Guitaripedia

Every guitar has a story.

Gibson

ES-355

B.B. King ran into a burning dance hall to save a guitar. Every Gibson after it was Lucille too.

Twist, Arkansas. A dance on a cold night, a barrel of kerosene burning for heat, and two men fighting over a woman. The barrel goes over and the hall catches fire. A young B.B. King gets out, realizes he’s left his guitar inside, and goes back in for it.

Introduced
1958
Type
Thinline semi-hollow electric
Class
Production
Read the story · 3 min

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Noel Gallagher playing a cherry Gibson ES-355 with Bigsby on stage with Oasis, Montreal, 2008
Photo: Anirudh Koul / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0Live stage shot of Noel Gallagher with a cherry Gibson ES-355 (block inlays, Bigsby). Not an isolation catalog still.

The short version

  1. 1958

    Ten guitars

    The first 355s ship late in the year. All ten are mono.

  2. 1959

    Stereo and Varitone

    The ES-355TD-SV adds stereo wiring and a six-position tone selector.

  3. 1964

    Live at the Regal

    B.B. King’s famous live record. The guitar was most likely a custom 335, not a 355.

  4. 1969

    The Thrill Is Gone

    King records it on a 355-era Lucille. Or 1970, depending who you ask.

  5. 1976

    Whitey

    Alex Lifeson gets a custom Alpine White 355 that stays with him for decades.

  6. 1980

    Lucille, the model

    A B.B. King signature prototype, with no f-holes. Production comes in 1981.

  7. 1982

    Replaced

    The regular 355 gives way to the B.B. King model. Or 1984, by some counts.

  8. 1984

    Marr’s

    Johnny Marr buys a cherry 355 on 2 January.

Side A

A1

Back into the fire

B.B. King got out of that burning dance hall in Twist, Arkansas, and then went back in for his guitar, a Gibson L-30. He got it. When he found out what the fight had been about, a woman named Lucille, he gave the guitar her name, as a reminder never to do anything that foolish again.

That was years before the ES-355 existed. But the name stuck. Every time King got a new Gibson, it became Lucille.

The name stayed put. The guitars changed underneath it.

Most people, when they say “Lucille,” picture a black Gibson with gold hardware and a fancy headstock. That guitar is the ES-355.

A2

Plain, deluxe, fanciest

Gibson made three versions of the same semi-hollow body. The ES-335 was the plain one. The ES-345 added stereo and some trim. And the ES-355 got everything. One dealer sums it up:

335 plain, 345 deluxe stereo, 355 fanciest.

Underneath it’s the same thin, double-cut body with a solid maple block down the middle. On top, Gibson laid on all the good stuff: extra binding everywhere, an ebony fingerboard with pearl blocks, a split-diamond inlay on the headstock, and gold hardware. Most had a Bigsby vibrato. A 355 that left the factory with a plain stop tailpiece is very rare, and a Bigsby guitar that’s had one fitted later is not the same thing.

The first ten shipped late in 1958. All mono. People sometimes call those “SV” models. They aren’t, not yet.

A3

Six clicks of Varitone

In 1959 Gibson added a version called the ES-355TD-SV. The S is stereo: each pickup could go to its own amp. The V is Varitone, a six-position knob that cuts out a different slice of the tone at each click. Turn it and the guitar gets thinner, hollower, more nasal. It’s a strange sound, and B.B. King made it part of his voice.

1959 was the only year Gibson shipped more plain mono 355s than stereo ones, 177 to 123. After that, stereo won. From 1958 through 1979 Gibson shipped 5,068 in all, which isn’t much next to the 335.

Flip the record · By the numbers

  • 10

    ES-355s shipped in 1958. Every one mono.

  • 6

    Positions on the Varitone knob, starting in 1959.

  • 5,068

    Shipped from 1958 to 1979, mono and stereo together. The busiest year, 1967, was 405.

  • 16

    Lucilles King said he’d had, by 1996.

Side B

B1

Whitey, the cherry, and the black one

The 355 didn’t stay a blues guitar. Johnny Marr bought a cherry 1959-or-1960 stereo 355 on 2 January 1984, had it rewired to mono, and put it on “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” “Girl Afraid,” and Meat Is Murder. Alex Lifeson had a custom Alpine White one made in 1976. He called it “Whitey,” played it from A Farewell to Kings through Test for Echo, and still had it on stage for Rush’s R40 tour.

Noel Gallagher owned two from around 1960. One became the model for his signature guitar. A different one got smashed backstage at Rock en Seine on 28 August 2009, the night Oasis split. Keith Richards played a 355 on sessions around 1969, and a black 1960 has been a tour regular of his since 1997. Whether that’s the same guitar is another question. Freddie King played one in his last years. Chuck Berry plays a red one in the 1987 film Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll, long after his early hits on a different Gibson.

B2

Sixteen Lucilles

Back to B.B. King. Even his story needs a little care. His famous 1964 record Live at the Regal was probably made on a custom sunburst 335 with a Varitone, not a 355. By the late 1960s he was playing 355s. “The Thrill Is Gone” came in 1969, or 1970, depending who you ask, and you can hear that Varitone honk in it.

