Guitar and pickguard owned by B.B. King
date: label: Date
content: 1962-1963
name: label: Manufactured by
content: Gibson Guitar Corp., American, founded 1894
label: Owned by
content: B.B. King, American, 1925 - 2015
notes: label: Description
content: 2019.83.1a: An electric guitar owned by B. B. King. The guitar is colored with a dark sunburst pattern and has a black colored neck. The neck has mother of pearl frets. The head of the guitar has three brass tuners on each side. “Gibson” is written in gold text at the top of the head. The bottom of the head has “CUSTOM” written vertically inside a white, bell-shaped border. Written in gold lettering on the back of the head is “61221.” The guitar has a sound hole on each side of the pickups and strings. The guitar also has five volume and tone controls on the left side of the lower front body. A pickup switch is located on the left side of the body near the neck of the guitar. The tailpiece of the guitar is made of brass and extends to the bottom of the guitar. The tailpiece is decorated with a jagged line etched along its surface. Etched at the top of the tailpiece is “SUPER 400.” A Strap button is attached to the bottom of the tailpiece. Another strap button is located on the left side of the body of the guitar near the neck. A paper tag is attached to the head of the guitar. The tag features a color image of B. B. King playing a guitar. Text on the tag reads “PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF / B. B. KING,” “Photo: Janet Macoska” and “September 21, 2019 / Beverly Hills, CA.”
label: Description
content: 2019.83.1b: a pickguard for 2019.83.1a. The guard has a brownish red pattern with a small white border. The back of the guard is black. The guard has a metal pin embedded in it in the top left corner.
place: label: Place made
content: Tennessee, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Blues (Music)
label: Topic
content: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
label: Topic
content: Rhythm and blues (Music)
label: Topic
content: Rock and roll (Music)
label: Topic
content: Singers (Musicians)
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Musical Instruments
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2019.83.1ab
objectType: label: Type
content: guitars
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Unknown – Restrictions Possible
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: wood, metal, mother of pearl
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (2019.83.1a): 41 3/4 × 16 15/16 × 4 15/16 in. (106 × 43 × 12.5 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (2019.83.1b): 6 7/8 × 4 1/8 in. (17.5 × 10.5 cm)