# Sims Custom shop in 2021?



## narad (Jul 5, 2021)

So has anyone been following Sims on instagram? I remember the name from circa 2010 when a whole bunch of shit went down, and I think people lost guitars, like had actually sent guitars there and then nothing ever happened. I think I heard there were some people's guitars sold to other people? I forget the details, but it has been a long time and the instagram feed has some really killer stuff on it. Of particular note, there is a Petrucci Picasso-style one done with chameleon and black paint, and looks amazing. I don't know how to share that here but I recommend you check it out.

So I'm kind of considering doing that as a project, maybe on a 7-string j-custom, but I don't know if the old stuff was overblown, if people eventually found an amicable resolution, if we're even talking about the same shop, or the same people doing the work. Just kind of in the dark about whether it's a risky idea.


----------



## narad (Jul 5, 2021)




----------



## KnightBrolaire (Jul 5, 2021)

narad said:


> So has anyone been following Sims on instagram? I remember the name from circa 2010 when a whole bunch of shit went down, and I think people lost guitars, like had actually sent guitars there and then nothing ever happened. I think I heard there were some people's guitars sold to other people? I forget the details, but it has been a long time and the instagram feed has some really killer stuff on it. Of particular note, there is a Petrucci Picasso-style one done with chameleon and black paint, and looks amazing. I don't know how to share that here but I recommend you check it out.
> 
> So I'm kind of considering doing that as a project, maybe on a 7-string j-custom, but I don't know if the old stuff was overblown, if people eventually found an amicable resolution, if we're even talking about the same shop, or the same people doing the work. Just kind of in the dark about whether it's a risky idea.


To be clear, you're talking about the USA based sims and not the UK one(who has not fucked anyone over to my knowledge), right?


----------



## narad (Jul 5, 2021)

KnightBrolaire said:


> To be clear, you're talking about the USA based sims and not the UK one(who has not fucked anyone over to my knowledge), right?



Yea, USA one. I think it's Patrick Sims?


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Jul 6, 2021)

Haven't heard any horror stories in 10+ years, and they seems to do a fair amount of work. 

I suppose it's been long enough, but I'm sure as shit not going to go first.


----------



## pondman (Jul 6, 2021)

Don't go anywhere near that fucking asshole. He's a complete arrogant rip off merchant and banned from most guitar forums.


----------



## SandyRavage (Jul 6, 2021)

Stay far away from that shop and that dude. More than a few people with bad paint work, lost guitars, etc from a decade ago and more than a few hiccups recently.

GMW / Pat Wilkins. The minuscule price difference your going to pay for a flawless job the first time and never have to worry if you’ll never see you guitar again is worth its weight in gold. 

Do not send your guitar to sims.


----------



## c7spheres (Jul 6, 2021)

I got a couple bodys and necks from him back in 2011. Pain in the ass to deal with once the money was transfered. Ghosting etc.. He tried to not deliver by the eta. I told him before hand it was critical to get them on time. 
- He didn't deliver so I started a dispute case (did everything through Paypal specifically because of the reputation, though some people where totally happy and his work looked great). We ended up settling on delivering the goods within a month and $200 back (case not closed until confirmation). 
- I got everything and they're pretty sweet (even for just being blanks). Setting up the contract beforehand and included with payment was key to why I had protection, because otherwise I'd probably be screwed.


----------



## spudmunkey (Jul 6, 2021)

To be clear, none of the Sims that you'll are talking about is Sims Cashion, right?


----------



## c7spheres (Jul 6, 2021)

spudmunkey said:


> To be clear, none of the Sims that you'll are talking about is Sims Cashion, right?


 No, Patrick Sims, unless he changed his name or something.


----------



## pondman (Jul 7, 2021)

https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/threads/sims-custom-shop-paint-job-remorse.91406/

https://www.gretsch-talk.com/threads/sims-custom-shop.63411/

https://www.marshallforum.com/threads/help-sims-custom-painting-in-tn.46859/page-2

Just a few of the many disasters created by Patrik Simms.


----------



## xzyryabx (Jul 7, 2021)

I wouldn't do it man.
Once shady, always shady.
And he was pretty shady.


----------



## budda (Jul 7, 2021)

I didnt catch the issues that were present on my build (Brian Bowes saw it in TO, found some flaws) - my issue was that the 6-string neck had a 7-string nut width that I didnt know about prior to ordering. Due to that and neck dive, I didnt keep the guitar very long.

