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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 5:23 am
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B.B. is a walking poster child for the consequences of diabetes and obesity among the rest of life's wear and tear. Age catches up to all of us but it helps one not to drive in reverse.

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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 5:08 pm
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Not knowing squat about the varitone switch, thanks. Seems a little like the Super Strat switch, something else I don't know much about.
Diabetes is a life changer, w/o a doubt.
What I always appreciated about BB's sound was that he always incorporated what I call the "Big Band" era of the blues alive. It was/is good to hear, as infrequently as it appears in most modern blues bands today.


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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 6:04 pm
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sfceric64 wrote:
What I always appreciated about BB's sound was that he always incorporated what I call the "Big Band" era of the blues alive. It was/is good to hear, as infrequently as it appears in most modern blues bands today.


+1

I only saw him once, in the early '70s, but he had a five- or six-piece horn section with him onstage plus a guy on a Fender/Rhodes piano and another stroking the Hammond B3. An absolutely awesome sonic array.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 1:45 am
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Miami Mike wrote:
It's called a vari-tone. They use a choke and a selection of capacitors to strip various parts of the EQ from the PU's output for a variety of tones.


+1


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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 4:50 am
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chromeface wrote:
Miami Mike wrote:
It's called a vari-tone. They use a choke and a selection of capacitors to strip various parts of the EQ from the PU's output for a variety of tones.

+1

Year of introduction : ..................1959 :shock:

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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 6:52 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
he played a dead-stock ES355 just as this photo clearly shows.....This was when the gentleman was at the top of his game.
Absolutely, that's what he played back in the day. And then in 1981 Gibson released a NEW model guitar that was based on BB's classic guitar. Notice that after 1981, BB's 'f' holes mysteriously disappeared. :shock: That's because he doesn't play an ES355 anymore, he plays a Gibson BB King Lucille model guitar. :wink:

1986:
Image

1995:
Image

2015:
Image

No 'f' holes = not a 355.

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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 7:00 am
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ZZDoc wrote:
B.B. is a walking poster child for the consequences of diabetes and obesity among the rest of life's wear and tear. Age catches up to all of us but it helps one not to drive in reverse.


He's 89. That he's lived for that long is not a consequence of diabetes and obesity. Most men watching their food and lifestyle would be dead long before this.


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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 7:18 am
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arth1 wrote:
ZZDoc wrote:
B.B. is a walking poster child for the consequences of diabetes and obesity among the rest of life's wear and tear. Age catches up to all of us but it helps one not to drive in reverse.


He's 89. That he's lived for that long is not a consequence of diabetes and obesity. Most men watching their food and lifestyle would be dead long before this.

Stroke of luck!

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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 1:33 pm
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arth1 wrote:
ZZDoc wrote:
B.B. is a walking poster child for the consequences of diabetes and obesity among the rest of life's wear and tear. Age catches up to all of us but it helps one not to drive in reverse.


He's 89. That he's lived for that long is not a consequence of diabetes and obesity. Most men watching their food and lifestyle would be dead long before this.



+1


Despite what doctors or the popular media might say, for most folks I think it's really just a roll of the dice. Some folks drink, smoke and party well up into the late years. Others are obsessive about their health and exercise every day...then drop dead at 50 while mowing the lawn.

I think genetics really has more to do with it than any sense of "life style". Both of my folks were HEAVY smokers most of their lives ...2 packs a day plus (Dad smoked like that for over 60 years)...and both of them drank pretty heavy from time to time as well. Despite 6 runs with cancer, Mom lived to her early 70's and Dad, who was healthy most of his life, made it to 77 (and honestly, Dad died due to a blatant act of stupidity...abruptly stopped taking all his meds). Would they have lived longer had they of taken better care of themselves? Who's to say.....either one of them could have stepped off a curb and been hit by a passing bus.

Considering the man's age, the idea that B.B. King is somehow "a walking poster child for the consequences..." just seems like total stereotypical rubbish. If anything, I have to think that B.B. King's longevity is simply a testament to the fact that issues including weight and diabetes and such CAN be managed.

Most of us should be so lucky.....


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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 2:35 pm
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I haven't been on the Forum for quite some time but it's good to see that a lot of "the old guard" are still around and it's especially good to see that Jim has returned to the fold after such a long absence.

