Epiphone BB King Lucille

[mozzarate54]

As anyone bought or tried this one out? I saw this at samash but didn't get to try it out. How are the pickups? How's the neck especially when you play higher up. Is the bridge any good? And mods that maybe need to be done

[umasstele]

I had one for a couple years. I thought the pickups sounded good, but others on here may say differently. However, I didn't like the look of no f-holes, and thought that the vari-tone switch was useless....IMHO.

Neck felt great, very comfortable, and almost exactly similar to my epiphone les paul custom. but it was the weak link in the collection!

[mozzarate54]

Should I go for a Epiphone es-335 instead?

[aunchaki]

I'd grab an Epi Lucille if I saw an amazingly-low price, but the two or three I've seen in person had really tarnished and crappy-looking gold hardware. It's what keeps me away from a Sheraton, too.

[mozzarate54]

Originally Posted by aunchaki

I'd grab an Epi Lucille if I saw an amazingly-low price, but the two or three I've seen in person had really tarnished and crappy-looking gold hardware. It's what keeps me away from a Sheraton, too.

Yea I saw that too the gold hardware almost looked kind of like plastic

[NastyMojo]

I love when the gold tarnishes ;)

[Hiker]

The pickups are "Classic Alnico Humbuckers."
Has anyone spent some time evaluating one of these guitars?

[mozzarate54]

The guitar is a beauty hands down my thing is and what really holds me back from buying epiphones and Gibsons are the glued necks. I own a Epiphone les Paul and the neck just sucks especially when you play higher up and try to bend the note just cuts off. I really like the design of the bb king Epiphone but I'm not sure if I want all those controls on my guitar. I'm not to convinced either on the hardware. Can anyone tell me why there are 2 input jacks on the guitar?

[Lunchie]

I have yet to see one in person. I have a hard time believing B.B. would put his name on a p.o.s. he is hardly hurting for money...

[thunderbyrd]

i went to a local dealer back in april meaning to bring an epi lucille home with me. but the one he had in stock wasn't wired right. the mono output jack is supposed to be for both pickups, but this one was wired so it would only work with one output for each. i told him if he'd knock off a $100 i'd take it, but he wouldn't.

i thought it played great, tho.

[superbadj]

Originally Posted by mozzarate54

The guitar is a beauty hands down my thing is and what really holds me back from buying epiphones and Gibsons are the glued necks. I own a Epiphone les Paul and the neck just sucks especially when you play higher up and try to bend the note just cuts off.

Notes cutting off/fretting out has nothing to do with it being a set neck (glued neck) design.

[Johnny P]

Originally Posted by mozzarate54

Should I go for a Epiphone es-335 instead?

There is always the 345. I went to GC to buy and 345 and ended up saving a ton by getting a Riviera. Great semi hollow.

[mozzarate54]

Originally Posted by superbadj

Notes cutting off/fretting out has nothing to do with it being a set neck (glued neck) design.

What would you say the problem would be then? I adjusted the trust rod and put a new bridge in but the note still cuts off but only when I bend or pick pass the 15fret .

[Progrmr]

Originally Posted by mozzarate54

What would you say the problem would be then? I adjusted the trust rod and put a new bridge in but the note still cuts off but only when I bend or pick pass the 15fret .

Pretty sure he's talking about the fretboard radius. The "rounder" the fretboard radius, the more likely you are to lose a note the higher you bend it.

[mozzarate54]

But my fret board radius is a 7.5

[Progrmr]

Originally Posted by mozzarate54

But my fret board radius is a 7.5

Yes, 7.5 is VERY round (IE NOT flat like a shredder guitar neck) - the more you bend, the more likely you are to lose the note.

[mozzarate54]

Whoa really I thought the higher the number the fatter it got.

[blue metalflake]

My brother in lawa has one of these & I've tried it out.

Its a nice guitar to play, I didn't go that high up the neck or bend that much to notice any problems. Sounds more or less as expected, but nothing special. Didn't really get the multi effect switch - theres a few interesting sounds in there though.

It seemed well finished but didn't really seem great value for money.

[Progrmr]

Originally Posted by mozzarate54

Whoa really I thought the higher the number the fatter it got.

Not fatter - rounder from high E to Low E. And just the opposite - the higher the number, the "flatter" the fretboard is.

take a look at this picture on the Ibanez web site - "Neck Dimensions" shows what "radius" represents:

http://www.ibanez.com/ElectricGuitars/model-S1XXV

Also notice the radius for this guitar - widely accepted as one of the most shredder oriented guitars available. 400mm - or ~15.75"...higher number = flatter fretboard.

[umasstele]

The 2 output jacks is to run the guitar in stereo...you can then run the neck pickup and bridge pickup off of 2 different channels, or amps, I never tried it on mine to be honest.

The gold hardware on my Lucille tarnished big time, and that bridge? I thought it was dumb and un-necessary, plus made re-stringing a hassle. I replaced it with a gotoh stop tailpiece.


If I were the OP, I'd save the cash and go for an epiphone Es-335 or DOT...or an epiphone ES-355, saw one of those in person and was impressed