Lucille (guitar)
Gibson Lucille
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| Manufacturer | Gibson Guitar Corporation,Epiphone |
|---|---|
| Period | 1980 – 2015 |
| Body type | Semi-hollow |
| Scale | 24 3/4"/1 11/16" |
| Body | Maple |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fretboard | Ebony |
| Bridge | Tune-o-matic/TP-6 |
| Pickup(s) | 490R Alnico magnet humbucker/490T Alnico magnet humbucker |
| Black and also available in Emerald, Amethyst, Sapphire Blue, Ruby and Diamond | |
Lucille is the name B.B. King gave to his guitars. They were usually black Gibson guitars similar to the ES-345-355.
In the winter of 1949, King played at a dance hall in Twist, Arkansas. The hall was heated by a barrel half-filled with burning kerosene, a fairly common practice at the time. During a performance, two men began to fight, knocking over the barrel and sending burning fuel across the floor. The hall burst into flames, and the building was evacuated.
Once outside, King realized that he had left his guitar inside so he went back into the burning building to retrieve his beloved $30 Gibson guitar. King learned the next day that the two men that started the fire had been fighting over a woman who worked at the hall named Lucille. King named that guitar, and every guitar he subsequently owned, Lucille, as a reminder never again to do something as stupid as run into a burning building or fight over women.
B.B. King wrote a song called Lucille in which he talks about his guitar and how it got its name. The song was first released on the album Lucille and is included on the B. B. King Anthology 1962–1998 album.
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). However, he is best known for playing variants of the Gibson ES-335.
In 1980, Gibson Guitar Corporation launched the B. B. King Lucille model. 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. King requested that, to reduce feedback, there be no F-holes.
Gibson made the B.B. King Standard model from 1980 to 1985. This model had chrome hardware and dot inlays instead of block inlays.
The Gibson subsidiary Epiphone markets a low-cost, foreign-made Lucille model based on the Gibson Lucille. Differences include a variation on the inlays, a gloss finish and different pickups.
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