Gibson B.B. King

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Written by vintage on April 22, 2009 – 5:51 pm -

Gibson BB King Custom

B.B. King has marveled many guitar players throughout the years with his short hard bending blues licks and scorching blues chops that can be imitated but not duplicated.

Gibson owes a great deal of their success on their ES models to the blues man. Since the late 50s and 60s B.B. King has played numerous Gibson ES guitars (ES-5, ES-335 etc)

His use of the Gibson ES has given them a great deal of exposure. As a result Gibson and King decided to produce an official line of Gibson electric guitars bearing the B.B. King name.

In 1980 Gibson Introduced the Gibson B.B. King custom. It had the Lucille logo on the peghead, 2 pickups, gold plated parts, varitone switch and was available in ebony or cherry finishes.

Gibson stopped production of the custom in 1988 and renamed it the B.B King Lucille.

Gibson BB King Lucille (1988 - present)

At the beginning these guitars were also made in ebony and cherry color and then started adding more colors such as black.

Gibson B.B. King Standard (1980-1985)

In 1980 Gibson also introduced the B.B. King standard , which had the same features like the Gibson Lucille but with stereo electronics and chrome plated parts instead of gold hardware.

In 1985 The Gibson B.B. King standard production ended . They came in 2 colors - " cherry or ebony ".

Vintage Price Value For 2008 :
1980 - 1988 > $1700 to $2000 (Custom)
1980 - 1985 > $1600 to $1900 (Standard)
1988 - 1999 > $1800 to $1900 (Lucille)

These guitars have shown an average increase in value of 6% per year since 2000

Gibson also introduced the B.B. King ES-335 "Lucille" guitar in 2006 , only a limited edition of 80 guitars were made and are valued today ( 2007 ) at $4900 to $5800.