Havent heard anything lately but I would be hesitant to be the guinea pig, as max said.


----------



## ElysianGuitars (Jul 7, 2021)

My orange RG565 style build was a raw alder Sims body. It had tons of flaws, bad glue joints, lots of stuff I had to fix. I got that body ages ago, and maybe he got better since, but I wouldn't give him the benefit of the doubt, given his history and my personal experience with that RG565 body and other things I've worked on that he's touched.


----------



## c7spheres (Jul 7, 2021)

Here's one of the bodys I had made.

- It's a 3/4" flamed maple top, figured black limba back, and the pickup, bridge, and output jack routes are like on the Petrucci example; Normal/non triangle pickup routes, J-Custom output jack style, Lo Pro route. It's really nice wood.

Check it out; I'm terrible at photos! I tried damping the wood a little so the grain would pop more. There's also some with it dry too. The figuring on the black limba was a surprise.


















That weird grain thing by the top horn on the back is not a chip out or anything. It's just how the wood is. It'll look really nice once finished.


----------



## RevDrucifer (Jul 7, 2021)

Man, I used to follow that mess quite a bit but I stopped about 15 years ago. 

I remember reading lots of stories of people showing up to Patrick’s house with a Sheriff so they could sort through piles of guitars to find theirs. Jemsite was full of stories like that for a long time and I could never understand why people just kept sending him shit.

Then it happened with Livewire guitars, who were doing some really nice looking swirls out of Florida, right where I used to live in Palm Bay. 

Ya know, I’ve got a chunk of change coming my way…maybe I should dump some money into learning how to swirl and make it a little side gig.


----------



## Gain_Junkie93 (Jul 7, 2021)

RevDrucifer said:


> Man, I used to follow that mess quite a bit but I stopped about 15 years ago.
> 
> I remember reading lots of stories of people showing up to Patrick’s house with a Sheriff so they could sort through piles of guitars to find theirs. Jemsite was full of stories like that for a long time and I could never understand why people just kept sending him shit.
> 
> ...



Wow never expected to see Palm Bay mentioned here. I grew up there for 19 years then got the hell away lol. 
It's too bad that so many of these guys get a reputation for awesome quality work and then either their ethics or their quality begins to fade almost immediately. Seems like you either have to pay a premium price or learn to diy.


----------



## ScottThunes1960 (Jul 8, 2021)

I bought and refinished a “too cheap to pass up” Parker that the previous owner probably took a $1000+ loss on after he had Sims paint it House of Kolor Tangerine (“Sims” was gold sharpie’d under the neck pup). I don’t know what his experience was, but the frog tape hadn’t been applied in straight lines, paint was flaking off around the routes, and clear had been sprayed over dust bunnies.


----------



## narad (Jul 8, 2021)

Well the sad news is GMW won't do the finish, but on the other hand, Sims never replied to my email, so I don't really have to consider that one either! lol

Maybe Radical instruments will do it


----------



## possumkiller (Jul 8, 2021)

I haven't heard anything from Mike Sherman in a while. I wonder if it's safe to order from him again?

Something about leopards eating faces? 

"I didn't think he would ever steal _my_ guitar!", says the guy who sent his guitar to the guy who steals guitars.


----------



## possumkiller (Jul 8, 2021)

Seriously, I don't get it. Like how many times do people have to get burned to learn they need to just stay away permanently? 

Stay away from Vik. Stay away from BRJ. Stay away from Sherman. Stay away from Patrick Sims. Stay away from Daemoness. 

Someone only needs to be a lying douchebag once for me to never ever do business with them. Why are people so willing to throw away guitars and money on someone they know for a fact is shady?


----------



## narad (Jul 8, 2021)

possumkiller said:


> Seriously, I don't get it. Like how many times do people have to get burned to learn they need to just stay away permanently?
> 
> Stay away from Vik. Stay away from BRJ. Stay away from Sherman. Stay away from Patrick Sims. Stay away from Daemoness.
> 
> Someone only needs to be a lying douchebag once for me to never ever do business with them. Why are people so willing to throw away guitars and money on someone they know for a fact is shady?



Probably because life isn't a Disney movie where the bad guys dress all in black with slanty eyes and exaggerated costumes. I mean, you just threw Daemoness in there... very debatable. 

