Can you make it sing like BB KING? The chances are probably not but get this Guitar in your hand and you can have a bl***y good go

Riley B King born September 16 1925 – May 14 2015 known professionally as BB King was an American Blues Guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. BB Kings name was derived from his nickname that was given to him – “Beale sreet blues boy” in his early days whilst working as a disc jockey.

Here I have in stock an American made Premium Gibson ES 355 Lucille model. The name of this Guitar originated from a fire which broke out in a place called twist, Arkansas which was a small town located about 45 minutes northwest of Memphis Tennessee (where this particular model of Gibson was made) 

The incident happened back in 1949 over men fighting over a women called “LUCILLE” During the fight a barrel of burning kerosine was knocked over which was used to heat the wooden building with. It was spilled and went on to create a river of fire which spread very quickly.

 Inside was Kings $30 small bodied Gibson L -30 Archtop Guitar in which he risked his life by going back in to the burning building, parts of the wooden building was falling to bits around him but managed to get in to rescue his Gibson Archtop.

The next day he learnt that two people died in the fire and and almost lost his life trying to save his guitar. He also learnt the next day that the men was fighting over a women called LUCILLE so then he decided to name his Guitar Lucille as a reminder to never do something as stupid as risking his life like that again. He then went on to name all of his guitars Lucille and it wasnt until 1980 Gibson released a signature model of the Lucille Gibson Guitar.

BB King used this guitar extensively throughout his career, here is a link and an excellent example of his sounds and playing style, its the full live at the regal album 1964 which was considered one of the best live blues albums of all time due to Kings ability to capture and connect with the audience whilst rolling out soulful and melodic blues lines with excellent phrasing combined with a sweet blues tone which influenced generations of blues and rock musicians. He opens up with “everyday i have the blues” and the way he breaks in to the solo at 1 minute 14 seconds using the major scale to create blues lines is phenomenal and leaves me with hairs standing up on the back of my neck. 

Core models of the Lucille include the “standard” produced from 1980 – 1985, the “custom” made 1980 – 2007, the modern era produced by Gibson Memphis version which is the one i have in stock, it features the 490R and 490T pickups, a 6 way varitone switch and stereo/mono output jacks.

This Guitar features a distinctive ebony finish with gold hardware – Gold plated featuring a TP – 6 stop bar and a bound ebony fretboard. Its custom built without the F holes in order to reduce feedback – King was known for stuffing rags inside the F holes to try reduce the amount of feedback. The first production year for the Lucille was 1980 allthough he used custom 355 models for years prior.

If your interested in giving this guitar a new home then dont hesitate to get in touch with coolhandguitars!!