What tattoo to get next?


Hi there,

I wanna get a tat that reflects my interest in music and/or all things audio. Probably get it done my left shoulder. I have several ideas already in mind..

- Cover of Elton John's "Live in Australia"
- Cover of Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms"
- Cover of Supertramp's "Even in the Quietest Moments"
- a Saxaphone
- An Oracle Delphi Mark V turntable (any help pointing me to pics on the web I can grab would be appreciated, didn't have much luck so far).

Anything else come to mind folks? Thanks, Jeff
jeffloistarca
Jeff don't do it! Or else get something classic that will never be out of style, like a heart that reads "Mom".
Leave your body alone ... hasn't your mind suffered enough with all this audio stuff : -) Actually, what made me shy away from tattoos 25 years ago ... was not being able to identify something that I might still like by the time I reached middle age (I'm 46 now). And I guess it worked out for the best ... because I still like Neil Diamond and bicycles.

Regards, Rich
I realize that tats are popular with many younger people, although I utterly fail to understand why (ditto for body piercing...). I agree, however, with Rich that if you are absolutely set on getting a tattoo, choose one that will still be meaningful to you in 25 years. Hence, rather than choose a musical group, how about something like a musical score, with an F-clef and maybe 8-10 notes from a song or tune that you like?
Okay if you're a true audiophile it means you can't leave well alone. So if you get a tat, you'll begin to like it for some reason, then you'll come up with better ideas for more tats, more places and pretty soon (just like the search for the perfect cable) you'll keep getting tats searching for the "perfect" one. Soon you will have run out of body spaces for more tattoos and you'll be dragging your friends into it and..........it just goes on and on for the true audiophile whether it's audio gear, tattoos, tools, women, etc.
All I had to see were the old men who got tattooed circa WW2. Those things look like the USDA stamp on raw beef now. The thought of all the young girls turning 60 with tattoed sleeves on arms that will eventually look like turkey necks is frightening.
I agree with pretty much all the posts so far.

1) Don't do it.
2) If you must do it, do it right, and get something classy.
3) Don't do it.
4) If you must do it, I suggest either the Pink Floyd cover to Dark Side of the Moon. (That would be impressive!)
or
The Beatles Sgt. Peppers cover. (This would also be impressive. It would also hurt like a SOB, as it would take about a week of solid tattooing.)

Good Luck! Oh yeah, Don't do it!

PS Can you explain, to the rest of us, the attraction of getting a tattoo or a body piercing? The whole idea of it is so utterly alien to me, that I just can't fathom why anyone, other than a drunken sailor, would do it. Thanks!
How about a tatoo of stylus tracking pressure, speaker dispersion, or some digital jitter. They are all very subdued and will go with anything you wear.

They all stay within the music/stereo theme.
jeff,dont listen to em man,do what you like!get the tattoo that you like!tattoos arent for everybody but neither is hifi,i have a tattoo covering my back of the judas priest album jugulator,i dont care for the music but i liked the tattoo.

one thing to keep in mind when gettin a tattoo is if you ever grow tired of the way it looks its much easier to get a cover up if you keep the color around 50% or less.

mt10425 is correct when he says that you will want more,if you like what you get you will continue,i know, i started with 1 tattoo & ended up with both arms sleeved out & my total back covered but im ok with it.

kurt tank, when you can sucessfully explain your love for hifi to your non hifi friends ill explain the love for tattoos to ya,its a matter of what ya like.
Hey guys,

This is turning into a fun thread. I already have a tattoo on my right shoulder, it's a very tasteful (and simple) flag fluttering in the wind. Shoulders and backs are great places to get some artwork done; tats are something you do for yourself and I like the fact that 99% of the time I'm the only one who even knows I have a tat. Dark Side of the Moon is a novel idea, I may consider that one as well but my only concern is becoming a total jazz or classical nut in my later years and wondering why I have a rock album tattooed on me. I'd love to get a turntable done, any ideas where I can find some good pics of an Oracle Delphi V? Any other novel ideas? Cheers, Jeff
jeff,

