The beginnings of the SimS Custom Shop started in 1994 when Martin Sims found it difficult to see the side edge markers whilst playing bass under diverse stage lighting conditions. He had been building basses on a personal level and had just finished his latest creation. The problem was that his band were getting bigger and better gigs and with these brought increasingly powerful lighting rigs. Martin just couldn't see the dots; "when the spotlights came on I couldn't see a blind thing! All I could see were 24 gleaming frets and of course the top edge was completely shadowed."  

So he went to the London Bass Centre to buy some L.E.Ds he had seen on a Warwick. Unfortunately, he learnt that you had to buy the Warwick bass and order it with the L.E.Ds, but he couldn't afford it, and he did not want to give up his own bass guitar. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and so Martin devised a method of retro-fitting his bass with side edge L.E.Ds without disturbing the fingerboard or frets. This meant that the bass both sounded and felt the same after the work was done.

During a return visit to the Bass Centre with the finished article, the guys were so impressed they wanted Martin to do some work for them; "they gave me two brand new basses and said that if I fitted them with L.E.Ds they would promote my work through the Bass Centre." A guitar show and some magazine coverage followed, the concept spiralled from there.

A chance meeting with bassist Billy Sheenan saw the developement of SimS L.E.Ds progress at a massive rate. It also helped spark interest from other artists such as Hank Marvin who wanted the LEDs to help him fret his guitar during the blackouts between songs on stage. It wasn't until Martin went along to a Jamiroquai gig that he really realised what he had achieved. Early endorsee and Jamiroquai bassist Stuart Zender had a set of SimS Magnifier L.E.Ds fitted; "the reaction from the crowd made me realise that this could be something and people that used them really made them their own." It was all up here from there with other artists wanting in on the act; "when Steve Vai first saw the L.E.Ds he just flipped, since then Ibanez has been a constant source of work for us". Many more artists followed including John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Sam Rivers (Limp Bizkit), Mark King (Level 42), Hank Marvin (The Shadows), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and many more. See the artists page for a listing. SimS also do work for many guitar manufacturers directly including Warrick, Fender Custom Shop, Feline Guitars and more.

SimS has continued to go from strength to strength and now offers much more than just L.E.Ds. The Custom and Spray Shop is a hot part of the business too, a highlight being the amazing chrome finishes that can been seen on Mike Smith's (ex-Limp Bizkit) PRS (see gallery). "We are also doing the crackle and colour-shift finishes right through to the traditional sunbursts and candy finishes" says Martin. "We have also done some obscure things like covering a Telecaster in genuine dollar bills, wrapped all the way round it." Martin has also wrapped a Telecaster in tweed in the style of old Fender amps and finished a superb Diet Coke bass guitar.

Other high profile work recently carried out includes the amazing Hear My Message Jimi Hendrix Portrait Stratocaster, created in conjunction with Icon Guitars. Featuring a superb portrait of Hendrix taken by legendary photographer Gered Mankowitz, it is painstakingly overprinted with a hand silk-screened, cobalt blue and black two-colour image, oversprayed, refinished and secured by an expertly applied overspray of tough polyester. It was one of Martin's hardest ever jobs for which he created special techniques and a new kind of jig. Only 375 were made worldwide.

So if you want a custom spray, L.E.Ds or fancy having your guitar made in to your dream instrument then get in touch with SimS Custom Shop.

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