EPIPHONE B.B. KING LUCILLE

EPIPHONE B.B. KING LUCILLE


Ask any number of people, young or old, who they think is the greatest blues guitarist of all time, and you may find that many of them will name B.B. King. According to a recent Rolling Stone Magazine ranking, B.B. King was ranked as being the third greatest guitarist of all time, right behind Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman. Whether you agree with this ranking or not, I’m sure you will agree that B.B. King is certainly one of the best blues guitarists to ever come down the pike. Many of the worlds most famous guitarists credit B.B. King as having been an inspiration to them, and that they learned a lot about playing the guitar from the old master. Rockers like Keith Richards, Jazz greats like Al Di Meola, and Blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughn have all spoken of his influence on them. Even the late Beatle John Lennon is reported to have said that if he could have chosen to play the guitar like anyone, he would have chosen to play like B.B. King. With all of that praise, it is no wonder that Epiphone was honored when Mr. King agreed to give his endorsement to the Epiphone B.B. King Lucille guitar. For those of you who may wish to read a comparison review of the Gibson B.B. King Lucille, please do me the honor of reading my review on that fine instrument.


Regarding how B.B. King came to name his guitar “Lucille,” Mr. King details in his 1996 autobiography entitled, “Blues All Around Me,” that a fire had broken out in a dance hall he was playing in 1949 in Arkansas, during a fight that two men were having. Mr. King recklessly ran back into the inferno to rescue his guitar, and almost lost his life in the process. The next day he learned that the fight had been over a woman named Lucille. In order to remind himself to never do something foolish like that again, he decided right then and there to name his guitar “Lucille,” and that is the name he gave to every guitar he has played since that time. According to Mr. King, since he saved his guitar Lucille from a fiery death, she has returned the favor many fold by enabling him to earn a living, put food on his family’s table, brought him fame, and fortune, and even saved his life. Apparently, Mr. King was in a car accident that involved a rollover, and part of the car landed on the hard shell road case that Lucille was resting in, and prevented Mr. King from being crushed.


But, enough with the history lesson on B.B. King. Lets talk about Lucille. The Epiphone incarnation of Lucille is modeled after the Gibson version, which also bears this name. The original Lucille was modeled after a Gibson ES-355 Stereo Guitar that B.B. King was playing back in 1980. There are a number of differences between this original Gibson ES-355 and the Gibson Lucille model, which I will not be going into here, as I have previously done so in my review of the Gibson B.B. King Lucille. The guitar that I will be focusing on here is the Epiphone Lucille in this review.


The body of the Epiphone Lucille is made with laminated Maple, and a laminated Maple top. The neck is solid Maple, with a Rosewood fretboard, and the neck is adorned with Pearloid Block Inlays. This is one classy looking guitar. The color is a beautiful Ebony, with a flawless high gloss finish. The body, neck, and headstock are surrounded by off white binding. All of the hardware is Gold. And just to remind you to never behave recklessly or do anything foolish while you are gigging, the name Lucille is emblazoned on the headstock for everyone to plainly see. Unlike the original Gibson ES- 355, the Epiphone Lucille, like the Gibson Lucille, has a solid top, and there are no F-holes in the guitar, which of course cuts down on the likelihood of unwanted feedback. Under the surface of Lucille lies a heart of Maple. By this I man that Lucille has a solid piece of Maple running down the center of the guitar, which if effect gives it many of the sonic characteristics of a solid bodied guitar. B.B. King himself has stated that Lucille is very similar to a Les Paul in its sound qualities, although he feels that Lucille is a bit “prettier.” After all, who could fault a man for complimenting his woman, err, I mean his guitar. The bridge is a Tune-O-Matic, with a TP-6 Tailpiece. This tailpiece allows for fine-tuning the strings of the guitar right from the tailpiece itself, and it enhances one’s abilities to perfectly tune the guitar.


