As a bass player, my bass guitar is very important to me. Whenever I feel happy, sad, angry or hopeless I pick up my bass and know that after playing it, I will feel better. You could say that I have a certain bond with my instrument, albeit an emotional one, or maybe even platonic. Besides having a bond with my bass, I notice that I sometimes subjectify it by thinking: "Oh, something sounds off, maybe she is not having her day", while it's actually detuned. Or sometimes I even notice that the sound is different (not detuned in this case) than the day before and I wonder why that is: "How would she be feeling today?". Besides clearly antropomorphizing my bass by projecting feelings and mental states to it, the one thing I have not done yet is given it (or her or him?) a name. This seems like a common practice in subjectyfing objects, for instance naming stuffed animals, boats, and yes, as you can see, instruments.

Lucy, Lucille and Cloud are the infamous guitars by George Harrisson (The Beatles), B.B. King and Prince. Lucy is the red Gibson Les Paul guitar who George got from Eric Clapton as a gift. The guitar was names after red-headed Lucille Ball, a well known comedian. Lucille is the name B.B. King gave to his guitars. Usually they were black Gibsons ES-335. Another example is Cloud. This is the snow-white, voluptuously curvy, custom-built guitar of Prince. The guitar was made by Knut Koupée.

Since I love one of the stories (yes, there are more) behind the name Lucille, I will not spare you the story. As legend has it, King was performing in a nightclub in 1949 when the building caught fire. Everyone rushed out of the club to seek safety from the flames, but when King realized he left his guitar inside he immediately went back in after it. Pushing through the smoke he found his instrument and made his way back outside. He later learned what caused the fire: two men fighting over a woman, Lucille. King named that guitar Lucille to remember this incident and to remind himself to never fight over a woman or make the mistake of running back into a burning building again.

Whenever musicians name their instruments, there is something special about that bond that musicians have with their instruments. Whether it's about the look, the feel or the sound, instruments are objects that deeply resonate with humans and their characteristics. I think by giving your instrument a name, it represents a personality, emotionality and, to some extent, vulnerability. Lots of professional musicians order an extra plane ticket for their beloved objects, to be able to protect them and not lose them over the trip. Another reason for naming your instrument is that ames may help us delineate between personal and community property. This way, the guitar you play is not just a guitar but it's your guitar which is a big difference. It might even make your instrument more valuable then other instruments that haven't been named.

Another reason to name objects is because people feel lonely. In a study by psychologists, Epley (2008) notes that people who lack social connections may try to compensate by forming connections to animals and nonhuman objects. King also portrays this in the lyrics of the song about his guitar Lucille:

If I have a girlfriend

And she misuses me, and I go home at night

Maybe I'm lonely

Well not maybe

I am lonely

I pick up Lucille

- B.B. King