The Thrill Is Gone Amp Settings
by B.B. King
The Thrill Is Gone is B.B. King at his most elegant. His tone — Lucille (an ES-355) through a clean Fender Twin Reverb — is warm, round, and impossibly smooth. Every note drips with emotion through his trademark hummingbird vibrato.
What Makes This Tone Iconic
B.B. King's tone is the purest expression of 'less is more' in guitar. A clean amp, no pedals, and a semi-hollow guitar create a warm, vocal tone that's all about touch and phrasing. His 'hummingbird vibrato' — a rapid, controlled flutter of the fretting finger — gives every note a singing quality. He never plays chords, never plays fast, and never needs to. The tone is the emotion.
Key Tone Elements
- Fender Twin Reverb — clean, loud, and articulate
- Gibson ES-355 'Lucille' — semi-hollow warmth with humbuckers
- No pedals — guitar straight into a clean amp
- Hummingbird vibrato — rapid, light finger vibrato
- Single-note phrasing with space between notes
Original Recording Settings
Original Gear
- Guitar
- Gibson ES-355 ('Lucille')
- Pickups
- Gibson humbuckers (neck)
- Amplifier
- Fender Twin Reverb (studio) / Lab Series L5
- Channel
- Clean
- Tuning
- standard
- Pickup Selector
- neck
- Strings
- 0.010-0.044
B.B. preferred clean amps. Distortion purely from touch and dynamics.
Amp Settings
Effects Chain
Playing Technique
Single-note lead lines only - never played chords. Signature 'butterfly vibrato'. Light to medium pick attack. Call-and-response with vocals.
Sources+
- Guitar World: B.B. King interviews
- Equipboard.com - B.B. King
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