Alright — somehow we’ve officially made it to Week 12 of the In the Shop blog. Three full months of keeping this thing going, which is honestly pretty cool. I appreciate everybody who’s been following along, reading, and just kind of keeping up with what’s happening around here.

This past week was fairly mellow overall. We had some really cool stuff happen, but nothing too completely insane. For me personally, it’s also been a bit of a housekeeping week, trying to tie up loose ends before I sneak out of town for a few days. So while it wasn’t the craziest week we’ve had, there was still plenty of good stuff going on.

Starting off in the acoustic world, we had a really cool opportunity to help a good friend of ours order what is essentially his dream Taylor guitar. Our buddy Andrew is a lefty, and as many left-handed players know, sometimes finding exactly what you want can be a challenge. Luckily, Taylor is one of the best companies out there when it comes to supporting left-handed players. They’ll pretty much build any production model left-handed without any additional charge, which is honestly pretty incredible.

Andrew wanted a left-handed 814ce Next Generation model, which is already a killer guitar — but we were able to take things a step further. Instead of going to a fully custom shop model and significantly increasing the price, Taylor worked with us to upgrade the guitar to an Adirondack spruce top while still keeping it in a much more realistic production-based special order lane. That was honestly something I didn’t even fully realize we could do until this process, and it really opened my eyes to some of the customization flexibility Taylor offers outside of their full custom BTO program.

So now Andrew has what may very well be one of the only left-handed Adirondack-topped Next Gen 814ce guitars out there right now, which is pretty wild. And the turnaround? About four weeks. For something that unique, that’s incredibly impressive. It’s just another reminder that if you’re out there looking for something specific from Taylor — even if it’s just tweaking an existing production model — there are some really cool options available. Feel free to reach out to me anytime if that’s something you’re considering, because this process was honestly super smooth and really exciting to be a part of.

Speaking of Taylor, I also did a little Instagram feature this week on the Honeyburst collection that we first got a sneak peek of back at NAMM. This lineup has been really cool to watch roll in because it’s not something every dealer was able to get. We committed to the full collection, which allowed us to secure and reorder these models throughout the year.

The Honeyburst collection starts all the way down at the GS Mini and works its way up through the 100, 200, 314, and 414ce Studio models, all in this really striking limited Honeyburst finish. They’ve been fantastic so far. One standout is definitely the 414ce Studio Honeyburst. It’s partially built in Tecate, Mexico and partially in the USA, which gives it this really interesting blend of craftsmanship while helping keep the price point more accessible. Taylor also simplified certain aspects like the case, opting for a really quality gig bag instead of a hard shell to help offset pricing increases without sacrificing the quality of the instrument itself.

And of course, right there on the Taylor wall sits the Circa 74 acoustic amp, which if you haven’t tried yet, absolutely should be on your radar. Most people don’t realize Bob Taylor actually started in furniture design, and that influence really shows in the amp’s aesthetic. It has this awesome 1970s furniture-inspired vibe while sounding incredibly natural and real — not overprocessed, not sterile, just pure acoustic tone.

Over in the uke world, we had another fantastic ukulele jam this week, which is always one of the most fun things we do. Jessica continues to absolutely crush leading these, and it’s just become such a staple of the community. We’ve been doing these for over a decade now, and while post-COVID they’re a little less frequent than monthly, we’re still doing about 5 or 6 a year!

One particularly cool part of this week’s jam was a new friend from the UK who happened to time her visit to Columbia in the most Sims Music way possible. She arrived in town just in time for the Search for the Coolest Acoustic Guitar event and then ended her U.S. trip by coming back for uke jam before heading home. Naturally, she had to leave with a Sims shirt. It was really cool seeing someone from that far away not only discover the shop, but actively book parts of their trip around it. And then seeing my daughter Piper sitting in and playing along? That’s just one of those moments that sticks with you. No, she may not have nailed every chord perfectly, but seeing her involved was really special.

Also in uke news — we officially brought back Lanikai ukuleles. We used to carry them years ago and for whatever reason had stepped away, but now they’re back and better than ever. We brought in about a dozen models ranging from entry-level options to higher-end gloss models with electronics and really nice cases. They’ve been a fantastic addition to our lineup alongside Kala, Cordoba, Fender, and Ibanez.

Over in the drum department, one of the bigger developments this week is that we’ve officially expanded our consignment program to drummers. We’ve quietly had some used snares and cymbals come through here and there, but now we’re fully opening the doors for:

• Snare drums
• Cymbals
• Higher-end kits
• Drum gear in general

Gage is taking point on that side of things, and we’re really excited because the consignment program has done so well for guitars and pedals that it just makes sense to bring that same energy to the drum department. We’ve already got some really cool used drum gear lined up, including a Ludwig Oak kit coming in. So drummers — if you’ve got gear you’re looking to move, now’s the time.

Jon has also been absolutely slammed in the repair shop lately, especially with him about to head out on vacation. Naturally, right before leaving town, the floodgates opened and repairs started piling in. Fret levels, headstock repairs, setups — the whole works.

I even had him do some final dial-in work on a killer new Epiphone SG for a friend of mine this week. While all of our guys do fantastic setup work, sometimes you just want Jon’s final touch on something, and as always, he knocked it out. So if you need repair work done soon… Now would be the time to get it checked in before his schedule gets even crazier.

We also had some fun this week with a little “UPS Damage Deals” feature on Instagram.

As much as we’d love to say every guitar ships perfectly every time, occasionally UPS or FedEx decides to absolutely obliterate something, and dealing with claims can be an absolute nightmare. So rather than dumping too much labor into some blemished gear, we decided to offer some real deals directly to customers.

This included:

• A repaired Gibson Nighthawk with a professionally fixed headstock
• A dinged Squier Classic Vibe Jaguar
• A heavily discounted Bass VI with major cosmetic damage

Sure enough, one sold almost immediately. So while hopefully we don’t have too many shipping disasters, if they do happen… it may create some cool opportunities for customers who don’t mind a little cosmetic imperfection.

On the electric side, our first wave of ESP/LTD models continues to impress all of us. We recently shipped out a really cool offset baritone LTD to our good friend Clayton in Nevada — who also happens to be the guy helping us with our email marketing behind the scenes. Jon dialed it in with some heavy tuning setup work, and it headed his way. We’re all really excited about what ESP/LTD is bringing to the table, especially for players looking for something a little heavier or more outside the traditional Fender/Gibson lane.

And finally, we’ve been continuing to tighten up the organization both in-store and online. You’ll start noticing green stickers indicating guitars photographed for the website and blue stickers marking used gear. Will has been working incredibly hard to keep inventory, photography, and online listings fully updated as gear constantly moves.

As always — if you see something on the site, it’s almost certainly here in-store. And if you see it in-store, it’s almost certainly online.

And for me personally? I’m sneaking out for a very quick trip to Las Vegas to go see Phish at Sphere. If you know me, you know Phish is my favorite band on earth, and this will be my 42nd time seeing them. So I’m incredibly excited to take a quick breather, go experience that insanity, and then get right back to work on Saturday!

So overall — a fun week, a productive week, and a nice little balance of cool gear, community events, and shop progress.

As always, thank you all so much for reading and following along. Three months in, I genuinely appreciate it.

We’ll see you for Week 13.

-Justin Sims