Alright — here we go with Week 7 of the “In the Shop” blog.

This one started off a little rough for me personally. Some of you may know James, who handles our shipping department, is currently out on tour with All Get Out. They played Columbia this past weekend and are now heading through Texas and beyond, which meant I was covering shipping duties all week. On my second day of shipping, I reached over to grab a USPS tub and my back gave out instantly. My only option was basically to hit the floor, and was stuck there for over an hour. Jess had to come bring me medicine and help me get up, Robbie helped me get to the car, and I eventually made it to the chiropractor and then home, where I was pretty much unable to walk for a day or so. I’m starting to recover now, so if you see me limping around the store, that’s why. That said, I’ve still been pushing through, including getting more than 100 packages out on Monday. Shipping guitars is not easy when your back is out, but we’re doing our best and James will be back from tour soon!

Even with that chaos, it was another big week around the store. One really cool thing that happened all in one day was having several first-time customers come in from out of town to make some cool purchases. We had someone come down from Gastonia who found a nice Classic Vibe Tele, a customer from Greenville who came in for drum accessories and special ordered some Gator ICON drum bags, and another customer from Savannah who had never been in the store before and left with a Rickenbacker 4003S in Jetglo just in time for his gig that night. It’s inspiring to see people finding Sims through word of mouth and online and making the trip in. Unfortunately it seems like there  are fewer and fewer great music stores out there, so it means a lot when someone drives in from outside the area and finds something special here. We are honored to get to help so many great customers from around the Carolinas and into Georgia and beyond!

Over in the guitar department, we had a very exciting development this week: our first batch of ESP models arrive! The first shipment was about a dozen LTD guitars, and we’re really excited about what they bring to the shop. They definitely lean rock and metal, but that’s exactly why we wanted them. We love our Fenders and Gibsons, but we also know there are a lot of players out there looking for something heavier, faster, and more aggressive, and we wanted to do a better job serving that crowd. The LTDs that came in are super cool and the quality has really impressed everyone here. We’ll also have some E-II models coming, which take several months, and eventually some of the higher-end Japanese models, though those can take over a year.

At the same time, Fender and Gibson both brought in some great new pieces as well. On the Fender side, we got a couple really cool additions to the wall from the American Professional line, including a Jaguar and a Strat in Faded Sherwood Green Metallic. On the Gibson side, we had a nice shipment roll in with a Les Paul Standard 50s Figured in Iced Tea, a Les Paul Special in Faded TV Yellow Satin, and two especially cool highlights. One was a Les Paul Jr. Double Cut in Vintage Cherry with a tortoise guard, which is not something you see every day and has a really unique look. The other was the Firebird Platypus in Heritage Cherry Sunburst, which you may have seen in the unboxing video on our Instagram. That guitar is just too cool and definitely something we haven’t had in the shop in a long time.

The used and consignment side of the guitar department stayed busy too. We’ve mentioned before the big batch of Fender Esprits that came in from one customer’s collection, and word is definitely getting out. We’ve been getting more emails, calls, and messages about them, and this week a couple of them headed out the door — I think two sold in the same day. One customer even asked when Fender rereleased them because we have so many and they look so good. It’s pretty wild to realize we probably have more Esprits in the shop right now than any store in the country.

Over in the drum department, it was another big week. One of the coolest moments was helping a good customer of ours order his dream Yamaha Recording Custom kit. Ever since we first met, he and I have geeked out over Steve Gadd, so when he told me he was finally ready to pull the trigger on a Recording Custom, I jokingly asked what color he wanted because I already knew the answer: piano black. Sure enough, Yamaha had the kit in stock, it showed up on Monday, and it is absolutely stunning. We set it up, tapped on the toms, and both just looked at each other like, “whoa.” Birch shells, piano black finish, chrome hardware — it’s just that legendary look and sound. It’s not every day you get to help someone buy a true dream kit, especially one that means that much personally, so that was a real highlight. Yamaha also made a big showing this week beyond the Recording Custom. That kit came in a full pallet of Yamaha gear, which included the Stage Custom Honey Amber and the Stage Custom Hip kits in Raven Black and Surf Green. We also got in more Yamaha hardware, including the Crosstown super lightweight pack and some individual pieces. So all around, it was a strong Yamaha week.

Still in Drumland, I also got to do one of my other favorite things: work on a snare drum. A customer brought in an older snare that just wasn’t sounding right. Once I started digging in, I realized the throw-off had been flipped, so the snare wires weren’t getting proper tension. It also needed fresh heads and a full reset. I asked if he had 15 minutes, and by the time we were done, it was like a completely different drum. I’ve always said two of my favorite things in the store are helping people order dream drum kits and dialing in snare drums, and I got to do both of those things back-to-back this week.

We also helped a church put together a killer setup this week. Our friend Rick Murray, who has worked with Sabian and Ludwig in the past, came down to pick up a DW Maple/Mahogany kit, a bunch of hardware, and a Sabian HHX Complex Praise and Worship cymbal set for them. The church is going to have an unbelievable rig, and it was great getting to work with Rick on putting that package together.

We had another nice batch of amps roll in as well. The Orange amps continue to move, and we just got more Crush 35RT combos in. People have really been digging the Orange stuff, and we are already on our second or third reorder. We also got in the Fender Deluxe Reverb 30th Anniversary model, which has a brown paisley textured finish and a Celestion Creamback speaker. This amp is beautiful and is looking good in the new Fender department! When I asked the guys if anything stood out in the amp department this week, both Sway and Luke immediately brought that one up.

In pedal land, there was a very cool limited release from Strymon this week. They announced a small run of Cloudburst Midnight Edition pedals, and since the regular Cloudburst is already one of our most popular Strymon pedals, I had a feeling these wouldn’t last long. Sure enough, about 10 minutes after they went live, they started selling. We got a half dozen of them in and posted them on Instagram and as I write this, we are down to 1 or 2 of these so hurry!

Outside the sales floor, the whole staff got a chance to support James this weekend when All Get Out played at The Senate. Luke, Katie, Sway, Robbie, Jon, and I all made it out to the show, and it was a blast. James absolutely killed it, the band sounded incredible, and it was just nice for all of us to get out of the shop together for a night and hang. I haven’t been to a rock show in a minute, so it felt good to step away for a bit and just enjoy it.

All in all, it was a busy week — especially for me personally between normal responsibilities, shipping, and trying to function with a blown-out back — but we pushed through. The store stayed busy, the new inventory kept rolling in, repairs kept moving, and there are already some more special announcements coming next week, especially in the drum department.

As always, don’t forget about The Search for the Coolest Acoustic Guitar event on April 14th. We’ve had some really cool entries coming in, and it’s shaping up to be a fun night. And of course, mark your calendar for the next Ukulele Jam on April 27th.

Thanks again for all the support. We really appreciate it, and we’ll see you soon.

-Justin Sims