strap used by Brian May. Below are some photos. Do you think it’s possible to recreate them?”
Of course, our answer was a big YES.
After some research, we realized that there was not much documented history about the original strap, but it became an icon after Queen's legendary performance at Live Aid 1985 at Wembley Stadium, alongside the famous Red Special guitar.
In the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, the strap was recreated inaccurately, which motivated us to take on the challenge of reproducing it based on a few low-quality photos from the pre-digital era.
Forums suggest that the original strap was lost, missing, or stolen. Many opinions exist, but none are confirmed. It also seems that the original strap may have been an ordinary belt turned into a guitar strap, as many guitarists have done throughout history.
So we did the same: we turned a belt into a guitar strap. We adapted our RAS adjustment system to the back of the strap for better flexibility and, of course, we added the holes to attach the guitar.
An interesting detail is that Dr. May used electrical tape to hold the strap in place. Our design team replaced the adhesive tape with elastic bands, so that every musician can adjust the strap or even swap the bands for electrical tape if they wish.
Once the recreation was finished, we sent the prototype to the United States to be tested and evaluated. Shortly after, during a promotional meeting between executives and Dr. Brian May, when he saw the replica of his long-lost strap, he exclaimed: “Wow, I haven’t seen this strap in ages!”
For us, that was the ultimate compliment. We are incredibly proud to have succeeded in recreating this iconic guitar strap.
This year, to celebrate our 10th anniversary, we decided to bring this replica to all fans of Queen, Dr. Brian May, and the Red Special.
The RightOn! team is convinced that you will love its craftsmanship and will feel as cool as Dr. Brian May himself. Enjoy!