About Sim Tech Music and Tipton Bars
Sim Tech and Tipton bars are made by me, Chris Simpkins, a long-time resonator guitar player and machine shop owner, just outside of Nashville, TN.
With the help of my dad, Ed, I made my first bars back in the early 1990’s for Bashful Brother Oswald. I worked with Os experimenting with different sizes until we came up with a size that worked best for him and his hands, which were giving him trouble with advanced arthritis. At about the same time, we were also making bars for resonator guitarist, Gene Wooten.
The bars now being offered are made from the stock of Ron Tipton, legendary tone bar developer. Realizing the need for a tone bar that would be easier to hold and use, Mr. Tipton started making bars back in the late 1970’s on an old Cincinnati shaping machine. The shaping machine was not an economical or time efficient way to manufacture bars, so he came up with a design and contracted with a company that teamed up with a group in Sweden to manufacture brass extrusions that he could hand size to different lengths and have chrome plated.
Since the 1980’s, Mr. Tipton’s bars have been sought after and used by musicians around the world. We are excited to be able to carry on his work by offering his three designs as well as some new designs of our own using the same extrusions Mr. Tipton had made in Sweden over 30 years ago!
Each bar is hand cut and the ends are CNC machined to ensure consistency. They are then hand honed, beveled, polished, centered, chemically treated and chrome plated. Our chrome plater specializes in the music industry and plates many of the premium pickups, stomp boxes, tuning machines, strap locks and other accessories popularly used today.
Once back from the platers, the bars are inspected and laser engraved. They are then ready for making great music!
With the help of my dad, Ed, I made my first bars back in the early 1990’s for Bashful Brother Oswald. I worked with Os experimenting with different sizes until we came up with a size that worked best for him and his hands, which were giving him trouble with advanced arthritis. At about the same time, we were also making bars for resonator guitarist, Gene Wooten.
The bars now being offered are made from the stock of Ron Tipton, legendary tone bar developer. Realizing the need for a tone bar that would be easier to hold and use, Mr. Tipton started making bars back in the late 1970’s on an old Cincinnati shaping machine. The shaping machine was not an economical or time efficient way to manufacture bars, so he came up with a design and contracted with a company that teamed up with a group in Sweden to manufacture brass extrusions that he could hand size to different lengths and have chrome plated.
Since the 1980’s, Mr. Tipton’s bars have been sought after and used by musicians around the world. We are excited to be able to carry on his work by offering his three designs as well as some new designs of our own using the same extrusions Mr. Tipton had made in Sweden over 30 years ago!
Each bar is hand cut and the ends are CNC machined to ensure consistency. They are then hand honed, beveled, polished, centered, chemically treated and chrome plated. Our chrome plater specializes in the music industry and plates many of the premium pickups, stomp boxes, tuning machines, strap locks and other accessories popularly used today.
Once back from the platers, the bars are inspected and laser engraved. They are then ready for making great music!