In 1980 Gibson built a prototype of a B.B. King signature model, and production started the next year. It was based on the 355, and the big change was one he asked for: no f-holes. It’s the Lucille most people know. Gibson dropped the regular 355 around 1982 (or 1984, by some counts) and let the King model take its place. By 1996 King said there had been sixteen Lucilles.

So there isn’t one Lucille. There never was. There’s a name, first given to a guitar he wouldn’t leave behind in a fire, and a man who kept handing it on to the next guitar, and the next.

Put this on

You’ve read about it. Now hear it. Here’s what this guitar sounds like, and what to listen for.

  1. B.B. King · 1969

    The Thrill Is Gone

    From Completely Well, with a 355-era Lucille. Listen for the nasal “honk” in the tone. That’s the Varitone, a 355 feature a stock 335 doesn’t have.

    Find it on YouTube

  2. The Smiths · 1984

    Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now

    Johnny Marr’s cherry 355, bought that January and rewired to mono. Bright, chiming, and nothing like the blues.

    Find it on YouTube

The cast

The people, and the specific guitars, that made the legend.

  • 1960s

    B.B. King

    Lucille, an ES-355

    The name went to guitar after guitar. The one people picture is a black 355 with a Varitone. His signature model dropped the f-holes.

  • 1984

    Johnny Marr

    Cherry ES-355TD-SV, 1959 or 1960

    Bought 2 January 1984. On “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” “Girl Afraid,” and Meat Is Murder.

  • 1977

    Alex Lifeson

    “Whitey,” a 1976 Alpine White 355

    From A Farewell to Kings through Test for Echo, and on stage through the R40 tour.

  • late 1990s

    Noel Gallagher

    Two ES-355s from around 1960

    One became the model for his signature guitar. A different one got smashed at Rock en Seine in 2009.

  • 1997

    Keith Richards

    Black 1960 ES-355

    A tour staple from 1997 on. He first used a 355 around the Sticky Fingers and Exile sessions; it isn’t settled that it was this one.

  • 1973–76

    Freddie King

    ES-355

    His guitar in his last years. Earlier, he played a goldtop and then a 345.

Liner notes

Specs, construction, rarity, value, and every source we used.

The top of the 3x5 — bound ebony, pearl blocks, split-diamond, gold, Bigsby typical; not a 335, not a 345, and not Lucille without f-holes.

Body
Double-cut thinline. Laminated maple; maple center block; hollow wings. 16 in × 19 in × 1 3/4 in. Multiple-bound top, triple-bound back. F-holes. Semi-hollow.
Neck
Set mahogany; 5-piece split-diamond peghead; bound headstock. Join 19th (guitarhq); VG&B 19th 1958–62 / 20th after.
Fingerboard
Bound ebony; 22 frets; pearl blocks.
Scale
24.75 in / 628.65 mm
Pickups
Two humbuckers (PAF earliest; patent-number ~1962–63 family drift).
Hardware
Gold. ABR-1 Tune-o-matic; Bigsby typical; factory stop very rare. Grover Rotomatics (1959).
Electronics
Two harnesses, one body. ES-355TD: 2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way, mono. ES-355TD-SV: stereo + six-position Varitone (from 1959).
Finish
Nitro. Cherry at intro; sunburst/natural 1960; walnut 1969.
Open the full research fileConstruction details, the complete player record, production numbers, dated value estimates, and sources

Vintage Kalamazoo deluxe 355. Current Custom Shop Historic is a reissue — mono, no Varitone, typically stop-bar. No USA Original Collection ES-355 (2026). Varitone/Bigsby 355s are Made to Measure, not the Historic table.

Construction

Kalamazoo, late 1958: 10 shipped, all mono ES-355TD. Official intro 1959. Do not call 1958 355s “SV.” Stereo + six-position Varitone (ES-355TD-SV) from 1959.

Same maple center block as 335/345. Hollow wings. Not an ES-330 (fully hollow, no block, P-90s). Joe’s: “335 plain, 345 deluxe stereo, 355 fanciest.” 345 = split parallelograms on rosewood. 355 = bound ebony, pearl blocks, extra binding, split-diamond peghead, gold. TD vs TD-SV is the encyclopedia trap. Shared deluxe body; different harness. A Y-cable photo is not a model ID vs 345.

Vintage 16" × 19" × 1 3/4", 24 3/4" scale, 22 frets. Neck join 19th (guitarhq). VG&B: 19th 1958–62, 20th after — attribute; count the guitar.

F-holes: guitarhq 1959 unbound. VG&B 1970 catalog SV: bound. Year of change not pinned. Edgewater “bound from 1958” conflicts — do not flatten.

Gold. Tune-o-matic. Bigsby typical; factory stop very rare (inverted vs 335). A stop-tail fitted into Bigsby holes is a fake upgrade. guitarhq: long guard 1958–59, short 1960; 1961 sideways vibrato, mono much rarer; 1963 lyre vibrato and gold Klusons; 1969 Bigsby again. VG&B: TP-6 from 1979/80; brief 1980 ES-355TDS/79 (stereo, no Varitone).

