B.B. King Lucille

This guitar is named after B.B. King’s muse, which was originally a ’50s Gibson ES-335. Over the decades she’s come a long way, baby. Today’s Lucille model, introduced by Gibson in 1982, has no F-holes — to reduce feedback — at King’s direction and sports his name and a crown, evocative of the big man’s role as King of the Blues, on its attractive headstock in mother-of-pearl inlay. The guitar’s gold hardware adds beautiful contrast to its shiny ebony finish defined by white binding. A laminated maple block improves overall sustain, as does the solid maple center block. Her neck is laminated maple with an ebony fingerboard. Lucille has stereo and mono jacks, and a TP-6 tailpiece for precise tuning. And at age 83 King still wails on a Gibson Lucille as he continues to tour the world.