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12K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  Stealthtastic 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello, I am here to clear up this entire controversy about the whole two Sims Custom Shop deal b/c I have gotten several e-mails about it, as I know Martin Sims has as well.

Alot of people on here I see are trying to incenuate that we're trying to pass ourselves off as the other Sims Custom Shop, to lure customers. Some even claim that we're trying to copy them and that we do low grade work, etc etc....

First of all I would like to state that nobody copied anybody. I didn't copy him, and he didn't copy me. Believe it or not its just a coincidence that we both have not only the same Business names, but also the same last names and do the same work.

According to their website they have been in the business since 1997, we have been in business since 1994. We were under the business name Sims Customs from about 1994 to 1999 and specialized in Collision Repair, Restorations, and Show Car paint jobs. In 1999 we decided to change the name from Sims Customs to Sims Custom Shop, which is the name we have been under every since. So, from a technical stand point, everyone wants to say we're copying the "REAL SIMS CUSTOM SHOP" when we were actually in business long before them, but thats beside the point. I could say we are the "REAL SIMS CUSTOM SHOP" or the "FIRST SIMS CUSTOM SHOP" but I'm not going to, b/c I wasn't aware of his existence anymore than he was aware of mine. They way I look at it, and I believe the way he probably looks at it, is we're both SIMS CUSTOM SHOP regardless of who started when. I'm not incenuating we're affiliated b/c we're not, and I NEVER HAVE. One guy on here stated I tried to pass myself off as them and this must have been PURELY an assumption based on his part b/c I have NEVER ONCE said I was them, passed myself off as them, or said I was in anyway affiliated with them. To be totally honest I wasn't even AWARE they even existed until about a year ago when somebody wrote me an e-mail asking me about it. At any rate, it wouldn't be right for him to change his name, anymore than it would be for us to change ours after we have both undoubtedly worked years to establish our names....

We're obviously no where NEAR as well known as they are in the guitar industry, mainly b/c we just started doing guitars around 2002-2003. However we are fairly well known in the Custom Motorcycle realm as well as Show Car circuit. Want to hear an even BIGGER coincidence? Custom Painting must run in Sims Descendants blood......you have Sims Custom Shop (Me, Patrick Sims) and Sims Custom Shop (Martin Sims) but you also have some other VERY WELL KNOWN Sims custom painters.......Allen Sims, which is a VERY well known custom motorcycle painter as well (Attitude Custom Paint Jobs), Ron Sims who is also an EXTREMELY famous Custom Chopper builder and painter who has been featured on the discovery channel in biker build offs.

We also trade on **** Under the name SimsCustoms and SimsCustomShop which we have had for years. I have spoken with Martin Sims some time back and basically introduced myself as well as talked with him about our business name and the fact that we were not trying to copy him nor pass ourselves off as him. He understood the situation and wished us well, as we did him.

Also a member of your site stated he couldn't see how we could paint a guitar in House of Kolor for as cheap as we quoted him, and that he wondered if we used what we said we use. And the answer is yes, we use ONLY House of Kolor & PPG paints, (and a special sealer in which I will not reveal the name of the company who makes it) We are able to offer refinishing for MUCH MUCH cheaper than 99% of the business on this site. This is b/c we buy our products in very large quantities so we can get the product alot cheaper. A quart of House of Kolor base would cost your avg individual or business around $67......we buy enough of it to get it for $32..... Thats how we're able to offer our refinishing prices competitively than the and thats why our sales have doubled each year since 2003. Someone stated our work is amateur, or second rate......false. We have been in the painting since 1994, and been painting guitar, basses, fiddles, acoustics, pianos, & drums since 2001-2002. We paint approx 200 guitars a year for people all over the world. We also refinish several of the big name guitar manufactures guitars that specialize in high-end hand made guitars, such as Warrior. Our paint jobs are not second rate or poor quality, ALL of our paint jobs are slick as glass when they leave here and I challenge anybody to deny that or provide pictures and proof of ANY guitar or paint job we have done that is anything other than mirror slick. But you don't have to take my word for it, you can view LOTS of pictures of our work which speak for themselves, many of which are very large and shot at different angles so that you can see the slickness, shininess, and reflection in the clear. I have MANY MORE pics of jobs that are not on our site that I just simply haven't had time to load up, any of which I will be more than happy to e-mail to you.