With regard to the electronics of this guitar, the Epiphone Lucille comes with two humbucking pickups. The guitar is wired for stereo, and has two output jacks, one labeled mono, and one labeled stereo. If you want to play in mono, the Epiphone Lucille can function like a conventionally wired guitar. You simply plug your guitar cord into the jack on the guitar that is labeled “Mono,” and you will have access to both pickups, just like a regularly wired two pickup guitar. However, if you want to play in stereo, you must use two mono guitar cables to achieve this. The jack that is labeled “Mono” will take the signal from the neck pickup, and the jack that is labeled Stereo will take the signal from the bridge pickup. Think of the sonic possibilities. You can set one amp on one side of the stage to handle the output of the neck pickup, and set it to a bassy rich low with reverb, and set an amp on the other side of the stage to have a trebley crunch with a delay or echo. With the flip of the toggle switch you can make your solo come from either side of the stage, or from both amps simultaneously, with a completely different sound from each. The possibilities are very interesting, and exciting to play with.


Adding to the sonic palate that this guitar can paint, is the Varitone Control. This control has 6 settings. Setting number 1 simply bypasses the Varitone completely. The Epiphone literature on the Varitone indicates that this control serves to reduce the harmonic frequencies, which in effect produces a greater loss of low frequency harmonics the higher up the 6-position dial you go. The six settings of the Epiphone Varitone are the following:

Position # 1: Bypass.
Position # 2: 5db at 1950hz.
Position # 3: 12db at 1100hz.
Position # 4: 16db at 620hz.
Position # 5: 18.5db at 360hz.
Position # 6: 6.21db at 120hz.


Surprisingly, the frequencies that are cut out on the Epiphone Lucille are slightly different than on the Gibson version, as the Gibson Varitone cuts out a bit more of the low end. B.B King indicates that his favorite setting is number 2 with the Varitone for both the Epiphone and Gibson versions. Position’s 3 and 4 sort of sound like a single coil pickup, somewhat like a weaker sounding Stratocaster. This perceived “weakness” can easily be compensated for with the used of a foot pedal or by cranking up the amp. I must confess, that I did not find position 5 or 6 to be very useful for a lead sound. However, they would sound good for laying down a secondary backing track that could cut through a more mid-range or fatter sounding rhythm track.


A few more comments about the sound of the Epiphone Lucille. When I initially began playing it, I was extremely impressed. Depending on the setting, this guitar can reproduce almost any type of sound you could want. I was able to get a searing ripping lead tone from the bridge pickup, a sweet infinite sustain from the neck pickup, mellow jazzy chords for rhythm, and of course a great blues sound. I was very impressed with the overall sound of the Epiphone Lucille. However, then I compared it to the Gibson Lucille. The Gibson pickups were sharper, crisper, brighter, and had more presence to my ear, and the Gibson seemed noticeably heavier in weight. However, the cost of the Gibson was twice as much as the Epiphone.


As regards playability, feel, and consistency, I found a problem. I compared one Epiphone Lucille to a second Epiphone Lucille. They seemed not only like two different guitars, they seemed like they were made by different manufacturers. The first Epiphone had a problem with some of the frets being uneven in height at the higher end of the neck. These same frets also stuck out a fraction from the edge of the neck, and two even had a sharp edge to them. This Epiphone clearly was not assembled with as much care as I would have expected. On the other hand, the second Epiphone Lucille had none of these issues. The action was set great, there was no discernable difference in fret height, and the frets were perfectly set in the neck, with no sharp edges. When I compared two different Gibson Lucille’s to each other, they were indistinguishable, and were perfect in everyway.


The bottom line for me is this. Yes, the Gibson Lucille has more presence, warmth, and bite to its sound when compared to the Epiphone version. Yes, there is greater uniformity in manufacturing with a Gibson, and therefore I would suggest that a potential buyer of an Epiphone Lucille try a few side-by-side comparisons with other Epiphone Lucille’s to be assured that they are pleased with the guitar that they are buying. But, is the Gibson Lucille worth twice the money as the Epiphone Lucille? Personally, I preferred the Gibson. However, not everyone can afford everything they might prefer. I believe that anyone would be happy with a good Epiphone Lucille. Try one out for yourself, I do not think you will be disappointed.


I want to thank you very much for taking the time to read my review. I must leave now, and get back to my practicing, or I may never be worthy to touch Lucille again.