Best place to get a tattoo?

[h0tm1x]

I'm looking to get another tattoo. I got my first one at Canadian Custom Tattoo (was in bowness now is/was? on edmonton trail)7 years ago. Where's the cleanest, cheapest place that does a good job?

[That.Guy.S30]

please do a search.

there is no such place as a "cheap" and "good tattoo job".

you have to pay for their talent.

[JordanAndrew]

Jokers on center street and 16th ave NW does decent tattoos and the prices are pretty cheap.

[avow]

heard nothing but good things about smiling buddha.

[h0tm1x]

Originally posted by Thi_Thi Subs
please do a search.

there is no such place as a "cheap" and "good tattoo job".

you have to pay for their talent.

Originally posted by avow
heard nothing but good things about smiling buddha.

Thi_Thi Subs, I can do a search on places but that does me no good when i want PEOPLE's opinions. And there is good places to get a good cheap tattoos, I got mine which is a good size and full color for $60.

avow, i have heard good things about Smiling Buddha also. But they get so much business that they can afford to do a crappy job and not care (not saying they DO but they COULD)

I'm looking for a smaller place that will do a damn good job to make sure that you go back and bring all your friends that's pretty reasonable in price.

[IhateDomestic]

smiling buddha... is good but you must pay them good.

no such thing as cheap good looking tattoo

[03ozwhip]

DO NOT go to Jokers, i wont get into it. you can never go wrong with Buddha, but a buddy of mine is opening up a shop in Airdrie it should be open in the next 2 weeks, i forget what its called right now but hes done some stuff for me and i love it. as soon as he opens im going there, for people he hasnt tattoeed before its 120/hour seems like alot, but for the standards and quality thats what you pay for.

[h0tm1x]

03ozWhip, lol thanks but i just left airdrie after living there for 5 years. I have no intentions on going back. Plus i don't drive so i'm looking around Calgary :P

[SikAssR1]

http://www.immaculateconcept.com/

check these guys out

[JordanEG6]

Miami Ink

Originally posted by IhateDomestic
smiling buddha... is good but you must pay them good.

no such thing as cheap good looking tattoo

but seriously,

i've seen their work, its pretty good. as far as prices go, you get what you pay for.

[nonsane]

Originally posted by JordanAndrew
Jokers on center street and 16th ave NW does decent tattoos and the prices are pretty cheap.

I have had friends have trouble with peircings and tattoos from there. Wasn't too impressed with the cleanliness of the place either.

[topmade]

Originally posted by Thi_Thi Subs
please do a search.

there is no such place as a "cheap" and "good tattoo job".

you have to pay for their talent.

I think he meant a search within beyond as this topic has come up several times.


+1 smiling budha. Co-worker of mine a few years back got this huge dragon wrapped around his one arm and a wicked bumble bee on the other arm and it looked absolutely amazing.

[spike98]

http://www.strangeworldtattoo.com/index.html

Brett Schwindt is amazing! He is in the process of doing my buddies back peice and it is unbelievable.

These guys just opened and are booking up like crazy. Brett is booked into january so far. This shop houses 3 of the top tatoo artist in calgary and most likely western canada.

[h0tm1x]

Originally posted by topmade


I think he meant a search within beyond as this topic has come up several times.


+1 smiling budha. Co-worker of mine a few years back got this huge dragon wrapped around his one arm and a wicked bumble bee on the other arm and it looked absolutely amazing.

i have done a search but didn't come up with anything. If there is a thread in here already on this topic could someone link me please?

[Kirbs17]

Fine Line on 16th ave, beside coffee time. I got my tattoo there, and its amazing.

[EK 2.0]

Originally posted by Kirbs17
Fine Line on 16th ave, beside coffee time. I got my tattoo there, and its amazing.

man they are still open??...I got my first tat from them like 10 years ago...haha...

[abyss]

Originally posted by Kirbs17
Fine Line on 16th ave, beside coffee time. I got my tattoo there, and its amazing.

I got mine there too over 5 years ago...holy, has it been that long? I can't really comment too much on the talent there as mine is pretty well the easiest tattoo ever. But it was pretty cheap, I remember that much at least.

[mdeleon]

Considering the average prices, for tattoos these days are around 120-150ish the price that the top shops charge isnt expensive at all imo. paying that extra 20-30/hr for the peace of mind that it's gettin done well and with the best tools (such as ink that doesnt start to change to a diff colour as it fades) is worth it i think. and even though smilin buddha can take advantage of their custies just cuz they bring in so many, shouldnt scare you away from them. they wouldnt risk their rep and business like that.

so far i have 4, and each one i've tried somewhere new to see which one was best.

- 1st one was an angel on my right shoulder from smilin buddha. awsome job, took 1 1/2 hours, minimal pain.