One person made a comment about our PAW swirls.......I will admit.......our swirls are not the best the world has seen, lol, but at the same time there DEFINITELY not the worst. We have only been doing swirls for about 6 months, and granted their not the easiest thing in the world to do, but the more we do the better we get.......I'm sure Herc's first Swirls or Darren's first swirls didn't look anything like what they look like now, it takes time and practice like anything else. But as far as everything thing else goes I honestly don't believe it can really be done any better.....I mean you can't get any slicker than ZERO Orange Peel. But the important thing is our paint jobs don't just look good, but they LAST. I have YET to have to redo a guitar for a customer do to a problem with the paint. I would say our paint jobs would probably last a life time from chipping, checking, fading, etc....

And as far as the bad feedback goes on ****.....well, lets just put it this way, most of my Negatives are from people that I BOUGHT STUFF from, not the other way around. 90% of the time I left either the buyer or seller a negative FIRST for something that I felt wasn't right, so of course they retaliate and leave one back as well. You can check our feedback, and read EVERY SINGLE NEGATIVE (5 or 6) and you won't find ONE SINGLE one that has ANYTHING to do with our paint jobs, their all for misc. stuff. SO to all those people who say our paint jobs are second rate and to just check the feedback, well my advice to you is to check again, b/c none of the negatives are for paint jobs.

I feel as though I needed to come on here and defend myself b/c of the lack of information and I don't want everyone thinking we copied Sims Custom Shop, or we do shoty work, etc etc. I honestly don't know where the whole deal with shoty work has came from, we have never had any complaints. Generally if we ever have any problems its related to shipping issues. I like to believe our turnaround time is MUCH faster than most places.....normally it takes us 3 weeks to finish a guitar from start to finish.......and the longest we have ever had a guitar is 3 months.....Now, of course the customer gets mad on day one of week 4. However, I know SEVERAL well known guitar painters and business's (If I mentioned their names you would know them) who currently have a 6-8 month turnaround time, and one of them is sooooo busy he actually has a YEAR AND A HALF WAITING LIST!!! So I don't want to hear people whine when it takes us 4-6 weeks.

I know this is probably the longest post ever posted in history but I wanted to address everything and clarify everything that I possibly could. I'm sure their will still be those who can't understand what I have said, say I'm lying, still have questions, misunderstand comments or try to pick it apart for errors and contradictions. There are some people out here who are just constantly looking for a controversy, trying to say someone is a scam, or a liar, or whatever, but I'm not one of them. I found out a long time ago that people like that are never satisfied, you can never please them, and they will always be looking for a way to start something or dirty your name.....I found its just easier to ignore them and go on with my life rather than try and constantly prove myself to them.

So to close this whole novel I would like to end by saying I have nothing against anybody, whether it be on this site or any other. Whether its a member or sponsor. One guy stated in a post on here that Nuno once said theres 3 sides to every story, well theres my side.

If anyone does have any questions about painting and refinishing, whether it be an inquiry on having your instrument repainted or just need some pointers and advice on a project your working on feel free to let me know and I'll gladly help you out in anyway I can.

