The Collings Forum

Did Mr.Collings sign each label on every guitar, or did this stop at some point as production grew? I am looking at a 2016 D2H Trad. that appears to have a signature on the label.

I believe he signed all acoustic labels while he was alive.

Mr Collings died in July 2017, it is very probable that he signed that label.

over the years, that question has come up. and members (at least on the old forum), from time to time, would say that their label was not signed. Bill missed a few, i guess.

I have an OM2 MRAT (madagascar rosewood adirondack traditional) that the dealer received from the factory the week of Bill's death. It does not have his signature. My sense (guess) is he likely stopped signing labels within a month prior to his death...just a guess. I too have heard that from time to time over the years a few guitars shipped out of the factory without his signature. There are also some labels that he did sign but his signature is difficult to see by the untrained eye.

Buck

buckaroo wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 6:22 pm There are also some labels that he did sign but his signature is difficult to see by the untrained eye.

This caused me to inspect the sound hole on my C-10. I think my wife thought I was crazy but I did find the signature. The design of the logo on the label and the stark black/white really does make the sig hard to see. But its there. BTW...my guitar is a 2011 model.

Glad you looked close. Many can be hard to read. You have to know what to look for too! I read somewhere a few years ago that the ink in the pens Bill used to sign the labels ages differently than the logo ink printed onto the labels. I dunno if that is true but it sounds logical...

Buck

It's funny how it has been 11 years since I got my first Collings, and I was asking questions like mad on the OldCollingsForum, and Dadthrash ( Bless that man's heart. After ALL his patience, over and over, he helped me to understand about these amazing guitars) would dispense wisdom to many of us there.
After all these years, I now I know a bit, and can somewhat answer this question.

According to OldCollingsForum, Bill signed every label that came across his desk. But, when he went on holidays, he would sign extra labels so there would be a carefully measured surplus while he was gone. It apparently happened on several occasions that guitar production exceeded the signed labels, and those guitars still had to ship. So there are several axes that shipped over the years that did not have his signature.