In the case of Patrick Sims, I don't want to say that once an asshole = always an asshole. When I started this thread it seemed like the last round of complaints was literally a decade ago. Now with more information, it still seems like it was an awfully long time ago while delivering customer orders regularly for like at least the past 6 years... just that the shitshow way back when sounds a whole lot worse than I imagined.

I'm totally open to the idea that people change, especially on the order of 10+ years, if they've at some point come to terms with their failures, made amends, and have been consistent and reliable for some time since.


----------



## budda (Jul 8, 2021)

Check fb groups, talk to current customers?


----------



## possumkiller (Jul 8, 2021)

narad said:


> Probably because life isn't a Disney movie where the bad guys dress all in black with slanty eyes and exaggerated costumes. I mean, you just threw Daemoness in there... very debatable.


Y u gotta hate on slanty eyes?

This isn't like asking if it's safe to buy (Fender, Gibson, Schecter, ESP, Jackson, Ibanez, etc.) these days because the qc was shitty for a period. This is asking if it's safe to give your money or guitar to a person known to steal those things. 
I mean, it's your money. If you want to be a guinea pig to test whether or not a builder is still shady, go for it. 

How is Daemoness _not_ shady? Dude's got people waiting the better part of a decade for a fucking guitar. What _not_ shady person does that? Anybody that ordered a Vik or BRJ from the same time period still holding out hope of getting their guitar? There's people that waited seven years. That was my entire agonizing eternity of a military career with two rotations in Iraq that lasted a year and another one that lasted fifteen months. The dude seriously adjusts peoples prices for inflation because it takes so long from the time they pay their deposit until it's time to pay it off. That on its own should be enough to warn people. When he said the quiet part out loud about him doing whatever tf he wants because the plebs that buy into his waiting list worship his meticulously cultivated public persona was all the confirmation I needed to steer clear. Not even mentioning the part about sending out fucked up guitars and some bullshit excuses about eye strain or never working on customer guitars to focus on artist guitars (that's a pretty Vik move) and sig models after the long spiel about how he was not going to be doing endorsement deals or que jumping for artists. That's all shady shit.


----------



## narad (Jul 8, 2021)

possumkiller said:


> Y u gotta hate on slanty eyes?
> 
> This isn't like asking if it's safe to buy (Fender, Gibson, Schecter, ESP, Jackson, Ibanez, etc.) these days because the qc was shitty for a period. This is asking if it's safe to give your money or guitar to a person known to steal those things.
> I mean, it's your money. If you want to be a guinea pig to test whether or not a builder is still shady, go for it.
> ...



The guitars taking a long time sucks, and there's definitely more risk in that than in some small-queue builder, but that's not shady IMO, just what happens when you get these high-spec orders and are one guy putting out guitars. He's making 15-20+ guitars a year, right? 

The rest of the stuff, I don't know. I've asked for links / references repeatedly in other threads and no one posts anything apart from their own paraphrases.

But to my knowledge Dylan has never failed to deliver a guitar to someone, sold a guitar to someone else, or processed someone else's order ahead of others on the queue (apart from the artist guitars).


----------



## possumkiller (Jul 8, 2021)

narad said:


> He's making 15-20+ guitars a year, right?


Where are they? Does nobody post any NGD threads or pictures anywhere? The Daemoness NGD threads I have seen this year can be counted on less than one hand. The amount of Damoness NGD threads I have seen in the last ten years could maybe be counted on both hands. Maybe even a couple of toes. But I doubt it. 

There is a NGD thread around here somewhere where the guy got the black and green cimmerian 6 with fucked up finish. It went for many many pages. Somewhere out there are the interactions with Dylan regarding that and his attitude toward customers in the que.


----------



## possumkiller (Jul 8, 2021)

narad said:


> one guy putting out guitars.



How long did he have his apprentice with him specifically to reduce the wait time? Why did his apprentice quit?


----------



## possumkiller (Jul 8, 2021)

narad said:


> But to my knowledge Dylan has never failed to deliver a guitar to someone


By that logic, BRJ and Vik have never failed to deliver a guitar to someone either. It just takes them a really long time to build it. How many years does a customer have to wait before it starts to become a failure?


----------



## possumkiller (Jul 8, 2021)

narad said:


> sold a guitar to someone else, or processed someone else's order ahead of others on the queue (apart from the artist guitars).


