Lucy (guitar)

"Lucy" is the name George Harrison of the Beatles gave to the unique red Gibson Les Paul guitar he received from Eric Clapton in August 1968. Previously owned by rock guitarists John Sebastian and Rick Derringer, Lucy is one of the most famous electric guitars in the world.

Lucy was originally a "Goldtop" Les Paul Model with humbucking pickups, a combination only produced in 1957 and part of 1958. Gibson records show that serial number 7-8789 was shipped from the Kalamazoo factory on December 19, 1957. By 1965 the guitar was owned by John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful, who traded it to Rick Derringer of tourmates The McCoys for an amplifier to replace one which had blown.

By around 1966 the guitar's original gold finish was worn, and according to Derringer "It was a very, very used guitar, even when I got it... so I figured that since we didn’t live far from Gibson’s factory in Kalamazoo, the next time the group went there I’d give it to Gibson and have it refinished. I had it done at the factory in the SG-style clear red finish that was popular at the time." However, Derringer wasn't happy with the guitar after the refinish; he sold it to Dan Armstrong's guitar shop in New York.

The guitar had only been in Armstrong's shop for a few days when it was purchased by Eric Clapton. Clapton did not play this instrument much, his principal guitars in 1966–68 being his psychedelic 1964 SG called "The Fool", a 1964 ES-335, a 1963 or 64 Reverse Firebird, and a sunburst 1960 Les Paul he bought from Andy Summers. In August 1968 Clapton gave the red Les Paul as a present to his good friend George Harrison. Harrison dubbed the guitar "Lucy", after redhead comedian Lucille Ball.

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