Discontinue: prefer VG&B/guitarhq 1982 (superseded by the B.B. King Custom). Wikipedia 1958–1984. MusicRadar TD 1970 / TDSV 1982. Do not force one last year.

Current 2026: No USA Original Collection ES-355. Custom Shop Historic only. Reissues ≠ Kalamazoo.

Players

Carlton, Big Red, and Clapton’s 1964 cherry stay on the 335. Freddie’s mid-60s / Getting Ready 345s, Howe’s Close to the Edge, and the Back to the Future cherry stay on the 345. Wes stays L-5 CES. Do not upgrade Otis Rush from a Guitar Player list.

B.B. King — Lucille is 355-based. Name from the Twist, Arkansas, L-30 fire, then successive Gibsons. The public guitar and the signature are ES-355 (often ES-355TD-SV): typically black later, Varitone, and — on the signature — no f-holes. Live at the Regal (November 1964) is likely a custom sunburst 335 with 345-style Varitone/stereo (Bacon) — not a 355. Later-1960s 355; 1969 endorsement. “The Thrill Is Gone” recorded 1969 (Completely Well); Guitar Interactive cites Varitone “honk” on a 355-era Lucille. Wikipedia Lucille lead dates the track 1970 — flag. Signature 1980 vs 1981 flagged (Bacon: production during 1981; prototype summer 1980). Many Lucilles; King said 16 by 1996. No single “the” Lucille.

Freddie King. Hide Away = goldtop. Mid-60s / Getting Ready = 345. 1973–76 = 355 last years.

Chuck Berry. Maybellene / Johnny B. Goode = ES-350T. Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll (1987) red 355 is later. Do not pin post-1962 Chess to a sibling.

Johnny Marr — cherry TDSV, 1959–60 (A 32530; year flagged). Bought 2 January 1984 (Seymour Stein / We Buy Guitars). “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” “Girl Afraid,” Meat Is Murder. Rewired mono.

Noel Gallagher — two ~1960 355s. Number-one (late-1990s/1997) is the signature source. Rock en Seine smash 28 August 2009 is a different 355. Do not write “the Oasis 355.”

Alex Lifeson, “Whitey” — 1976 Alpine White ES-355TD, custom Kalamazoo. A Farewell to Kings through Test for Echo; onstage through R40. His tobacco 335 is not Whitey.

Keith Richards’ black 1960. First 355 use 1969 (Sticky Fingers / Exile sessions) is not automatically the 1997-on tour staple. Not Micawber. Factory black mono is a rarity claim, not a sessionography.

Rarity

Factory shipping (Meiners), not production counts. 1958–69 combined 3,016. Mono 1958–70: 1,343. SV 1959–79: 3,725. Combined 1958–79: 5,068. 1959 is the only year mono outships SV (177 vs 123). Combined peak 1967 (405) — small next to 335 volume, not Flying-V small. 1980–82 unpublished.

1958: 10, all mono. guitarhq: stop-tail examples very rare. Gelber: logbook shows at least four stop-tails in 1959; he knew about a dozen to 15 1958–64. Bigsby is period-correct. A filled-hole “upgrade” is a fake. Current Historics are Nashville Custom reissues, not a 1959 ledger.

Value

Informal estimate, 25 August 2026. Not an appraisal.

Asks ≠ solds. Reverb vintage sold-median blocked this pass. Joe’s July 2026 ranges are asks. A same-year 335 outvalues the fancier 355. Do not average Whitey, Richards, or King lots into model bands.

New / reissue. Custom Shop 1959 Historic VOS stop-bar $6,999. Murphy Lab ~$7,499–$8,700. Used Historic ~$4,500–$6,000 (reissue). Lucille Legacy $7,999 — signature, outside catalog ranges. Richards Collector’s Edition $19,999 / $29,999 — artist limited, outside.

Norlin player. Working ask ~$6,000–$9,000.

Vintage. Joe’s July 2026 asks: 1959 mono cherry factory Bigsby ~$30,000–$45,000; factory mono stop-tail $45,000–$60,000+; 1959 SV ~$22,000–$38,000 (SV −15–30% vs equivalent mono). Edgewater 1958–62 PAF $25,000–$50,000 dealer-comp — does not split mono/SV. Named asks: Certified Vintage 1959 and 1960 SV $34,999. Gelber: a clean mono 1959 can command $40,000. Forum: a 1960 PAF auction sold $22,000 (configuration unspecified). Olivia’s 1961 TDN $85,900 ask is a rare-finish ask, not a median. Working sold-direction for clean PAF Bigsby 1959–61: low $20ks to mid-$40ks.

See also

  • gibson-es-335 — the plain sibling; Carlton, Big Red, and Clapton’s 1964 cherry live there; Lucille lives here
  • gibson-es-345 — the middle sibling; Freddie’s mid-60s 345s and Howe’s Close to the Edge live there
  • gibson-es-295 — gold ES-175-platform hollow; Scotty’s first Elvis guitar, not Lucille

Sources

Guitars this one gets compared to, confused with, or descended from.