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.

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.”

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. He didn’t use this until slightly later in his career, however he did use it extensively on a number of records, including In Session–the album he recorded with Stevie Ray Vaughan. Albert has lived in Gravesend for more than 50 years, and will launch his latest work together with his owner and author Ian Brown at Waterstones in Bluewater. Author Ian Brown and his tortoise Albert, who is the inspiration behind Mr Brown's book series. Picture: Ian Brown

I like this book, I like the drawings and I like the man who wrote it. I like tortoises. What's not to like?' – Jeremy Clarkson This list needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sourcesin this list. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Luthier Dan Erlewine, who made King one of the Flying V guitars that he played throughout his career, had a few occasions to witness the Velvet Bulldozer in high dudgeon.a b c d "Albert King | Memphis Music Hall of Fame". memphismusichalloffame.com . Retrieved October 19, 2019.