The guitars of John Lee Hooker and BB King

Each and every guitar student has any number of awesome players that they like to draw from their styles.

In most cases it is not possible to play like any of the greatest guitarists as there are so many combinations possible when creating sound and tone.

What exactly contributes to the sound and tone of a player is made up of variables such as the type of guitar being used, the style of pickups, the guitars tone and volume settings, the type of guitar strings being played, and of course the amplifier and how it is setup – then also add into this calculation the actual guitarist and how they bend the strings.

Two masters of guitar immediately come to mind when one considers the Blues tradition of guitar playing and those guitarists are John Lee Hooker and BB King.

A particularly awesome guitar that is generally connected to BB King is the Epiphone BB King Lucille electric guitar produced initially by Gibson.

The guitar is an absolutely beautiful piece and has some cool features for varying the tone mid way through a song.

Playing 5 nights a week yet being well into his twilight years in my mind makes BB King one of the penultimate entertainers of the last 50 years.

An inspiration to all us youngsters who continue to plug away at the guitar. What an example for all of us average-joe players out there who imagine themselves being able to perform in the spotlight just that once!

Another wicked guitar for blues players is the Epiphone Sheraton II guitar  as used by John Lee Hooker .

John Lee’s life is the story of blues legends  –  having been raised by poor farmers in the South he lived through some of the harshest times in US history  –  the Depression followed by WWII before landing in postwar Chicago where he worked at Ford during the day and played in clubs at night.

Performing in the movie “The Blues Brothers” was a change from his guitar performances and he then reached international fame with his hit album “The Healer” released in the late 1970’s.

The legend John Lee died in 2001 and he left behind a rich legacy of his particular Delta Blues style.

During the early part of his career John Lee predominantly played acoustic guitar but he went electric in the late 1940’s and began using the Epiphone Sheraton II guitar  in the mid 1960’s.

Replica guitars, being those that are copies of guitars used by past guitar masters are in most cases of superior quality given they carry the name of a great player.

Being the owner of such guitars gives a guitar player an opportunity to get a feel for the tools of the trade that the blues masters used.