1603 Tattoo Co.

Reviews 3

JO

Jon Hackett

Although not usually prone to writing reviews on line, I felt compelled to write this one after my experience at 1603 Tattoo Co on 25 May 16. In short, it was a 100% positive experience and I give this shop and my artist (Jarrod Connolly) my highest rating - more on that later. The bottom line, I will most definitely return to this shop and to Jarrod for future work. Some specifics. I am not local - my home town has plenty of tattoo shops but its a military town and because of that - the focus is often on speed and quantity vs. quality - also, the turnover of people here is so rapid that most shops dont have artists with years of experience or portfolios/resumes worth noting. Sort of a meat market approach. So, I waited to come to Tampa to get some work done. I did the best research I could on line (thus the reason why I wanted to do this review) and narrowed my choice down to two shops - 1603 and one other. I picked 1603. Note: This is my 4th tattoo - I had my first in 1990 and seem to average one every 6-7 years, with my last one prior to this back in 2009. The shop is relatively new (I learned they had moved from a previous location 3 years ago) and is clean, well maintained, nicely decorated, and inviting. The shop has a sort of modern/edgy/eclectic vibe that just seems to click. I felt comfortable and relaxed and was surrounded by artwork and interesting decor. Another thing that impressed me is that in the waiting area each artist on staff has a professionally bound book of their artwork available for perusal. The receptionist took me right back and introduced me to Jarrod. Jarrod was an interesting and engaging artist. He took a look at my design and asked me a series of detailed questions to gain a complete understanding of what I was really asking for. He looked at the location for the tattoo (left forearm) - took a tracing of the exact spot, then escorted me back to the front area to wait while he did the artwork on the spot. After about 45 minutes he showed me his proof which was excellent - there were a couple of small changes I asked for which he made immediately and after agreeing on the design, he went to work. The work area was comfortable, clean, and functional. Jarrod walked me through the process and I watched him set up. He switched to "business mode" as he got ready and again I was impressed - he gave off the impression that he definitely knows his business. Based on his book I expected that, and the results reinforced that opinion. I relaxed and dozed through 99% of the work which should tell you something about his style - efficient, painless (relatively - if youve ever had a tattoo done youre going to feel it, but Jarrod definitely has the best touch Ive experienced) and consistent. He gave me a "comfort check" about 10 minutes into it to ensure I was doing OK, then continued to roll. After about 45 minutes the main work was done and he woke me to do a progress check. There were a few changes he wanted to make based on his feel for the work, how it looked on my arm, and his artistic opinion. All ideas were great and I said "go for it" - then closed my eyes again and let him roll. What I expected to take 2-3 hours took about 90 minutes. The tattoo is not huge, but it covers the inside of my left forearm and involves a lot of lines and includes a significant amount of curves, shading, and letters. Bottom line - the tattoo is AMAZING, EXCEPTIONAL, and MAGNIFICENT. Unfortunately it makes my other tattoos (which I love) seem sort of humble. Without a doubt the best work I have had done - it is crisp, bold, and incredibly detailed. Shading is brilliant. I have one more to do and will be coming back to Jarrod at 1603. After I was done Jarrod even helped me figure out Uber to get home (my first time using) and gave me complete care instructions. Cant recommend Jarrod and 1603 highly enough - if youre going to put something on your body for the rest of your life do it right. Last note, on pricing, extremely competitive and well worth every penny.

CH

Cha Has

I have a few tattoos, 15 total now... Ranging from a good fist size to half sleeves... So I guess you can say I know a little bit about what I am looking for in a shop and artist... This visit was to be myself meeting up with my oldest daughter and her boyfriend for me to help make sure he was getting what he was looking for... The artist he was looking to see was out of town, no biggie since he did not have an appointment or idea of this... In the mean time my daughter, that has always said she would like one and knew what she was looking for, decided to go ahead and get one... In steps the outstunding lite purple haired girl at the counter (sorry I did not remember her name), she helped in talking with my daughter about what happens and so forth... Afterwards, she went and got the artist that was available for the type of tattoo she was looking for... In comes Veronica... They talked for about 10 minutes and then Veronica had the idea of what my daughter wanted and went to work on the layout and design... A little while later she came out with the intial design, all needed, one minor adjustment... It was made and the went to get it drilled... My daughter, being nervous with this being her first, was put at easy in no time... Before she knew it is was started and done, with not one scream, one tear or even a whimper... Veronica made this happen, she was the down right f@#$@#g bomb... Loved her work so much and how she handled my daughter, I got one myself... And damn if she did not nail mine dead on... I will be back to see her soon and I will be bringing my clients with me... You are the BOMB baby... Speaking of baby... congrats on that as well Veronica... Keep on drilling

MA

marcus rowan

My wife and I went in to get lyrics tattooed on each other. Jared connelly was our artist. He was so in to both tattoos and when we came in already had em pretty much finalized just based off our consultation. He took the time to customize hers so it looked more feminine which was something i hadnt encountered. Usually people just picked a font. Not jarod, he thought the whole thing out. He made sure all the placement was correct with hers being on her shoulder and kept her comfortable through the whole thing. Dude was awesome. He did my chest piece which took two settings to complete and i love it. He had ideas that I had never even thought of. He and i talked the whole time. Hes so down to earth and knew so much about how to apply the ink and make certain parts of the tattoo pop. Def goin to him next time my wife or i need somthing done. Make sure to call ahead and set up an appt so that your not confused and think no one has time for you when u just stumble in and they are all busy. Haha. (I even forgot about my second appt i made and he called me and resched asap so i could have it done by the time i went on a trip). Truely appreciate people like that. Love this place.