if you are truly meant to have a tat, wouldn't it already be obvious which one to get? it seems a little silly to ask strangers on an internet forum for advice in this area!
Ketchup, what are you saying? We are the most knowledgable group regarding any topic. Just ask us:-)))
We're all interested in music and the gear that makes it come to life, asking your opinion as to what musical/audiophile tat to consider seems appropriate to me. I also have a kinship with a lot of folks on the 'Gon, asking friends isn't a bad idea. It's a rest-of-your-life decision so I want to make sure I get the right tat done. Art for art's sake? Yeah! Best, Jeff
What's the fuss over tats for anyway, be original get a brand! That's right shape some metal and put it on something hot and stick it to your body part. I have a medicine wheel branded on my bicep, did it after my first sweat-lodge. At least get something rememorable. I bet you could get a saxophone branded on your arm. Now that would be COOL! Or extremely HOT!(then what ever happenend to mind over matter);)-~
Skip the tat and get your tongue pierced. Then call Peter at Symposium and have him whip you up a custom stud made with a grade 3 bearing for your tongue.

Your significant other will grow tired of looking at your shoulder. She will NEVER grow tired of your Symposium.

You can also easily remove it when you return to the 9 to 5 professional world.

DISCLAMIER. I have no affilation with Symposium, I am only a
very satisfied customer, so is my wife.

HTH Dave
If you havta do it: A Western Electric 300B tube OR a tattoo of Reddy Kilowatt
Stones logo would be my suggestion, If you want an Elton cover. Madman or GYBR . I choose to put the Stones Logo Pin on my denim jacket, I also picked up a cool stones logo paper weight on that other site Ebay!
i wouldnt reccomend the stones logo for a tattoo,do you have any idea how many chicks have that tattoo!tons.
I was also thinking of a W.E. 300b. Although non-'philes will think its a lightbulb! Hmm, maybe the making of a secret symbol;~). Not my cup a, but its your body (and they ARE making great advances w/laser surgery!
Get a tattoo of a butt. With a tattoo of a butt on it. On yer butt.

hahahahahahaha

Tat's are great. some people like em, some people dont, if you like em then who cares what everyone else thinks?

I used to do tattoo's on the side while i was in the military. If ya bought me a case of beer, you would get inked. Did probably well over 100 tattoos.

I used my right leg to learn how to do it, covered my whole shin and part of my thigh. It is quite a kalidascope of designs, and all in all im real happy with my legwork.

I had a couple buddys do my shoulders one drunken night. Got the little Einsturzende Neubauten dude on my right arm, and some crap-job tribal on my left.
Know what though? I wont ever get em covered up, cause they dudes who did them were my good buddys, and i might not ever see them again, but i'll always have a piece of em on my shoulders.

Do make sure you want what you get though, and make sure you get what you want. Dont get it at the cheapest place, cause there is a reason it dont cost much. An extra couple hundred bucks will be well spent.

On the other hand, if you wanna come to denver and buy me a case of beer, ill give ya some ink, and to keep yer mind off the pain you we can jam out some music on my crappy rickity rig! That is pretty painful as it is!

hahahaha!
how about a tatoo of Mark Levinson and Kim Catrall locked in embrace..........before the honeymoon ended
I can't recall the DVD title, but we just watched a collection of short documentary films. One of them was of a guy who was tatoo'd and pierced from head to toe with a bit of skin showing here and there. He was on his way to get the next ultimate form of body-art as a personal expression of his unique self. The meeting between him and the artist was clearly a secrative one, in a garage-like environment not unlike the hideout in Reservoir Dogs. Are you ready for the new form of body art folks? They guy paid him $500.00 in cash to do this.......anyone have a guess yet? Not branding, nor piercing, nor scarification.......uh-uh, no sir! This guy paid $500 to someone to shoot him! Yes, with a gun. He chose his left shoulder for the wound. Neither my wife nor I cared to watch it any further beyond finding out just what they were doing so I don't know how it turned out. Maybe you hard-core body art folks know more about this.....is it for real? If so, it's just about the stupidest form of 'self-expression' I've ever heard of....just behind that 70's performance artist Chris Burden (is that the correct name?) who had himself crucified to a Volkswagen Beetle. I think he also paid someone to shoot him as well, and filmed the whole thing. The shooting and the crucifying were two seperate events (I assume there was some recovery time between the two). Perhaps you could just put a PassLab X250 on a gold chain and call it a day! You'd sure build up those neck muscles dawg!

Marco
what happens when Oracle comes out the the Delphi Mk VI?

can you upgrade a tatoo?
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Perhaps...like the "bumper stickers are stupid" bumper stickers....:

a... "tattoos are stupid" tattoo is timely?
For the audio theme, a VU meter

For the music theme, the RCA doggie 'Nipper' looking in the phonograph horn.
Reminds me of the old cartoon. Guy looking at his arm where the artist has just finished a large script tatoo, "Born Too Loose."