Thanks for your time & God Bless,

Patrick Sims
www.simscustomshop.com
 
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#4 · (Edited)
I would also like to add that I do not appreciate the ADMINISTRATOR of this board posting comments in regard to this subject that ARE TOTALLY FALSE. He has stated that we "Leeched" onto Martin Sims's name, as well as stated our **** user ID's were UNAUTHORIZED. 1st of all, how can you have an UNAUTHORIZED User ID?? We not only OWN the name SIMS CUSTOM SHOP, we also own the name SIMS CUSTOMS, as well as OWN www.simscustomshop.com. It would have been nice to have been contacted by the Administrator and asked about the names before jumping the gun and posting comments that are 1) Totally False 2) Biased and one sided. I really don't appreciate the damage it could potentially have on me, and my business name by the administrator posting comments regarding our business and business practices without contacting us first and making sure HE HAS THE WHOLE STORY, Not just PART OF IT. He states I have LEECHED onto Martin Sims's name, My name is Patrick Sims, THAT IS MY LAST NAME AS WELL, and I haven't stolen or leeched onto ANYTHING. NEVER ONCE have I or any of my empolyees stated or implied to anyone we were the Custom Shop in the UK or affiliated with them in anyway shape or form..........I would appreciate it if the administrator would remove any posts from the website that have been posted that contain false statments and hear-say, or at least post a followup reply in regards to them. I also find it suprising that a person in authority of a site the size of this one wouldn't follow-up on things like this to make sure what they are posting is 100% accurate. Never once I have been contacted by the JEMSITE. Had I been contacted before being burned at the stake I could have let all this information be known, and it would have undoubtedly cleared up alot of the confusion people are having alot sooner. But now, as a result, b/c of this site and the admin's postings, there are people who believe that we ARE trying to pass ourselves off as them, ARE trying to leech off the Sims Custom Shop Name, and ARE selling and trading on **** under an Unauthorized User ID. Taking that into consideration it could no DOUBT have a negative impact on our buisiness which not only concerns me, but frusterates me. I hope that the SITE will edit, add to, followup or remove the information that they have posted that has incenuated we are some kind of fraud or scam artist business/website. The comments they have made on this site are considered defamation of character and slander which are both ILLEGAL.

The legal definition of slander is "A false defamation (expressed in spoken words, signs, or gestures) which injures the character or reputation of the person defamed")

And the legal definition for defamtion of character is "The act of making untrue statements about another which damages his/her reputation. If the defamatory statement is printed or broadcast over the media it is libel and, if only oral, it is slander

I just hope they will set right what they (maybe unknowingly) set wrong. I am sure the authorities of this site are fair, and I would also assume they would want to insure ALL the information on their site is as accurate as possible.
 
#10 ·
I have a guitar being refinished by this guy right now. Well allegedly it's getting finished? He doesn't respond to emails? Is rude if he does? It's like he's got a chip on his shoulder or something.... Well regardless I have filed a police report with chatanooga police department for theft since I've already paid for the services.... Oddly enough I have not been the first to call the police on this guy as the detective told me. So I have also informed the guy that I am pursuing him criminally and civilly. Why a person can't just be nice is beyond me. But without a doubt I would never deal with this guy ever again. What really bums me out about it is that I saved for months to get my guitar refinished. I mean I literally saved dimes and pennies to get it done? And then to be treated as poorly as I have been.... Not cool at all. It is what it is though. If I don't get the guitar back I guess I'll just have to let it go since even getting a judgement against someone really doesn't mean anything. But the guitar I sent the guy my dad gave me that has since passed away. And again my hands are tied essentially.
 
#12 ·
Yeah I've found this out. I trusted the guy and I guess I should have done more research. Like I said I've filed theft charges on the guy and will also pursue him with a civil suit. It's absurd though to be honest.... I'm going on 4 months of waiting for my guitar. The only time he ever responds is when I say I am going to press charges. I finally just pressed charges. Even the detectives said man we have been to this guys place more than once. So it's not just me that this has happened to. And I'm not the only guy that has called the police on him. Ultimately ill win a civil judgement. Ehhhh I'm kinda over the whole situation. But yeah I'm not gonna say he's a bad person. I just wouldn't deal with him ever again.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Now, correct me if I'm wrong here... but aren't there actually two different "Sims"? I seem to remember reading something somewhere about a mixup. Basically, there is "good Sims" and then, of course, there's "evil Sims"--the scammer we all know and hate.

That said, which one is this? http://www.simscustomshop.com/

EDIT: Heh, just reviewed the OP. Duh. THAT's where I got the idea that there was a mixup. So, there really isn't a "good Sims" at all? Is that what I'm getting from this?
 
#15 ·
If I remember correctly. One is based in the USA the other is UK. The USA one is the one above and is recommended to stay away from. I don't recall seeing anything bad about Martin Sims UK shop. I believe his shop was the one that installed lighted inlays in Vai's guitars. But definitely do your home work when dealing with any custom shops.
 
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