Built "in stock" guitars for sale instead of working on customer guitars.
Built guitars for artists ahead of customer guitars in direct contradiction to his own previous statements about not doing artist affiliations or special deals for artists. But you know, money changes people's mind.


----------



## diagrammatiks (Jul 8, 2021)

Off topic

Narad you live in Japan. How hard is it to contact the Japanese boutique custom scene? I’ve seen some fantastic guitars randomly.


----------



## narad (Jul 8, 2021)

diagrammatiks said:


> Off topic
> 
> Narad you live in Japan. How hard is it to contact the Japanese boutique custom scene? I’ve seen some fantastic guitars randomly.



Eh, the guys I have been in touch with are way overpriced. Manual labor stuff is always overpriced - $1k for simple amp maintenance. $1500 quote for retolexing a cab. Wait until you see my $3k refret and refinish horizon in 5 months.


----------



## narad (Jul 8, 2021)

possumkiller said:


> Where are they? Does nobody post any NGD threads or pictures anywhere? The Daemoness NGD threads I have seen this year can be counted on less than one hand. The amount of Damoness NGD threads I have seen in the last ten years could maybe be counted on both hands. Maybe even a couple of toes. But I doubt it.



Instagram mainly. SSO isn't Daemoness HQ since he basically stopped posting here and Misha/Nolly stopped playing there's all the time.



possumkiller said:


> How long did he have his apprentice with him specifically to reduce the wait time? Why did his apprentice quit?




The apprentice wanted to go do something else (biking I think?). Basically that was one point when things slowed. Now not having Barnes around I'm sure only exacerbates the issue.



possumkiller said:


> By that logic, BRJ and Vik have never failed to deliver a guitar to someone either. It just takes them a really long time to build it. How many years does a customer have to wait before it starts to become a failure?



Vik failed to deliver a guitar when he stopped returning the guys emails and moved on to the rest of the queue. As far as I know, apart from artist guitars, people are still being processed in exactly the order they put in deposits, and no one's been skipped. At any point in time you see a guy with a new Daemoness that isn't an artist, you can be sure he was on the list prior to you.



possumkiller said:


> Built "in stock" guitars for sale instead of working on customer guitars.
> Built guitars for artists ahead of customer guitars in direct contradiction to his own previous statements about not doing artist affiliations or special deals for artists. But you know, money changes people's mind.



The only in stock I recall in the last 2 years was one a customer dropped out on. The artists always go before a queue. That would be nonsense if it were not that way. Endorsing Wintersun now... he gets his first guitar in 7 years?? I don't know who expects to get priority over endorsed artists and I don't know a single company that doesn't give their endorsers priority. So it's this sort of "money changes people's minds" stuff, or other kind of insinuation tones, when the artist stuff is totally normal, that makes it hard for me to suss out when people actually have a real issue with Daemoness.


----------



## Randy (Jul 8, 2021)

Conversation strayed and I'm not endorsing Sims but I haven't seen a complaint thread newer than 9 years old yet?


----------



## possumkiller (Jul 8, 2021)

Randy said:


> Conversation strayed and I'm not endorsing Sims but I haven't seen a complaint thread newer than 9 years old yet?


Have their been any recent complaint threads for any of the other shady builders?


----------



## ElysianGuitars (Jul 8, 2021)

https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/simscustomshop.com

https://www.bbb.org/us/tn/ooltewah/...ore/sims-custom-shop-0483-40084361/complaints


There are some current negative reviews here.


----------



## Dumple Stilzkin (Jul 8, 2021)

Not worth the risk considering the amount of other capable people who you know, don’t steal guitars or rip people off.


----------



## AltecGreen (Jul 8, 2021)

narad said:


> Eh, the guys I have been in touch with are way overpriced. Manual labor stuff is always overpriced - $1k for simple amp maintenance. $1500 quote for retolexing a cab. Wait until you see my $3k refret and refinish horizon in 5 months.




I got a quote from Ruina Miyashiro for a guitar and it was like $12k USD. It's a bit crazy. I can get Sago to build me something for under $10K.


----------



## narad (Jul 8, 2021)

AltecGreen said:


> I got a quote from Ruina Miyashiro for a guitar and it was like $12k USD. It's a bit crazy. I can get Sago to build me something for under $10K.



Lol, young guys with a sleek brand, but have barely built any guitars, asking $12k for one is basically the Japanese boutique market in a nutshell.


