Sims Custom Shop Guitar Review

[maelduin]

Review:
Two words “Freakin Sweet!” This guitar has a superb finish, it’s hard to capture the blue sheen over green finish well on camera. Very unique. I like the carve on the top and contours on the bouts. Nice headstock design, a lot of body around the bridge which gives a different look than the Gibson/Fender typical looks. Body is thin and comfortable with good contours. Balances well too

The neck is super smooth and amazingly playable. Reminds me of the wizard with a slightly different profile, maybe slightly thicker, but really playable. Suits me perfect as I prefer that type of neck. Position of the PU switch and volume is good if you hit the volume by accident a lot, a bit harder for volume swells, but this is a matter of preference. Fit and finish is really nice, especially the neck and frets. Very nice job dressing the frets, nice and smooth on the sides.

Sound is a bit different from the Ibanez lines or my strat (besides single vs bucker). The Evos in poplar almost give a hot rodded tele type sound. It complements my other guitars very well. So far I’m liking the sound, especially the neck PU. Nice crunch though my Marshall DSL60 head in the bridge. Sounds real nice clean too. I'm going to keep working on sound as I only have had it for a couple of days. I'll play through my Fender SuperSonic a bit more too.

Overall holds this work holds up excellently against the major brands. Nice and unique in sound and looks. If I could swing it, I'd love to try one in Mahogany, but I've maxed out on the budget!

Details:
Sims Custom Shop Carved Top
Top: Poplar
Back: Poplar
Neck: Set 3 piece neck - Rosewood Fingerboard - Maple with Bubinga Center section - Striped Ebony Headstock Card
Bridge: Original Floyd Rose
Scale: 25.5
Color GREEN! (being a Red Sox fan, I should nickname this the green Monster!)

Pics to be posted shortly.
Kudos Patrick! Nice work!

[maelduin]

Pics

[waylay00]

Looks cool, but I think it would look bigger if the bottom right of the guitar wasn't so big. The body is too lopsided as-is. If it were more evenly distributed, then I would think about buying one.

Congrats though.

[Kii]

Needs bigger pics, homie.

[PatrickSimsCustomShopUSA]

Originally Posted by waylay00

The body is too lopsided as-is.

Well thats your opinion. I like the lopsided look, and so does the owner. I designed it that way intentionally. Its influenced by the old Fender P's, Jazzmasters, Mustangs & Jaquars, etc......alot of those old 60's guitars had kinded that lop sided look and I've always liked that, but I wanted it rounder, curvier, sexier, more modern, smooth lines and carvings, one person at the guitar store even told me that it reminded them of water or liquid b/c of how all the lines are all so smooth and free flowing........so its like putting a little old guitar history in it. The guitar design looks wicked in person. The carve top is real deep and extreme, its weird, its wicked looking, but the contours give it a very curvy almost classy look. I'm bored with the typical-ole strat look, Ibanez's, Jacksons, Charvel, ESP, etc......their all sooo similar.....I wanted something different than the typical strat look, I wanted something wilder, curvier, and more unique. I didn't want to try and conform my design to their size and their shapes, but rather design something based off my likes and dislikes, and come up with my own outer shape, my own contours, my own carve top, etc etc, and so far every single person who has gotten one has had no complaints and absolutely loved everthing single thing about it, from the balance of it, to the shape, sound and playability. I must be doing something right, this green one sold on Jemsite within 20 mins after it went up for sell and I sold two more in 3 days on e-Bay last week 1st time they were listed for $1599 each. So thats what matters to me.....come up with a design I love and be able find that theirs others who love it as well. But sure theirs going to be people out their who don't like the shape, contours, etc etc, but hey you can't please everybody. This guitar may not be for everybody, just as a PRS, Gibson, or Strat may not be for everybody, everybodys different, everybody has their likes and dislikes. What does matter tho is they are high quality guitars, they play awesome, sound awesome, and have alot of attention to detail & ultimately thats what guitar players want, something more than just good looks.

[crevis]

One suggestion, direct mount the pups or slant the neck pup and get that contour closer to the inner edge. I think that would look better imo.

[PatrickSimsCustomShopUSA]

They are available in direct mount or with pickup rings...however the customer wants it, not a problem. I don't like the look of slanted pickup and I like the contour exactly how it is. I will however make them in any pickup configuration the customer wants, but I will not be changing the shape or any of the contours. If they want a slanted pickup no problem, but realistically less people like a slanted pickup than just a regular configuration, so when I pre-build guitars to put ip for sell I'm going to make them in pickup configurations that are going to be the most likely to sell.....if somebody wants something special they can always have one built to their specs.

Some colors look good directed mounted and some look good with pickup rings, and this paticular guitar in my opinion lin the neon green ooked better with rings....I tried it both ways, but thats all subjective. Like I said, the best solution is do it however the customer wants, b/c hey their the one paying for it, so thats the only person I worry about pleasing.

