I started tattooing in 1993. I ordered a Kaplan and sons kit from the back of a magazine. I had to wait 8 weeks for it to get here. Right out the box the machines sounded like a damn jack hammer and the colored inks smelled like straight mouthwash haha. I eventually learned how to tune them up and I changed out everything but the coils and binding post. What a great episode.
These tattooers do have ethics!!! That's what many many tatooers lack nowadays.... i hope it'll come back one day! Thanks for having them on the show! Hopefully it will inspire newcomers. Take care guys! Cheers from France
Thank you guys for always making the best videos ever! I just love to listen to all of your podcasts, because you talk about everything so openly and honestly and it feels so comforting to know that all of you outstanding, amazing and experienced tattoo artists also have struggled in the beginning of your careers and that you became so extremely good, because you had talent, dreams and you have worked harder than anyone else for it to make it happen and you didn't give up because of situations that sucked. Your talk is so motivating for me and it truly helps me to accept and cherish the beauty of the process of becoming better and better tattoo artist with years and years of hard work. Your content has changed my perspective of tattoo industry and it motivated me to study and get better at all aspects of being a tattoo artist even more and what is the most important, you gave me hope to stay positve about my career. I have always hated the feeling of finding things I could change and make tattoos look better after I finished them, because I used to feel so depressed, guilty and incompetent for months. I always thought that this gets better with years of experience, but you taught me that perfectionism is needed to never stop improving your skills and that I should accept this part of my personality, because it will help me to grow! Thanks to your awesome podcasts, I am not beating myself up because of the little things I could do better anymore. Lately, I just try to take it as a motovation to study more and to improve my techniques and be gateful for it. Thank you so much and keep up the amazing work, because we, especially less experienced tattoo artists from small countries that didn't have the chance to get apprenticeship when we have started, are really grateful for all the information you share with us. I truly and deeply respect you!🖤✨️ And thank you for educating us about how the tattoo industry was hard in the past, it truly is amazing how mentally strong those artists had to be just to exist in the tattoo industry. It makes me feel grateful for all of the modern things we have now and I appreciate how everything has evolved throught the years. I feel pathetic to think that being a tattoo artist in modern times is hard. Respect to those tattoo artists, who had it rough in the past, but still managed to do amazing tattoos!✨️
So much more to say and never enough time.. thanks to all who watch and support the Channel that gives guys like us platforms to speak about the history of tattooing.. and give the modern tattooers a glimpse of what it was like for the ones that paved the way to make it in a era of tattooing where it was a CLOSED INDUSTRY.. when there was no internet, no iPads, no stencil machines etc.. the list goes on.. make sure you all like share and subscribe so these guys can continue to push the content and give real tattooers a platform to speak on.. with respect - Lil’ Joe Kaplan
I bought an aluminum coil machine from Kaplan in 1994. I still use it to this day, had SOBA rebuild it. I love it. Adam Kaplan sold me some flash in 1999, he was a douche then, still seems like one now.