----------



## RevDrucifer (Jul 11, 2021)

Gain_Junkie93 said:


> Wow never expected to see Palm Bay mentioned here. I grew up there for 19 years then got the hell away lol.
> It's too bad that so many of these guys get a reputation for awesome quality work and then either their ethics or their quality begins to fade almost immediately. Seems like you either have to pay a premium price or learn to diy.



Hahahaha did you feel like the smartest person in the whole city for your duration there? 

I was there for 6 months due to a relationship and I just dreaded every fucking day. I was worked at the Chili’s there and, no joke, saw more mullets on women in my 6 months there than I have on any men in my entire life all together. I grew up in Maine and mudding, camping, outdoors shit is big up there….but man, it felt like some Palm Bay natives were hellbent on making redneck and white trash interchangeable terms.


----------



## narad (Jul 12, 2021)

RevDrucifer said:


> Hahahaha did you feel like the smartest person in the whole city for your duration there?
> 
> I was there for 6 months due to a relationship and I just dreaded every fucking day. I was worked at the Chili’s there and, no joke, saw more mullets on women in my 6 months there than I have on any men in my entire life all together. I grew up in Maine and mudding, camping, outdoors shit is big up there….but man, it felt like some Palm Bay natives were hellbent on making redneck and white trash interchangeable terms.



I spent like 2 weeks partying with my friend who was working at Chili's somewhere in Florida, going out with her whole server crew. You guys go hard... pre-game, then bar 1, then bar 2, then bring booze to an after hours bar until 5am... I was not prepared.


----------



## thrsher (Jul 12, 2021)

i sent him my vik to refinish in like 2017. he has no grasp on timeline quotes. he quoted me 6 months took over a year. his communication is subpar but i was very happy with his end result. if you can accept poor communication and being provided an unrealistic timeline, you are good to go


----------



## narad (Jul 12, 2021)

thrsher said:


> i sent him my vik to refinish in like 2017. he has no grasp on timeline quotes. he quoted me 6 months took over a year. his communication is subpar but i was very happy with his end result. if you can accept poor communication and being provided an unrealistic timeline, you are good to go



Whoa, the glossy burl one?


----------



## thrsher (Jul 12, 2021)

yup, if you scroll through his IG, you should come across it


----------



## GunpointMetal (Jul 12, 2021)

thrsher said:


> if you can accept poor communication and being provided an unrealistic timeline, you are good to go


 These are two things that are completely unacceptable in any business IMO. And I'm the asshole that will pester someone about my project and how much of a discount I'm getting every day after the reported finish date.


----------



## John (Jul 13, 2021)

Not worth the trouble. There's other folks who are reputable in terms of refinishing.
I've dealt with Marty Bell, but he's in semi-retirement by now so he may or may not take in your guitar to refinish. Pat Wilkins and Spongebrick are also good, though I'm not sure if the latter is taking in any outside projects at the moment. He mentioned a lengthy backlog when I asked.




possumkiller said:


> Stay away from BRJ.


He passed away a few months ago, so that won't be an issue anymore.


----------



## possumkiller (Jul 14, 2021)

John said:


> Not worth the trouble.


This x ∞


----------



## RevDrucifer (Jul 15, 2021)

narad said:


> I spent like 2 weeks partying with my friend who was working at Chili's somewhere in Florida, going out with her whole server crew. You guys go hard... pre-game, then bar 1, then bar 2, then bring booze to an after hours bar until 5am... I was not prepared.



That was my life for almost 20 years. That’s why servers are always broke; you go in for 4 hours, make $150, blow it at all at the bar on booze or blow thinking, “I got a shift tomorrow, I’ll make it back” and then it’s rinse and repeat.

The most fun I ever had in all that was when I worked at a TGI Fridays in Ft Lauderdale. There’s a bar directly across the street and we used to have the hosts fill our stations up with guests, get all their orders in, run across the street and do shots and by the time we got back, it was like the perfect time to get them re-fills or get their apps out. We had that system DOWN. Half the managers knew and didn’t give a shit because they were usually getting high with us in the parking lot or right in the restaurant once we closed.

Unfortunately, so many of my friends in that business couldn’t stop partying. Once I hit 30, I was done with it. At 38, I can still do a good 2-4 day bender, but I have so much shit going on at work that I have to make sure I have my staff in place to handle on-call shit because once I decide I’m going on a bender, I’m off to the races.