[waylay00]

Originally Posted by SCS

Well thats your opinion. I like the lopsided look, and so does the owner. I designed it that way intentionally. Its influenced by the old Fender P's, Jazzmasters, Mustangs & Jaquars, etc......alot of those old 60's guitars had kinded that lop sided look and I've always liked that, but I wanted it rounder, curvier, sexier, more modern, smooth lines and carvings, one person at the guitar store even told me that it reminded them of water or liquid b/c of how all the lines are all so smooth and free flowing........so its like putting a little old guitar history in it. The guitar design looks wicked in person. The carve top is real deep and extreme, its weird, its wicked looking, but the contours give it a very curvy almost classy look. I'm bored with the typical-ole strat look, Ibanez's, Jacksons, Charvel, ESP, etc......their all sooo similar.....I wanted something different than the typical strat look, I wanted something wilder, curvier, and more unique. I didn't want to try and conform my design to their size and their shapes, but rather design something based off my likes and dislikes, and come up with my own outer shape, my own contours, my own carve top, etc etc, and so far every single person who has gotten one has had no complaints and absolutely loved everthing single thing about it, from the balance of it, to the shape, sound and playability. I must be doing something right, this green one sold on Jemsite within 20 mins after it went up for sell and I sold two more in 3 days on e-Bay last week 1st time they were listed for $1599 each. So thats what matters to me.....come up with a design I love and be able find that theirs others who love it as well. But sure theirs going to be people out their who don't like the shape, contours, etc etc, but hey you can't please everybody. This guitar may not be for everybody, just as a PRS, Gibson, or Strat may not be for everybody, everybodys different, everybody has their likes and dislikes. What does matter tho is they are high quality guitars, they play awesome, sound awesome, and have alot of attention to detail & ultimately thats what guitar players want, something more than just good looks.

No hard feelings

[Ayrton]

LOL...damn Patrick, you I love ya, but you need a PR agent like Brittney Spears needs a life coach.

Congrats on the review.

[quiksilverdew]

This guitar looks really nice, as soon as I finish building my pink Eat Em And Smile tribute guitar, one of these might be my next ventures...If you don't mind me asking, are these going for under $3000?

[JackButlerGOT]

That's really nice looking. VERY distinct.
THANK you for posting and sharing these pics.

[scotty]

That paint is awesome. I'd like to see this in purple with a blue pearl over the top too.

[Dino]

Originally Posted by SCS

Well thats your opinion. I like the lopsided look, and so does the owner. I designed it that way intentionally. Its influenced by the old Fender P's, Jazzmasters, Mustangs & Jaquars, etc......alot of those old 60's guitars had kinded that lop sided look and I've always liked that, but I wanted it rounder, curvier, sexier, more modern, smooth lines and carvings, one person at the guitar store even told me that it reminded them of water or liquid b/c of how all the lines are all so smooth and free flowing........so its like putting a little old guitar history in it. The guitar design looks wicked in person. The carve top is real deep and extreme, its weird, its wicked looking, but the contours give it a very curvy almost classy look. I'm bored with the typical-ole strat look, Ibanez's, Jacksons, Charvel, ESP, etc......their all sooo similar.....I wanted something different than the typical strat look, I wanted something wilder, curvier, and more unique. I didn't want to try and conform my design to their size and their shapes, but rather design something based off my likes and dislikes, and come up with my own outer shape, my own contours, my own carve top, etc etc, and so far every single person who has gotten one has had no complaints and absolutely loved everthing single thing about it, from the balance of it, to the shape, sound and playability. I must be doing something right, this green one sold on Jemsite within 20 mins after it went up for sell and I sold two more in 3 days on e-Bay last week 1st time they were listed for $1599 each. So thats what matters to me.....come up with a design I love and be able find that theirs others who love it as well. But sure theirs going to be people out their who don't like the shape, contours, etc etc, but hey you can't please everybody. This guitar may not be for everybody, just as a PRS, Gibson, or Strat may not be for everybody, everybodys different, everybody has their likes and dislikes. What does matter tho is they are high quality guitars, they play awesome, sound awesome, and have alot of attention to detail & ultimately thats what guitar players want, something more than just good looks.

Somebody always has to say something stupid first thing on every review. Don't sweat it, it's a sweet looking guitar. When mine shows up I'll post pics and a review as well. The mahogany will sound great.

[Dino]

Originally Posted by scotty

That paint is awesome. I'd like to see this in purple with a blue pearl over the top too.

That would be cool.

[PatrickSimsCustomShopUSA]

Originally Posted by quiksilverdew

This guitar looks really nice, as soon as I finish building my pink Eat Em And Smile tribute guitar, one of these might be my next ventures...If you don't mind me asking, are these going for under $3000?

Yep, they start at $1399. Just click on the Sims Custom Shop banner at the top of the page and you'll see all the prices, specs, options etc