Bill collings label signature

[Prossi]

What, if anything, does it mean if bill Collings signature appears to be on the label of a collings acoustic? Did he personally sign them or was the signature computer generated? Does it mean he handled and/or worked On the guitar or just the label or something else?

[Rev Roy]

My understanding is that Bill personally signed all the labels. It wasn’t something special. Though now that he’s gone it’s special to me that my Collings has his sig.

[pto]

personally signed. means a bunch to me, but unsigned is just fine... he handpicked the folks that do the work, and his philosophy and standards continue to be followed to a tee, in my considerable experience (before and since his passing). that said, i do love to see that signature.

[DenverSteve]

My understanding is that Bill personally signed all the labels. It wasn’t something special. Though now that he’s gone it’s special to me that my Collings has his sig.

My understanding, like the OP, and evidenced from my guitars, is that Bill only signed guitars he had a substantial involvement in finishing. Now, my two are from later in his career. He built few guitars over the last years as he had substantial staff (not a boutique operation - it's a factory) while he ran the business.

[Greg Y]

Steve, I'm not absolutely sure of the consistency, but every one of 6 instruments (A D1av, CW braz, D1av shadetop, D1av varnish, MT mandolin, 01avn) I bought from Collings between 2000 and 2015 had Bill's signature on the label. The first two were built in the Signal Hill shop when Bill was still very hands on, and the others in the current shop. I was under the impression that like his name on the headstock, Bill's hand-written signature (with a few exceptions /omissions) was on the labels, regardless of whether he 'worked on' that instrument.

[Hokiebob]

It is my understanding that Bill signed the Labels on all of the guitars. I own a very ordinary D2H built in 2000. It has Bill's signature on the label.

[pto]

when this topic would come up back on the old forum, over all those years, there was the report of an OCCASIONAL instrument whose label was unsigned. until just after his passing, virtually all instruments sported signed labels.

[Kevin]

@pto
That my understanding, too. although admittedly just gained from reading internet comments. To me, it would make sense that Bill would aim to sign every label as this would fit in with his traits of consistency and completion, amongst others. I'm sure that he also like to add a personal touch to every instrument, especially when he was probably less hand-on with the construction as the business grew.

As it seems there are so few unsigned labels, I wonder how things were arranged in practice: did Bill sit down and do a marathon signing session whenever a new batch of labels came in and wade through every one, or did he sign for, say, the next 2 months' anticipated production? I'd assume he'd sign enough to cover production during his planned absences but I wonder if this is where the unsigned labels have come from: there are finished instruments that have to be sent out the door (shipping schedules to be met etc) and the only labels available are unsigned, Bill's away, so they just have to use an unsigned label and get the instruments away.

Sorry if this has turned into a bit of a ramble but I love wondering about some of the finer details of these sorts of things.

[pto]

great questions. another component in a well-oiled machine.