----------



## RevDrucifer (Jul 15, 2021)

narad said:


> I spent like 2 weeks partying with my friend who was working at Chili's somewhere in Florida, going out with her whole server crew. You guys go hard... pre-game, then bar 1, then bar 2, then bring booze to an after hours bar until 5am... I was not prepared.



And shit, once the Hard Rock opened in Hollywood, we no longer had to go to Andy’s, which was a bar that closed at 7:59AM and opened at 8AM. The Hard Rock is part of Seminole and they’ve got no laws regarding drinking times, so it’s just 24 hour drinking. 

I hate that place now because it just reminds me of how many nights I’d end up there at 7AM with nothing but drunks, gambling addicts and hookers. Those hookers tricked me once, damnit.


----------



## pondman (Jul 15, 2021)

Anyone contemplating giving Patrick Siimms work after reading his full history needs a full check up from the neck up.


----------



## ChrispyFinch (Jul 16, 2021)

My heart sank when I read through this. I have sent Sims a guitar a bit ago to be refinished.
I had only seen positive reviews of the business so I figured it was safe.
Excitement is one hell of a blinding motivator. 
I'll try to keep this updated with my experience as it happens, so only time will tell.

Here's the process thus far:
Got on a call with Patrick to discuss the work order
Signed a work order summary and paid in full over the phone (first red flag)
Waiting "Quoted turnaround time is approximately 14 weeks from when it's received."
My guitar got delivered to him on 5/15/21.

So should see/hear something around 8/21/21...

wish my stupid ass luck


----------



## pondman (Jul 16, 2021)

ChrispyFinch said:


> My heart sank when I read through this. I have sent Sims a guitar a bit ago to be refinished.
> I had only seen positive reviews of the business so I figured it was safe.
> Excitement is one hell of a blinding motivator.
> I'll try to keep this updated with my experience as it happens, so only time will tell.
> ...



Good luck, lets hope your one of the lucky ones.


----------



## KyleG (Jul 21, 2021)

John said:


> Not worth the trouble. There's other folks who are reputable in terms of refinishing.
> I've dealt with Marty Bell, but he's in semi-retirement by now so he may or may not take in your guitar to refinish.



I sent a Parker to Marty and his refinish was mediocre at best. He took a lot of liberties with my guitar without asking and there are a ton of imperfections.

I didn't even pick up my Parker for a year after he panted it because I was so bummed out. 

At least now I don't have to baby it since I'm going to get it refinished eventually.


----------



## narad (Jul 21, 2021)

KyleG said:


> I sent a Parker to Marty and his refinish was mediocre at best. He took a lot of liberties with my guitar without asking and there are a ton of imperfections.
> 
> I didn't even pick up my Parker for a year after he panted it because I was so bummed out.
> 
> At least now I don't have to baby it since I'm going to get it refinished eventually.



Do you have any pics? I probably won't be sending anything to Marty due to his retirement/selectivity, but I'd be curious to see these defects. Really haven't heard any negative reviews of his work until now.


----------



## KyleG (Jul 22, 2021)

I'll snap a few photos tonight when I get off work.


----------



## Dumple Stilzkin (Jul 22, 2021)

KyleG said:


> I'll snap a few photos tonight when I get off work.


Damn dude that sucks, I’ve only heard stellar reports about his work.


----------



## ChrispyFinch (Aug 23, 2021)

Well as expected my quoted turn around time is now passed. I have received 0 communication.
I only sent 1 email a few days before the quoted date, so now I guess ill start sending some more before I pursue other courses.


----------



## electriceye (Aug 23, 2021)

WOW am I glad this thread popped up and I saw it now. I've been following his IG for over a year and was in contact with him last year about TWO guitars I was going to send him. I ended up not doing that, as the pandemic threw everything into the unknown and I couldn't justify the cost. Funny thing is, he held a contest on his IG about a secret finish he was going to do and I guessed it right. I was supposed to get a t-shirt. That was over a year ago....

Anyway, one of the finishes I was going to have him do was an emerald green stain on an AXIS build I'm doing for someone. The ones he's done are just gorgeous. 

Oh well. I think I'll send my stuff to Styke at Rowyco instead. I have no tolerance for flakes.