Over the years there have been more Lucilles than Kelloggs has Corn Flakes and there have been variations on their specs over the years too,at least prior to him signing a deal with Gibson in 1982 to have a designated Lucille model line made to his specs.A lot of the earlier ones prior to 1982 did have the f holes(older pix confirm this) but they all had the Varitone as did the 345s and 355s.The current Lucilles also have 490 T and 490 R Alnico humbuckers in the bridge and neck positions respectively.

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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:07 am
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guitslinger wrote:
A lot of the earlier ones prior to 1982 did have the f holes(older pix confirm this

I can find no such pics, are you sure they're out there? AFAIK even the prototype for the Lucille model lacked f holes.

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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:50 am
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guitslinger wrote:
I haven't been on the Forum for quite some time but it's good to see that a lot of "the old guard" are still around and it's especially good to see that Jim has returned to the fold after such a long absence.


I'z guessin' you're referring to me...and if so, thanks for the kind words 8) .



Honestly...I come and go depending on what else I have going on in my life at any given time. The really long break was mostly because I had gone back to college...here in my late 40's, I'm going after an Associate Degree in Art. I've been doing freelance graphics and photography for around 20 years now, so I figured it was time I finally get the dumb little scrap of paper that says "I is educated", LOL!!! Going back was actually A LOT of fun (for the most part...that last semester kind of sucked)...even took a weird turn into 3D animation...but needless to say, it kept me rather busy for a while. The good news is that I only need 3 more classes for the degree. The bad news it, we ran out of money, so it's not gonna happen until after my wife and I buy a new house and move.

At the moment the wife and I are trying to buy a new house and move closer to where she works (she has a 77 mile drive each way) and while I'm dealing the the bankers, realtors and lawyers and such, there's been a lot of "hurry up and wait" the past few weeks...been waiting over 2 weeks for my lawyer to return one stinkin' phone call. In other words, except for working in 2 bands at the moment, there's been a lot of down time lately.....

Anyways, assuming you were referring to me...again thanks for the kind words!
(and if not...well...thanks anyways, LOL!)


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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 12:02 pm
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lomitus wrote:
I'z guessin' you're referring to me...and if so, thanks for the kind words 8) .
I'm going after an Associate Degree in Art. I've been doing freelance graphics and photography for around 20 years now, so I figured it was time I finally get the dumb little scrap of paper that says "I is educated" LOL!!!


Yah! We've seen some of your talent back in the day. Forum's a gifted lot. There's Barry Pulis, who seems to limit himself to Facebook...and Ceri Shields, who stops by from time to time.

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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 12:46 pm
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lomitus wrote:
Despite what doctors or the popular media might say, for most folks I think it's really just a roll of the dice. Some folks drink, smoke and party well up into the late years. Others are obsessive about their health and exercise every day...then drop dead at 50 while mowing the lawn.


You can certainly improve the odds, but the dice are still having a much larger effect than anything you do. Which is why we have heavy smokers and drinkers reaching their 90s and vegetarian joggers die in their 30s. The average lifespan for the latter group might be longer, but you never know what the next roll will be.

In craps language:
A health fanatic plays a table with a point of four or ten, where he has to run a threadmill and eat broccoli while playing.
A more average person plays a table with a point of five or nine, and gets to drink coke and watch TV.
"Rock star" material play a table with a point six or eight. With free drinks and ladies.

Worse odds, sure, but we're only playing a single game, so we won't reap any benefits of a better point working better if played a thousand times.

Roll dem bones.


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Post subject: Re: B.B. King's Lucille...what's that extra knob for?
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 4:24 pm
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@Strings10927, Although the original Lucille was lost in a nightclub fire,BB made it a policy to call each subsequent guitar Lucille and there were several between his first 345 in 1958-'59 and up until he got the sponsorship deal with Gibson in 1982,when the standardized Lucille that's much like the one we see up to the current day,went into official production.Therefore any f-hole 345-355 you see him with between '58 and '82 was named Lucille as were any ES 350s,135s,Byrdlands etc. that he may have been seen playing until he bought his first 345 Lucille in '58/'59.Cheers.

BTW: There are several pix of BB playing not only f-hole 345s but other Gibson models on his official site and also if you just google B.B. King,you'll no doubt find links to pix of B.B. with other models as well.

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