Maybe better off writing it down?
Hey Jeff,
Why don't you get a pair of elephant ears tattoed on your inner thighs? Tattoos and humor are not mutually exclusive.
I always wanted an Audio Research tatoo, a bit like the Harley guys. Sort of a "live to listen, listen to live" thing. Just a tasteful logo would be fine.

Anyone want to see my tatoo portrait of Richard Vandersteen. I put it in the most appropriate palce I could think of. If I show you, I have to moon you.
Elizabeth had a good idea; I've been looking hard for some sheet music to download on the 'net, seems you have to buy the stuff and wait for delivery. I'm thinking of getting the sax intro to "Your Latest Trick" by Dire Straits. Can anyone point me to a site where I can grab the sheet music gratis?

Then under the sheet music a few words in Chinese: 它是所有关于音乐

Translated in English: "It's all about the music:

Jsonic, if I got elephant ears I really doubt the "trunk" would come even close to scale *L*

Thanks everyone!
Jeff- get a tattoo of an XLR interconnetct cable and run it from your belly button to your ____!

Reminds me of the woman who had a tattoo of John Lennon on one thigh and Paul McCartney on the other thigh. When she showed it to her friend, he didn't recognize either Beatle, but thought the one in the middle with the bad breath had to be Willie Nelson!
LOL Rossta- good to hear from you. What an image! Enough to make the FCC go into cardiac arrest ;~)
second the recommendation of Kurt_tank above of "I suggest either the Pink Floyd cover to Dark Side of the Moon. (That would be impressive.
Jeff,

I'm with Elizabeth on this one, the first thing I thought of was a bar of sheet music.....it’ll look cool, and not be so blatantly obvious to the casual observer...

One other suggestion…I always loved the Crass logo…

FWIW One of the coolest tats I ever saw was a skinhead who had various areas of his arms and legs and shoulders tattooed with mechanical systems showing through ripped off flesh, and on the side of his head a small trap door that was opened and inside where little circuit boards! If you live in the tri state area, phots of him are in Shotzy’s tattoo book (Shotzy is like the god of tattoo’s…runs/publishes tattoo magazine, is the guy every talk show tries to get for there shows on ink….he does charge $350/hour and that was several years ago….likely more now and is located on Rte 23 in Wayne, NJ…my home town!!) but undoubtedly does the best work I’ve ever seen…. Second best I would give to Brad (owner of Iron Age Tattoo and Piercing in St Louis…he did one of my best friends arms for free as long as he would go to all the tat shows, which he won ALL he attended! (Grudge was a skinhead and he had the alien (yes, from the movie) tattooed on his arm climbing up to his next, shredding flesh along the way…very violent, but with so much detail it was scary!)

OK, just to clarify…no I’m not nor was I ever a skinhead….was very big into Punk in the 80’s though…..and had many SH friends…
http://www.santana.com/sights/disc_details.asp?Album_ID=63

The Lion on the Santana album.
http://www.cjnetworks.com/~leis/album/ledzep/zep1.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/078944951X/ref=sib_rdr_zmin/103-9454539-6047809?p=S00E&j=1#reader-page

second site has arrows each side page click and it scrolls
through a 100 album covers.Note the Dead album cover art it has all the elements life death music.
Get a tattoo that says "BOSE" everyone will recogonize it, and they will still be around when we are all gone to audio Heaven. :~)~
oops shouldhave read the responces first. Seems the 300B has allready been mentioned. As they say "great minds...."
if your a tube man would suggest the Telefunken Diamond logo stamped onto the bottom of their tubes
a friend of mine had a great suggestion,how about a set of mcintosh big blue meters.
If you like the blues, get a BB tatoo. Have each B tatooed on each buttock. Just don't bend over when you're undressed, or everyone will want to know who BoB is?
I have a tattoo of a guitar with a bird on the neck on my right shoulder. To me, it reflects the freedom (bird) you can achieve by listening to the music (guitar). It was a custom job, a friend of mine drew it, so it's a one of a kind. I have the thing for 16 years (along with a couple of others on places I won't reveal. No, not there :) )and have no regrets. Oh, and some girls dig tattoos to.....
For me, it'd have to be Homer Simpson saying "D'Oh!" That's pretty much me in a nutshell . . .
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