BASS PLAYER - MARCH 2000 REVIEW

The company offers an LED system that can be installed in any bass without removing the frets or the fingerboard. High-profile players such as Mark King, Flea, John Paul Jones, and T.M. Stevens have had instruments retro-fitted with the SimS lights. 
 
The SimS system operates on a single 9-volt battery. You activate the lights with a small switch or a push/pull pot. The fingerboard side dots also illuminate: SimS runs fiber-optic cables that carry light from the center position dot. SimS claims up to 60 hours of use on a 9-volt battery. 


 
No extra routing required: The SimS 9-volt battery fits inside the Warwick's control cavity.

 
 
Interested in having a system installed? You'll have to FedEx your instrument's neck to England (Martin Sims informs us that the current shipping cost is $49 each way. Total time including installation is 8 working days.) 
 
You can choose from white, red, gold, green, fiesta red, aquamarine, or electric blue markers. (The company plans on offering pink and purple LEDs.) You can also order custom logos, signatures, initials, or shapes; the "W" on our Warwick test sample is a good example. 
  

The price for such fun? For a 21-fret instrument that uses 9 LEDs, the cost is $478 for fingerboard side or position markers. (A 24-fret model with 12 LEDs is $528.) For both front and side dots, the price increases to $627. The system fitted into our Warwick Streamer LX test bass (with 24 LEDs and custom "W" inlay) costs $884. 
 
The SimS LEDs deliver what they promise. We took the Warwick fitted with blue LEDs to a gig and had no problem seeing each position marker under dim lights. The system is an attention-getter as well: our staffer heard nothing but positive comments from band and audience members.