- 2nd was a tribal lion on my left shoulder from arthouse in kensington, 120/hr, i paid no tax cuz i told them smilin buddha offered me x price so they beat it. fuckin hurt tho haha. fillin in the black hurt more than the outlining cuz it seemed like he was carvin at the same spot for such a long time, at the end, i ended up gettin scarred and you can feel the tattoo.

- 3rd was a last second decision for my birthday so i ended up goin to jokers. everyone is right what they say about the place, it doesnt seem sanitary at all, but i really cant complain about the work, except it did take longer than i expected 1 hor 20 mins. paid $160 for my last name down my right tricep.

- 4th was just the past weekend at body inc. in kensington, $120/hr. the artist i got tho didnt actually work there he was just there from england workin there after the tattoo convention, i was excited to be tatted from somone out of the country, he was fuckin awsome. total time for the tat was 45 mins for 5 letters down my left tricep compared to my right tricep which has 6 letters and took 1 hr 20 mins as mentioned above. outlining pain felt normal, nothing too bad. the best part was it seemed like it only took him 10 mins, probably actually took 15-20 tho, but time just flew by. and i hardly felt him fillin it in. i actually fell asleep for the last 15 mins of the tatty. cost me $105.

customer service was overall good from all the places, even jokers. since my angel was my first, i had tons of questions for smilin buddha, and they answered my questions very politely and were very helpful. i seriously thought they were gonna be kinda snobbish since they seem like big biker guys, but no, i was very impressed.

my 5th one is gonna be my biggest and im going to book it at bushido as ive heard very good things from them as well, and a buddy is currently gettin a sleeve done by them and looks awsome so far. they have a long waiting list tho, the main guy/owner is booked till april and everyone else is booked till november/december. the owner charges 150/hr, and everyone else charges depending on size and work, which usually works out ranging from 110-120/hr they said.

just my experiences.

[buttercup]

if you are getting some generic logo.. it really doesnt matter where you go.

if you are getting soemthing unique, you need to look at the artists portfolio before making a decision, find an artist that does work which attracts you and that you want.

dont just go somewhere because its cheap

tats are for life dude, you want to be happy with it

[shakalaka]

Originally posted by mdeleon
Considering the average prices, for tattoos these days are around 120-150ish the price that the top shops charge isnt expensive at all imo. paying that extra 20-30/hr for the peace of mind that it's gettin done well and with the best tools (such as ink that doesnt start to change to a diff colour as it fades) is worth it i think. and even though smilin buddha can take advantage of their custies just cuz they bring in so many, shouldnt scare you away from them. they wouldnt risk their rep and business like that.

so far i have 4, and each one i've tried somewhere new to see which one was best.

- 1st one was an angel on my right shoulder from smilin buddha. awsome job, took 1 1/2 hours, minimal pain.

- 2nd was a tribal lion on my left shoulder from arthouse in kensington, 120/hr, i paid no tax cuz i told them smilin buddha offered me x price so they beat it. fuckin hurt tho haha. fillin in the black hurt more than the outlining cuz it seemed like he was carvin at the same spot for such a long time, at the end, i ended up gettin scarred and you can feel the tattoo.

- 3rd was a last second decision for my birthday so i ended up goin to jokers. everyone is right what they say about the place, it doesnt seem sanitary at all, but i really cant complain about the work, except it did take longer than i expected 1 hor 20 mins. paid $160 for my last name down my right tricep.

- 4th was just the past weekend at body inc. in kensington, $120/hr. the artist i got tho didnt actually work there he was just there from england workin there after the tattoo convention, i was excited to be tatted from somone out of the country, he was fuckin awsome. total time for the tat was 45 mins for 5 letters down my left tricep compared to my right tricep which has 6 letters and took 1 hr 20 mins as mentioned above. outlining pain felt normal, nothing too bad. the best part was it seemed like it only took him 10 mins, probably actually took 15-20 tho, but time just flew by. and i hardly felt him fillin it in. i actually fell asleep for the last 15 mins of the tatty. cost me $105.

customer service was overall good from all the places, even jokers. since my angel was my first, i had tons of questions for smilin buddha, and they answered my questions very politely and were very helpful. i seriously thought they were gonna be kinda snobbish since they seem like big biker guys, but no, i was very impressed.

my 5th one is gonna be my biggest and im going to book it at bushido as ive heard very good things from them as well, and a buddy is currently gettin a sleeve done by them and looks awsome so far. they have a long waiting list tho, the main guy/owner is booked till april and everyone else is booked till november/december. the owner charges 150/hr, and everyone else charges depending on size and work, which usually works out ranging from 110-120/hr they said.

just my experiences.

Just wondering how does that last name tattoo on the arm looks?
I am thinking of getting my last name in some fancy lettering tattoo'ed on the INSIDE of my left arm. Its gonna be 5 letters down the arm. From what I have heard that it's gonna hurt like a bitch on the inside, but I am not too bothered about the pain. Just wanna make sure that it'll look good. You might not have one at the exact same spot but sure is pretty darn close.