Lucille (guitar)

B. B. King's Lucille

Lucille is the name given to B.B. King's guitars. They are usually black Gibson guitars similar to the ES-355.

The story of Lucille

B. B. King with "Lucille".

In the winter of 1949, King played at a dance hall in Twist, Arkansas. In order to heat the hall, a barrel half-filled with kerosene was lit, a fairly common practice at the time. During a performance, two men began to fight, knocking over the burning barrel and sending burning fuel across the floor. The hall burst into flames, which triggered an evacuation. Once outside, King realized that he had left his guitar inside the burning building. He entered the blaze to retrieve his beloved $30 Gibson guitar. Two people died in the fire. The next day, King learned that the two men were fighting over a woman named Lucille. King named that first guitar Lucille, as well as every one he owned since that near-fatal experience, as a reminder never again to do something as stupid as run into a burning building or fight over women.^[1][2]

B.B. King wrote a song called “Lucille” where he talks about his guitar and how it got that name. The song was first released as part of Lucille and it is included on the B. B. King Anthology 1962–1998 album.

Lucilles through King's career

Early Lucilles

King played guitars made by different manufacturers early in his career. He played a Fender Telecaster on most of his recordings with RPM Records (USA).^[3] However, he is best known for playing variants of the Gibson ES-355.

Gibson Lucille

Gibson Lucille
Gibson Lucille
Manufacturer	Gibson Guitar Corporation,[4] Epiphone[5]
Period	1980 - present
Construction
Body type	Semi-hollow
Scale	24 3/4"/1 11/16"
Woods
Body	Maple
Neck	Maple
Fretboard	Ebony
Hardware
Bridge	Tune-o-matic/TP-6
Pickup(s)	490R Alnico magnet humbucker/490T Alnico magnet humbucker
Colors available
Black and also available in Emerald, Amethyst, Sapphire Blue, Ruby and Diamond [6]

In 1980, Gibson Guitar Corporation launched the B. B. King Lucille model.^[7] The most noticeable differences between the Lucille and the Gibson ES-355TD-SV on which it is based are the "Lucille" script on the headstock, the maple neck, and the lack of F-holes on the top. The top has no F-holes at B. B. King's request to reduce feedback.^[8]

The B.B. King Standard model was made from 1980 to 1985. This model had chrome hardware and dot inlays instead of block inlays.^{[citation needed]}

The Gibson subsidiary Epiphone also offers a low-cost, foreign made Lucille model based on the Gibson Lucille. Differences include a variation on the headstock inlays, a gloss finish and different pickups^[9]

Gibson Little Lucille

Gibson Little Lucille

In 1999, Gibson launched the Little Lucille, a version of their Blueshawk guitar. It differed from the Blueshawk in having a Tune-o-matic bridge and a TP-6 stop tailpiece.^[10]

The model is no longer found among Gibson USA's current product listing, and the Blueshawk on which it was based has been discontinued.

The 80th Birthday Lucille

In 2005, for B.B. King's 80th birthday, Gibson made a special run of 80 Gibson Lucilles, referred to as the '80th Birthday Lucille'. The first prototype was presented to King as a birthday present. King used the guitar as his main guitar until the summer of 2009, when it was stolen from him. On September 10, 2009, Eric Dahl unknowingly purchased the stolen instrument from a pawn shop in Las Vegas. Upon researching information on the instrument, he was contacted by a Gibson Artist Relations representative, who informed Dahl of the stolen status of the guitar. This Lucille was returned to King in late November 2009, who was happy to receive his 80th birthday present back.^[11]

See also

• List of guitars
• Guitar portal

References

Further reading

• Eric Dahl, B.B. King's Lucille and the Loves Before Her, Blue Book Publications, 2013, 96 pp, ISBN 978-1936120413.