I'm listening to a lot of Mott the Hoople currently in my car (bought the new boxed set with mini replica LP sleeve editions of All the Young Dudes, Mott, The Hoople, Drive On and Shouting and Pointing), so my judgement is currently tainted, but I can understand the attraction that bass has. I'm not really into celebrity basses and I don't think they "anoint" the instrument (though it has to be said that Overend Watts was the first bass player who made TBirds, and white ones at that, an integral part of his stage appearance, in the early seventies TBirds in England were few and far between, Glenn Cornick's Wild Turkey wasn't as popular as Mott the Hoople and John Entwistle didn't focus as singlemindedly on TBirds as Overend did), but this thing looks like it has a good story to tell. And other than the extremely flaked off fin, it seems sound and is therefore even playable.
Here's another pic of it:
Let's face it: One day all our nitro finned instruments will look like that unless we keep them in a perfect humidity climate. Nitro wasn't invented to last for centuries. I notice how my former burgundy red EB-2, which had turned to gold when I bought it, is now turning browner every year and the fin is becoming less and less impact resistant too. And, yes, I do even wish that all forum members here be still there to witness when the nitro comes off their beloved instruments in several decades!
Uwe
PS: Maybe if you buy the bass, you get the boots as a freebie? Or did Michael Schenker or Arthur "Killer" Kane nick them off Herr Watts?
PPS: Will Overend Watts play a TBird at the coming MTH reunion shows and if so what shoes to go with it?