Gibson B.B. King Lucille Limited

I bought this instrument over the
internet at Mars music for $2099

Pros: Nice case, beautiful guitar..

(This is the e-mail I sent to Gibson on the day I recieved Lucille)
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 6:36 PM
To: Customer Relations
Subject: QUALITY

I just recieved my new Gibson Lucille from Mars music via the internet. The nut is too high or something and there is
an intonation problem. So far everything else seems to be working. Word is getting around that Gibson is selling defective products. I highly recommend increasing quality control and quality assurance before Gibson is relegated to 2nd place. There are beaucoup guitar companies making excellent instruments and competition is stiff. Whenever I spend a couple of thousand bucks for a guitar I expect one that works perfectly in every way. Now I think I will return Lucille to Mars and start shopping for another guitar. If I wanted to go through the hassle of warranties I would have bought a #$%^&@! (God forbid!)... What are you gonna do??

(Gibsons response)

"Gibson has a general set up at the factory. The dealer does a final setup at the time of purchase. This is done due to personal preference in the action. The intonation should be adjusted each time the strings are changed. Intonation can actually change in shipping due to climate changes. There are excellent Gibson warranty service centers in Houston that can do the final setup on the guitar.
Hope this helps, thank you for the inquiry."


This is total crap. Guitars are not sold without the grooves in the nut so that the dealer can cut them.
When a product ships from the factory it should be ready to use immediately. $2100 bucks is alot of money to spend for any guitar. We buy Gibson just so we wont have quality problems. Orville Gibson would roll over in his grave if he could read all the bad reviews that Gibson electrics are getting for quality. I have a Gibson L-130 (acoustic) that was made in Montana. The Montana guys need to give the Nashville folks a lesson in craftsmanship.


Cons: Read on....

Bottom Line: I have an Epiphone Sheraton 2 that smokes Lucille in appearance, playability, and sound quality. I don't recommend buying Lucille. I'm returning mine to Mars...

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com