----------



## ChrispyFinch (Oct 1, 2021)

Oct 1st and still no updates, he's well over his quoted turn around. Like 4-6 weeks over.
He's still posting to his social media and it looks like turning out jobs. 
No idea where I am in the que, don't know if ive been pushed back, all speculation at this point.
Avoid Sims.


----------



## narad (Oct 1, 2021)

ChrispyFinch said:


> Oct 1st and still no updates, he's well over his quoted turn around. Like 4-6 weeks over.
> He's still posting to his social media and it looks like turning out jobs.
> No idea where I am in the que, don't know if ive been pushed back, all speculation at this point.
> Avoid Sims.



He's probably a bad idea, but in the grand scheme of things, 4-6 weeks overdue is about as good as it gets these days.


----------



## CanserDYI (Oct 1, 2021)

narad said:


> He's probably a bad idea, but in the grand scheme of things, 4-6 weeks overdue is about as good as it gets these days.


 Kiesel was 9 weeks late on my last guitar...zero communication.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Oct 1, 2021)

CanserDYI said:


> Kiesel was 9 weeks late on my last guitar...zero communication.


kiesel never communicates, except for jeff harassing people on stream or such


----------



## soldierkahn (Oct 8, 2021)

ChrispyFinch said:


> Well as expected my quoted turn around time is now passed. I have received 0 communication.
> I only sent 1 email a few days before the quoted date, so now I guess ill start sending some more before I pursue other courses.



only thing he will respond to is a subpoena


----------



## ChrispyFinch (Feb 13, 2022)

alright, well i got my guitar back. finished!
I never got any communication from him until after i submitted a BBB complaint. then suddenly, he sent me tracking and proof that the guitar was done.
Just received it yesterday, 90% happy with the finished result. 
I'll do a NGD once i get a nut/setup done on it, and include some more thoughts of the whole experience in that post.
close to 7 months turn around. Make of that what you will.


----------



## John (Feb 13, 2022)

ChrispyFinch said:


> alright, well i got my guitar back. finished!
> I never got any communication from him until after i submitted a BBB complaint. then suddenly, he sent me tracking and proof that the guitar was done.
> Just received it yesterday, 90% happy with the finished result.
> I'll do a NGD once i get a nut/setup done on it, and include some more thoughts of the whole experience in that post.
> close to 7 months turn around. Make of that what you will.



Better late than never, at least.


----------



## mechanyx (Feb 20, 2022)

I never dealt with him directly but I bought a body I was told was a Sims body secondhand back in like 2010 or so. I can't recall the exact issue but it was unusable. It was something like the neck pocket was shaped wrong or the bridge route was in the wrong spot. I forget. It was a shame as it looked nice and it was light. I ended up leaving it in a storage closet when I moved out of an apartment building a couple years later.


----------



## Daevasmodeus (Mar 15, 2022)

I had a custom 8 string painted by him and he did a good job, but like the reviews indicate, he was terrible at communication and his quote of 4 months turned into over a year. I only got my guitar back by personally insulting his painting skills and making a BBB case (after a year of being super nice/patient with him). Toward the end he was mostly silent until I threatened his ego. Definitely a "character" who does decent work if you have the time and patience to hound/provoke them for months. You probably won't get your guitar back if you aren't incredibly persistent.


----------



## thrsher (Mar 15, 2022)

same story with him. i was happy with his work but had to continually hound him


----------



## Jack Reaper (May 23, 2022)

Submit a report to ic3.org (U.S. Internet Criminal Computer Crimes dept), which will direct the report to the FBI, IRS, or any other institutions that they deem appropriate. If you've done business with him from out of state, then it's a Federal case of mail fraud.


----------



## thrsher (May 23, 2022)

ic3.org site is a joke. don't expect that to go anywhere. i have seen past people file with BBB and get results. this is your first post, would be helpful to clarify your situation with sims. @Jack Reaper


----------



## Jack Reaper (May 23, 2022)

What's your suggestion for what a person should do?! I'm a victim of his--like everyone else. What's the point of detailing it, if there's no constructive method of restitution? If you go to the police, the ic3.org is their only recommendation. The IC3 may not be effective, unless there are a *number* of complaints.


----------



## thrsher (May 23, 2022)

as i said in my previous post people have filed with BBB and received results. i was a past client with Sims. i had to hound to him but i got my guitar back. i also know from prior experiences not related to sims that IC3 doesn't do shit and just trying to give you some perspective. fly down to his shop and address him in person.


----------

