Week in the Shop – Fender Sneak Peeks, Dream DW Builds, and a Lot of New Gear 

Alright — we’re back for Week 5 in a row of our “What’s Going On in the Shop” blog. I’m glad we’ve kept this going, and I hope everyone is enjoying getting a little behind-the-scenes look at what happens around the store each week. It was another fun and busy week here at Sims Music. We had some new gear come in, some special pieces, a few secrets we can’t quite talk about yet, and plenty of cool things happening across the shop. 

Fender Highlights and a Special Visit 

We kicked off the week with a visit from Collin Grant, our Fender rep, who stopped by and spent the afternoon with us. It had been a little while since he’d been able to make it out, so he loaded up his car with a bunch of guitars and brought them by the shop. Some of the guitars he brought are already public, some were brand new releases we hadn’t added yet, and a few… well… we’re not technically supposed to talk about it just yet. One of the coolest pieces he showed us was a limited-edition 1951 Tele Bass that Fender will officially release on March 17th. We actually had a customer who had been dreaming about that bass for a long time, and Collin was able to make sure that customer claimed the first one. That was pretty special to see. There were also a few other models he showed us that we can’t share details about just yet, but keep an eye out — once March 17th hits, we’ll be able to talk about them. On top of all that, while Collin was hanging out, we had a special-order Fender American Vintage II 1951 Telecaster in Butterscotch Blonde arrive for our good buddy Ricky. If you follow our Instagram, you may have seen the photo we posted. This guitar was Ricky’s dream Telecaster, and when it arrived it was absolutely perfect. Fender really nails these vintage models — they keep every detail exactly how Leo Fender originally designed them. Collin even joked that if Leo walked into the shop today and saw that guitar, he’d think he built it himself. And one last Fender note — there’s a very special 75th Anniversary Ultra Telecaster hanging on the wall right now. Technically it’s not supposed to be public yet, but if you come into the shop and look closely you’ll see it. The official announcement happens on March 17th, but trust me — it’s a guitar you want to see in person. 

Drum Department Updates 

Over in Drumland, we started the week with a fresh shipment from Evans / D’Addario. That included a nice selection of drum keys, including the new pull-cord drum key. If you haven’t seen that one yet, it’s a pretty cool design — with just a couple pulls of the cord you can tighten or loosen tension rods quickly. We also filled out the wall with a fresh batch of Evans drumheads, including the Hydraulic Blue Coated heads, which are really cool. A lot of drummers want colored heads on their snare drums, but many colored heads aren’t actually coated, which can cause tuning issues or unwanted overtones. These blue hydraulic heads solve that problem — they’re coated and have the hydraulic oil layer between the plies for extra control. We also got back in the Evans double kick EQ patches, which we had been waiting on for a while and we stocked up on PureSound snare wires, including the popular 30-strand sets for both 13" and 14" snare drums. 

Roc-N-Soc Throne Surge 

For some reason this past weekend was very busy for drum thrones (and I’m not mad about it). Over the last couple of years I have been making an effort to always keep a large selection of Roc-N-Soc thrones in stock, which are all made just up north by our neighbors in North Carolina and can take a long time to get restocked. If you’ve ever sat on one, you know why they’re so popular — they’re incredibly comfortable. Saturday alone we had five customers come in looking for thrones. 

We carry the original motorcycle-style seats as well as the round, hugger, and square “tractor-style” seats, and we do our best to keep them available in multiple colors including gray, tan, green, black, red, and blue. We also stock both the standard height and the extended height versions so players can find the setup that fits them best. In fact, we even had a drummer from Atlanta who was passing through Columbia stop in specifically because he saw online that we keep such a large selection and had been looking for the extended height square in green! We keep about 6–7 on display, but we actually have many more in the back, so if you’re looking for a specific color or style just ask. 

More Drum Hardware and Thrones 

We also received a large shipment of Tama hardware, including four more of the new Spartan cymbal stands. These stands are incredibly lightweight but still very sturdy. We’re still waiting on the boom versions, which should arrive soon. We also brought in the new Gator drum thrones, which are their take on the hydraulic motorcycle-style throne. They come in red, blue, and black, and the price point is slightly below Roc-N-Soc. They’re extremely comfortable and we expect them to do really well. Come by when you can and compare to see how you think it compares to the competition!

