Instruments
King's first instrument was a diddley bow. Next, he built himself a cigar box guitar, and eventually he bought a Guild acoustic guitar. The instrument he is usually associated with is a 1958 Gibson Flying V. In 1974 he began using a Flying V built by Dan Erlewine, and after 1980 he also played one built by Bradley Prokopow.[8]
King was left-handed, but usually played right-handed guitars flipped over upside-down. He used a dropped open tuning, possibly more than one, as reports vary: (C#-G#-B-E-G#-C#) or open E-minor (C-B-E-G-B-E) or open F (C-F-C-F-A-D).[9] He never used the sixth string.[8] Steve Cropper (who played rhythm guitar on many of King's Stax sessions), told Guitar Player magazine that King tuned his guitar to C-B-E-F#-B-E (low to high).[10] The luthier Dan Erlewine said King tuned to C-F-C-F-A-D with light-gauge strings (0.009", 0.012", 0.024" wound, 0.028", 0.038", 0.050"). The lighter-gauge strings were a factor in King's string-bending technique.
For amplification, King used a solid-state Acoustic amplifier, with a speaker cabinet containing two 15-inch speakers and a horn ("which may or may not have been operative"). Later in his career he also used an MXR Phase 90.