Sims Custom ShopReviews 135

Okay, so let me say up front... if you want a quality product... it takes time. Sims is NOT going to rush a job and put out a sub-standard product. It has his name on it. So don't send him a guitar your gigging with and expect it back in a month or two. He takes his time and produces phenomenal results.

Now, I bought Tele-style roasted swamp ash body with a black korina laminate top from Warmoth that turned out to be a little too dark after the satin finish was applied. (It wasn't their fault, they said it would darken, it was just too dark for my taste). So I began researching custom paint jobs. I came across Sims Custom Shop online and was blown away with his work. So I called him and we discussed a similar finish to a Les Paul he had on his website. The price was right... the results looked fabulous... so I sent him my body. It took a little longer than I was initially told but hey, painting in Tennessee in the wintertime is challenging. So it took a few more weeks. Like I said earlier... Sims is not going to bubble-wrap a clear coat that is tacky. While I was waiting, I saw him post a YouTube video of a Godin with the custom job I was getting and I saw the head stock. So I had to send him mine neck to get the full on custom job. He fit me into his schedule and completely knocked it out of the park. A simply stunning body and neck was returned to me and I am very happy with his work and my new Tele.

Bottom line... Sims Custom Shop is worth the price and worth the wait... SO BE PATIENT. You will love what you receive!

Shawn C.

Guitar Received By Sims: July 6th 2017
Guitar Returned: February 21-23rd 2018 (in transit)

This will be a fair and honest review on my experience with Sims Custom Shop. I contacted Patrick at Sims Custom Shop to get a special paint job done. A design many people will turn down. Patrick was responsive and very helpful during the planning phase of the project and informed me of his plan of action to get the guitar painted. Payment was made in full per Simss terms. Once Patrick received the guitar and payment it seemed to take a while to get started. No worries here, these things take time. After a few months went by Patrick got my guitar sanded, and painted with amazing results. He provided very detailed pictures showing the work.

However due to unforeseen circumstances, the guitar had to be repainted. A complete start over. Please note this was NOT Simss fault. Bad mixture of paint from the store. However Patrick was very apologetic and very professional handling this issue and ensured that this would be resolved with no extra cost to me. About 2 months later I was able to contact Patrick to find that my guitar has been completed and is ready to ship. Patrick provided me pictures of the final results as well as a tracking number as promised.

My biggest complaint throughout this whole adventure would be communication. There was a lot of times I tried to contact Pat and couldnt get a response. However Pat is a one man show and turns around a lot of guitars every week so to me this wasnt a huge deal. I was more or less impatient. And the long turn around time just goes to show how much hard work he puts in to every single build.

The end results of this project were absolutely stunning. Patrick did a A+ job on the paint job and I can vouch for him and say that his work his top notch. Would love to work with Pat again. Dont let the bad reviews fool you.

Pros:
- Amazing quality of work
- Attention to detail
- Kind and friendly service
- Fair price
- Fast return shipping

Cons
- Turnaround time (unforeseen circumstances)
- Spotty Communication

I contacted Pat in October of 2017 to refinish my warmoth guitar body with one of his custom swirls. The quality of work that was done and the final results exceeded my expectations and I definitely will use Sims custom Shop again. Pat was very clear up front what his abilities were relative to turn-around time and since this job was a swirl, it would definitely take more time to finish due to the nature of the process. He was very up front with ensuring the final quality before it shipped; called me numerous times to keep me up to date & sent many inprocess and final photos before it shipped. He explained the process and what types of paint / cure times would be needed and said he would cut no corners. I gave him a deadline in Feb 2018 that I needed the guitar body back for and he delivered on time. The quality of work done is exceptional; very satisfied!

I was in the market for a custom relic'd Telecaster and started looking around for who I was going to have do it. I stumbled across Sims Custom Shop's website and subsequently their Instagram page and was very impressed by what I saw. I was having a hard time finding someone who could do exactly what I wanted (a custom paint job then have that relic'd (navy blue with vintage white stars & stripes). All the other guys that were doing relic's online were just doing mainly solid colors and were not interested in doing a custom paint scheme, so I contacted Sims with my ideas and after discussing my vision for this guitar I decided to have him do it.

I sent him my MINT 1998 Fender Telecaster to do a custom relic'd paint job on as well as age the hardware and install some Lindy Fralin pickups in it. I was in no hurry to get it back as I was more concerned with the quality of he job than a fast turnaround (I ended up getting the guitar back in about 10 weeks). I would email him every few weeks to get a status update and he was always was prompt to get back to me (sometimes within the hour, sometimes the next day) and sent progress photos anytime I asked.

I got the guitar back right after Christmas and I was blown away by the attention to detail on the paint work, it was really "realistic" looking and didn't look like someone had just done this to it. You would think by looking at this guitar that it was 65 years old. It was exactly what I had envisioned. He also put in new pots, switch, wired in the Lindy Fralin pickups and set it up. It did not need any additional tweaking when I plugged it in, I literally took it that very night to play a gig.

I read some of the reviews posted on this site even prior to sending the guitar, but I decided to take them with a grain of salt and make my own judgement and let me say I'm glad I did. I would not hesitate having him do another one for me.

Do not send money or your product to Patrick. During phone consultation, he touted superior workmanship over others and curbed me from a lacquer job that was insisted upon for my Gibson re-finish. I did not use the friggin' internet to see the previous horror stories. Once you pay & ship the guitar... you are held hostage. I was quoted 15 weeks maximum turn time & Patrick stopped responding to emails & calls at around week 18, which is when my comms were STARTED. I was trying to be patient. Around month five, the excuses began. "I was at NAMM", etc.
Upon researching what county he lived in & getting the local police involved during month eight, which included a visit to his home by local deputy (being I live in south Florida), comms resumed. Imagine that! More excuses followed, with no apologies. Guitar was completed roughly two months after that and returned, with not one display of personal accountability for the extreme delay. Guitar re-fin completed & returned to me in ten months.
Regardless of what appears to be an overall higher cost by other service providers out there... please go ahead and exercise them. This country bumpkin will have your guitar setting in the corner of his shed for a long time. You better have a backup guitar while you wait for him to get out of bed & finish your contracted job!

I experienced the same exact thing with no return emails. Patrick had my guitar for 16 weeks and I don't think I would still not have it back unless I contacted the Better Business Bureau. I actually got him on the phone and told him I was contacting the local police if I didn't get it shipped back within 3 days. I got it back it was painted and cleared and would have looked fantastic but their were marks from the shipping plastic. I had no problem with that because I was happy to get it back but I did pay an additional $37 up front to have it returned in laptop box that was padded so that didn't happen either. The website gives you an impression it's a first class outfit but it is not. Do yourself a favor and hit the pass button. Check out Psychotic Air in Batavia Illinois. I took the guitar there to get the marks from shipping buffed out and when I seen some of their work I was amazed. Mark is a super cool guys and cares about customer service.

Bought a guitar from Patrick SIms in early 2010 & its one of the best playing guitars I've ever played. Very nice attention to detail, fret work was absolutely perfect, paint job was super slick, and it sounds amazing & is perfect for the type of music I play. I still have the guitar & it has become my main guitar. I would have no problems dealing with him again, and plan to order another guitar from him towards the end of the year.