Golden Guitars · Carrollton, Kentucky
Joe Breeck's ebony Gibson Lucille gets careful finish and gold-hardware polishing, fretboard care, polished frets, fresh strings and a full setup.
See before & after photos
Project Story
Black tie. Gold jewelry. A whole lot of blues. Joe Breeck's 2011 Gibson B.B. King “Lucille” brought plenty of presence to the Golden Guitars bench. That ebony finish and gold hardware make quite an entrance, even before the first note.
She arrived in excellent overall condition, with some light finish scratches and swirls, buildup and slight wear on the gold hardware, and frets ready for a good polish. Joe wanted the guitar cleaned and set up. The mission was to give this beauty the care she deserved, then dial her in for more music.
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The ebony finish received a gentle cleaning and hand polish. With an instrument already in excellent condition, careful attention to the surface was the right approach for bringing out its gloss.
The gold hardware received its own polishing session, with attention to the buildup documented during inspection. Careful cleaning and polishing let those gold details stand out again, with the hardware's existing age and wear still part of the guitar's character.
The fretboard was cleaned and conditioned, and the frets received a thorough polish. Those small playing surfaces deserve just as much attention as the big glossy body.
It is the sort of bench work your fingers appreciate: a clean fretboard and freshly polished frets, ready for the next bend, chord or little blues phrase that turns into an hour of playing.
The pots were cleaned and lubricated as part of the service. Joe supplied a fresh set of D'Addario .009–.042 strings, which replaced the tired set already on the guitar.
With the cleaning complete and fresh strings installed, Lucille was ready for the part that brings all the details together: a full setup.
The guitar was set up in E standard, with the action adjusted and intonation checked and set. The goal was a comfortable playing feel with clean notes and room for those expressive bends.
The completed service checks covered tuning and intonation, action and relief, fret buzz and bends, electronics and controls, secure hardware, cleanliness and a final play-test. Every check passed before the job was marked ready for pickup.
The Result
Clean, polished and dialed in, Lucille was ready for her next chapter. The ebony-and-gold combination still has all its class, now with fresh strings, polished frets and a setup to match.
Thank you, Joe Breeck, for trusting Golden Guitars with a guitar that has this much style. A little attention on the bench, and it is back to making the blues.
