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Do you want your $5k bass signed?

#101
Someone needs to explain to me like I'm 4 years old why I might have made a mistake getting the late great Chris Squire to sign the back of the headstock of my Ric 4001CS Chris Squire Signature Bass.
True, I am hesitant to gig with it now and it doesn't leave the house, but that's what the 15 or so other basses I have in the stable are for.

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#102
Nobody has mentioned Nash yet... not that a Nash bass is even close to $5K, but he sure does use the black sharpie.

Some of the pics that have been posted are very tasteful, and don't bother me a bit.
I'm seriously considering a Nash bass, and I don't love the sharpie thing because it's more of a big black mark rather than a tasteful signature. It's on the back of the headstock, but he also writes the SN on the top of the headstock. The back doesn't bother me as much as the top.

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Funny story... I was with a buddy once in a restaurant and Billy Gibbons was there (like in '98). My buddy thought it would be cool to get him to sign his vintage jean jacket. We get a sharpie from the waitress, and I go over for the ask. Billy not only signs the jacket, but also drew a full size self portrait on the back of the jacket that went from the very bottom up to the shoulders. He had me hold and stretch it at the shoulders while he held the bottom with one hand to make a tight surface and drew with the other. Awesome!! My buddy was not happy. I though it was cool as hell. Not the first time Billy had done that.
 
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#105
hotrodjohn said:
Someone needs to explain to me like I'm 4 years old why I might have made a mistake getting the late great Chris Squire to sign the back of the headstock of my Ric 4001CS Chris Squire Signature Bass.
True, I am hesitant to gig with it now and it doesn't leave the house, but that's what the 15 or so other basses I have in the stable are for.

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#108
I asked Jack Casady to sign the pick guard of my Gold Top. Signed in silver sharpie.
I have since replaced the pick guard and stashed the signed one to frame some day.
Although bass looks better w/o. Now Im thinking of selling the bass, so Im glad the signature stays with me.
Signatures are wierd though. It proves ....Im not sure what, you were in someones presence for a second, or
not even if signed remotely. Memories of hanging with him for six weekends is what its about. Not the signature.
 
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#109
I was in a band, The Reef Aires, back in the Zappa's Joe's Garage tour days. A band in town won the Joe Garage contest for our town. So when the tour rolled through, Zappa showed up at the winning bands practice place that we knew. We went, I didn't have the foresight to bring my bass but, the rhythm guitarist, Mike Rose, did and had his guitar autographed by Zappa on the back. He had it clear coated over to preserve it :)
 
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#111
I had Jeff Berlin sign the back of my Cort Rithimic bass when I went to a clinic he hosted in Glasgow last October. It serves as a permanent reminder of that fantastic experience. It's a bass I will never sell, though since it is Jeff's signature bass, it would make sense to have his signature on the back of the headstock as a personal memento.

It makes a very special instrument to me that bit more special. Jeff is my musical hero.

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Personally I have no problem with a builder signing his work, particularly in a discreet place like the back of the headstock. It is, afterall, their creation.
 
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#117
I avoid emotional involvement/attachment to inanimate objects, well most of them but basses definitely fall in that category. I'll never own a one off or high end piece of functional musical art so it's not something i'll ever have to ponder the pros and cons of.
 
#119
Maxdusty said:
Do you sign your checks and what's the reason for that? You're vouching for the authenticity and validity of what your signature is on.
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Personal cheques have other handwriting so a signature fits in with whatever limited aesthetic value exists in an inherently disposable single-use item. Musical instruments can be authenticated in other ways that don't influence the aesthetics.

Having said that, a builder's signature on the back of the headstock would be fine with me as long as it's in a colour that goes with the rest of the instrument, and actually I would prefer that to a company logo on the front.

The last instrument I bought was made by Chapman Guitars, and has Mr Chapman's signature on the front of the headstock, but of course he didn't personally sign my guitar, they print that on every Chapman guitar. After a lifetime of having been conditioned to expect a company name or logo on the front of the headstock I just see that signature as the logo.
 
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#120
Every Roscoe I have seen (including my 3) have the "Keith B. Roscoe" signature on the headstock; I like it fine.
I feel it neither enhances nor detracts the value - they all have it, so it is not 'special.'
There is no other logo nor badgework, although some have a distinctive 12th-fret inlay.
 

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