The Gibson Guitar Company has complimented the B. B. King Lucille electric archtop guitar by manufacturing the Gibson Little Lucille. The company says that "(it) has designed a versatile instrument to B. B.'s specifications which includes a few of his personal touches." I'll tell you about the design features of this guitar in a moment, but first let me tell you about the origin of this guitar.

When the Gibson Guitar Company introduced its' Nighthawk and Blueshawk guitars a few years ago, B. B. King reportedly fell in love with the look, feel and sound of these instruments. I think that part of his infatuation has to do with the Varitone system on these guitars (I'll discuss that momentarily too)--the wide range of sounds that these guitars produced moved him to persuade Gibson to manufacture a guitar based on the same design, with some of his personal favorite features. The Gibson Guitar Company proceeded to produce the Gibson Little Lucille, a quality guitar, at a very reasonable price.

As I said before, this instrument is based on the Nighthawk and Blueshawk--it's a small-bodied guitar with a single cutaway. It has a maple top, poplar back, and a mahogany neck with a narrow profile, slightly "V" neck. The rosewood fingerboard has mother of pearl diamond inlays, and a rich creme binding is on the body and fingerboard. The standard Gibson tune-o-matic bridge/tailpiece comes on this instrument, and all of the hardware and tuners are made of gold.

The Gibson Little Lucille comes with two Blues 90 pickups equipped with a hum cancelling dummy coil. It has one master tone control and one master volume control, and a three-way pickup switch, which enables the player to use all combinations of the pickups for a versatile sound. Adding to the versatile sound is the six-position Varitone switch, with a push-pull control switch to disable this feature.

The Varitone switch is a rare feature on a Gibson guitar--basically, it allows the player to get almost any tone out of this guitar that he or she may desire. The mellow bass sound of a jazz guitar is available, as well as the trebly, jangly sound preferred by country players and rockabilly guitarists. The standard Gibson "growl" is there for the blues player and the rock 'n roller. You can even get the twangy sound that Fender players love--the six positions on the Varitone switch can be used in conjunction with the master tone control and the pickup switch to get almost any sound you may want. Soundwise, this may be one of the most versatile guitars that Gibson, or anyone else, has ever manufactured.

This guitar has killer looks--the black finish with the creme binding and gold hardware, a la' B. B. King, give the Gibson Little Lucille an appearance that just oozes cool! Any guitarist, whether he is a beginner or a professional, will look like a player with this guitar in his hands. It has an intrinsic appeal that is universal.

It's a great player, too--the narrow profile "V" shaped neck feels comfortable in my hands. I prefer a thin neck, and the Gibson Little Lucille delivers on this count. Soloing is easy up and down the neck, and the single cutaway gives the player easy access to the highest frets. As always, this Gibson guitar is built with an adjustable truss rod in the neck, and the player can make very simple adjustments to suit the action to his or her own personal tastes.

Perhaps the best thing about this guitar is the price--it retails for around $1,800.00, which means that with a little dickering, it can probably be purchased for $1,500.00 or $1,600.00.

This is a very well-built guitar and would be a good buy for the guitarist who is looking for a quality instrument that provides a wide range of sounds and tones. The Gibson Little Lucille fills the bill as far as versatility is concerned, and at a price that is affordable.



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