These are created with the input of the artists whose tones they aim to recreate. These artists include Robben Ford and Eric Johnson. King used his 1959 Gibson Flying V up until the late 1960s, when he gambled it away in a game of craps. He then replaced it with another very similar Gibson model that was manufactured in the mid 1960s. If in doubt, I would err on the side of playing lighter strings. King’s style is all about big bending and heavy vibrato. So using a light gauge, especially on your top strings, will help. King also enjoyed what’s known as the “lefty advantage” when it comes to bending notes. With the strings’ vertical arrangement flipped, you bend notes on the critical higher-pitched strings by pulling the string downward, which is much easier than pushing upward to execute a bend.

Like most of the early bluesmen, Albert King didn’t have an extensive pedal board. In fact, the only pedal that he is really documented using was the MXR Phase 90. Here I think it makes sense to look at Fender and similarly voiced amps. Not only will they help you to sound like Albert King, they will also help you to get a range of beautiful American blues tones.Stan Levey ( Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Frank Sinatra) right-handed and plays a complete left-handed kit Dave Kilminster (former lefty; originally played left-handed until injury, now exclusively plays right-handed) He had a remarkably wide perspective on the blues as well, crossbreeding more traditional 12-bar forms with everything from sweet Stax soul to big-band balladry.

Albert King was a left handed guitarist. At the time when Albert was learning guitar, left handed guitars were almost non existent, certainly none in production. To compensate, Albert flipped his right handed guitar and played with the thin strings on top. The high E being where the low E traditionally is. The B string being where the A string traditionally is, and so on. It truly provides for an interesting take on the electric guitar. This is because now you are bending the high strings down as opposed to up. According to Dan Erlwine though – the luthier who built King’s Flying V Lucy – King tuned all of his strings down a whole step. He then tuned his low E and A strings down a further whole step. So his guitar was actually tuned to C, F, C, F, A, D. Erlewine recalls King mentioning that it was annoying for him to reach up to adjust his tone or volume. “That was one of the reasons he wanted a lefty,” he explains. “He also wanted his name on the fretboard in pearl and abalone, so it would flash under the lights.” Having said that, if you want to sound like Albert King, I do believe there is a benefit in tuning down a half step to Eb. This is a tuning that a lot of blues players use – including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and more recently, Philip Sayce.Most Influential and Best Blues Guitarists - TheGuitarLesson.com". www.theguitarlesson.com. September 8, 2020 . Retrieved November 16, 2022. At 80 and 60 watts respectively though, you still have the option to push the volume with either the Artist or Stage model if you’re gigging or need more power. updated, Total Guitar editorslast (July 6, 2020). "The 100 greatest guitarists of all time". guitarworld . Retrieved November 16, 2022. For guitarists accustomed to playing in standard, none of these tunings are as intuitive as, say, open G or E. But remember that Albert King was holding a right-handed electric guitar the “wrong” way around. This yields a different perspective on the instrument, one that is, in a way, more in tune with nature, with the low strings closer to the ground and the high strings nearer to the sky. But even upside down, some of King’s open tunings are mighty strange, which also accounts for the unique beauty embodied in some of his phrasing. One of these incendiary Fillmore nights was captured on King’s seminal live album Live Wire/Blues Power. In many ways, King is best understood through his live recordings. The spontaneity and uninhibited abandon of live performance, as compared with studio recordings, seemed particularly suited to the man’s blues muse.