Sometimes you can hit at a pawn shop on interesting things. In October 2009, Eric Dahl found in a pawn shop in Las Vegas guitar that was owned by BB King.
When Dahl, who is a collector of guitars, realized that this guitar is Prototype I made by Gibson for B.B.King, then he contacted the Gibson representative to find out more about this instrument.
He heard then that the guitar was stolen in the summer of 2009.
This guitar originally was given to B.B. King as a present on his 80th birthday in 2005 and was used by him as a main guitar during performances.
Photo source: Gibson B.B. King Lucille Electric Guitar Ebony
Eric Dahl decided to return the guitar to its rightful owner. This took place during a special meeting at which the Dahl received from BB King’s new Gibson guitar autographed by the musician.
But story does not stop here. Eric Dahl decided to write a book about guitars used by BB King throughout his career.
After three years of research, richly illustrated book titled “BB King’s Lucille And The Loves Before Her” has been published. It contains the history of each guitar used by B.B. King, with color photographs and detailed information. [Source]
“B.B. King s Lucille and the Loves Before Her” also pulls together a great deal of previously scattered facts, anecdotes, and information on the creation of the Gibson Signature Lucille model, a variety of guitars from 1937 to today, and a number of musicians, luthiers, and artists, who became a part of B.B. King’s story.
You can find this book on Amazon.com