Sabian Visit 

We also had a very special visitor stop by the drum department this week — Mark Reynolds, who works with Sabian and also happens to be the drumline instructor at The Ohio State University! Mark came by the shop for the first time back in October of last year but I was out of town visiting with DW so we didn’t get to officially meet until the NAMM Show this past January. Mark is one of the nicest guys and has TWO of the coolest jobs ever, as he works with Sabian AND teaches one of the most famous marching bands in the country! He brought along several cymbals that had just been released so we could check them out. A few of them had already arrived in the store, including some new splashes and bells. Mark also gave us a sneak peek at Sabian’s upcoming August releases. We can’t talk about those publicly yet, but I’ll just say they have some very exciting things on the horizon. (come by some time and I’ll give you the inside scoop)

Acoustic Department 

Over in the acoustic room, we’ve finally started seeing some of the Taylor Honeyburst special edition models arrive.  This collection includes a range of guitars such as the 114 models, 214 models, GS Mini versions, and a 400 Series Studio model, all finished in the beautiful Honeyburst color. These were announced at NAMM, and we quickly ordered the entire set because we loved the look and the lineup. Altogether the collection consists of about eight or nine guitars. So far we’ve received the 214ce Honeyburst, the 412ce Studio Honeyburst, and the GS Mini-e Honeyburst. It’s exciting to finally see them rolling into the shop, and the nice thing about ordering the full collection is that we’ll be able to keep restocking these as they sell.

Across the aisle, we also received a beautiful Martin 000-28 Modern Deluxe on consignment. The previous owner took incredible care of it and it’s in mint condition. Luke got it photographed and listed, and you can see it now on our website. 

Strings and Accessories 

We finally managed to get Gibson strings back in stock, and to be honest this one took a little creativity. The strings sell really well for us, but Gibson has been pretty sluggish getting accessories out the door lately and not giving us a good idea of when we may see more arrive. It has been driving me crazy so I reached out to a buddy of ours who runs another shop and learned he had some extra inventory sitting around. We were able to work out a deal and grab a batch from him, which helped us get the rack filled back up. So for now we’ve got Gibson acoustic and electric sets back in stock again, including the Dave Mustaine signature strings.

Used and Consignment Gear 

Luke has been staying busy working through consignment gear as always! One of the guitars we  highlighted on our Instagram this week was a 1979 Yamaha SA-2000.  It’s pretty cool to have a guitar in stock that was built the same year the store opened. We also paired that shot with the early-70s Ampeg VT-22 we have on consignment, and the photo is now featured on the homepage of our website. Another highlight in the used electric section is a 2023 Gibson Les Paul 60s Standard in Oxblood! This guitar looks black when you walk by but when you look closer or turn it in the light, you can see the awesome Oxblood finish. This one will not last long (as I write this, one of our locals is trying to decide if he’s going to pull the trigger on it). There’s been a lot of really cool used gear coming through lately, and it’s always fun seeing customers discover those pieces. 

Custom DW Kit for Las Vegas 

One of the most exciting things this week was helping a customer from Las Vegas design his dream DW custom drum kit. He actually found us while doing research online about where to order a DW kit and reached out to start the conversation. Over the course of a few days we went back and forth working through all the details—sizes, shell construction, finishes, and the overall sound and feel he was looking for. That process is one of my favorite parts of the job, because with DW there are so many possibilities to dial things in exactly the way a drummer wants them. We ended up landing on a Maple/Mahogany shell configuration with a 24" kick drum and 10", 13", 16", and 18" toms, all finished in the incredible Black Ice finish. Once the order was finalized it was sent off to DW, and the build process will take about three months. When the kit is finished it will ship to us first so we can inspect everything and make sure it’s perfect before it heads out to Nevada. Helping someone walk through that process—talking about shell combinations, drum sizes, finishes, and how all those elements come together to shape the sound and feel of the kit—is something I genuinely love doing. We work closely with DW throughout the process to make sure every detail is right so the customer ends up with exactly the instrument they imagined. So Philip, if you’re reading this, we’re excited to see that kit when it arrives. And if anyone else out there is thinking about building a custom DW kit, feel free to reach out. I’d be more than happy to walk through all the options with you and help design something that truly captures the sound and look you’re after.

Keyboard Land 

Quick reminder that Nord keyboards are now in stock at Sims Music. We know we talk a lot about guitars and drums around here, but the keyboard department is still going strong and continues to grow. Right now we have the Nord Stage 4, Nord Piano 6, and Nord Electro 6 all on display in the store. There have also been a few recent price drops on certain models, and there’s currently a promotion where if you purchase a Stage 88 or Piano 88, you’ll receive a free Nord gig bag, which is roughly a $600 value. Alongside Nord, we also carry a great selection of keyboards from Yamaha and Roland, including portable keyboards, digital pianos, synths, and the very popular Roland Juno-DS series. If you’ve never had the chance to sit down and play one of these instruments, we’d love for you to stop by and check them out.

Wrapping Up the Week 

All in all, another busy and fun week at the shop! Lots of new gear arriving, rep visits, some cool things we can’t talk about yet, and plenty happening behind the scenes. 

Another Reminder: Don’t forget to mark your calendar for: 

April 14 — The Search for the Coolest Acoustic Guitar Event 

Next Uke Jam - Monday, April 27th!

We’ve also got a couple guys from Ludwig Drums visiting the shop tomorrow, so we’ll have more to report on that next week. Thanks again for reading and following along with these weekly updates. If you have questions or comments, feel free to drop them in the comment section. 

As always — thank you for the support. 

We’ll see you soon.

-Justin Sims