True Tattoo

i used to live in LA but have moved out of state and i can tell you that i will never go to any other artist again. i will always come back to jeff page he has done both my arms with my boys names hidden in vines (first one while at another shop and then i followed him to true) and now i have a third child and i tell you i will fly back to cali to have jeff connect the vines across my back to my arms because he is a great artist. now i can not speak for the knuckles guy i dont know about it or his tattoo all i am saying is my own experiance. you CAN NOT judge a whole shop off of one tattoo, only the artist and the knuckles guy know what happened so for all the haters that form an opinion off of other peoples experiance is just stupid so relax and only write about what you know not what you hear or read. what i have seen from this shop is all good but that is my opinion not yours!!! jeff page is a great artist!!!

I spent a few days at True Tattoo while in town on buisness,I saw this thread while looking for the adress and,(I've been tattooed for over 200 hours in the last 20 years so i know my way around the tattoo buisness) thought now that I've been to True a few times.. I'd put in my two cents.. I could go on and on about how clean the shop is and cool the guys are but I digress..There are basically two types of people who get thier knuckles tattooed..A: those who have run out of room on the rest of thier bodies and B.bad- a$$ motherfuckers(or wanna bes) who are trying to make a statement, so if you walk into a busy tattoo shop without an appointment (remember kiddies a busy tattooer is a good thing,unless he's busy selling a bong or adjusting his facial piercings)and man up and ask for knuckle tattoos the artist might respect your decision to join that club,and not take the time to hold your hand and explain every aspect of the endeavor. You only actually pay for the time it takes to do the... Read more

so i have had two semi-large pieces done by taku so far.super talented guy. i went in initially with some ideas-he guided me toward what would go better with my body than exactly what i had in mind-like the colors i wanted-he suggested coloring that would better match my skin color(kinda pale yellowish haha) as well as he changed the exact placement i wanted and i ended up with a really well placeD tattoo that complimented the curve of my particular body.i get compliments on both pieces he has done all the time. also-he takes time to talk to you-no rush-he pulls out books from the many he has to respond to your ideas to get exactly what you both have in mind so you're on the same page.i went in last night to put the down on my next one-i trust the guy-he is super imaginative and artistic-i have left pictures i have a idea of-and i come back and the guy drew something so much more beautiful-blew my mind. if you want something high quality -see taku-last time i went in he was doing a hu... Read more

So I've been seeing a lot of reviews on here. Listen if this is your first tattoo and you dont know anything about tattoos...then go in and say hey can you fill me in on a few things to any decent shop and they should tell you what you need to know. Look through artists books and make a choice if that artist is right for you. Anyways i've had the pleasure of being tattoo'd by some good artists in la...marco and bryan at spotlight tattoo. However, True Tattoo is my new home. I like the relaxed nature of the shop. Its clean ....CLEAN! I like Traditional tattoos along with old school and script lettering. I looked trough all the books and talked to most of the guys in the shop and chose Will Card as my new go to guy. Now ....I've seen some of the reviews with stuff like "will butchered me" and all. Well my tattoo turned out perfect good healing time and great lines. Will is a great guy and he'll be honest and tell you what's up. Anyways, I have a few tattoos from will (my whole chest and ... Read more

I wanted to post a recent review of this shop since I just went there for the first time a few weeks back and have read some negative posts (from what appears to be same person/event ) on this board. After years of seeing and hearing about the works and talents coming out of this shop and of owner/artist Clay Decker, I decided to book an appointment to see him. This was not my first tattoo but my first time visiting this shop. I first got there a bit intimidated by only having an overall mental picture in my head as to what I wanted done for a sleeve. I met with Clay and explained to him what I was thinking of doing. He spent some time asking me questions about my idea and showing me a few images for examples. I left there to come back a few days later for my appointment and very excited to start. Came back to shop a few days later to see the design and it was AMAZING! It was more than I thought I would get from the short time we met. He drew up an amazing piece and I could no... Read more

I have had a personal experience at this establishment and it wasn't good......period. As for anyone who sais this review and the other negative reviews being written here are nothing but hearsay, that statement in itself is hearsay. Like some loyal patrons of this establishment seem to be posting reviews out of the thin blue just for the sake of raising the rating here on Citysearch. I along with those who have had anything less than a good experience will post accordingly. YESSSS....lets be fair.

Anyone interested in TRADITIONAL JAPANESE TATTOOS should drop in and sit down with Taku. He's one of the top young, up-and-coming tattoo artists in LA. He's from Japan, has been tattooed extensively by Horiyoshi III (the world renowned master of the craft), and is extremely creative. Taku did a half sleeve on my right arm and a 3/4 sleeve on my left arm, and his work is impeccable: clean and even lines, extremely fine attention to detail, stunning color and shading. Two years after the work was completed, I'm approached by people on a regular basis asking me who did my tattoos. After sitting with him for over 12 sessions of at least 4 hours apiece, I can say that Taku is patient, friendly, and humble. Book him while you can, he's on his way to being a star, his work holds its own next to even masters like CHRIS GARVER and CLAY DECKER (his mentors). While I personally haven't had any work done by True's other artists, I can say that the custom pieces I've seen them doing during m... Read more

While it?s unfortunate a couple of people have had negative experiences at this shop it?s seems silly to me that many of these reviews are based on hearsay or that they are simply reiterating what someone wrote in their own review? Does writing a review on hearsay not undermine the sole purpose of writing a review of a business based on personal experience?! Come on people, don?t ruin this forum. For my own personal experience I started going to True Tattoo based of a stellar reputation about a year ago and have been a regular ever since. I can only speak about D?mon and the support staff there as far as actual work done on me, which has all been top notch, professional and friendly. I?ve had a large chest piece and 5 pieces on my arms completed and am looking forward to getting the rest of my arm work finished there. That being said, the rest of the artist have always been very friendly and they all seem to take a interest in all the work that?s going on in the shop? in my own perso... Read more

ALCOHOL + TATTOOING = BAD TATTOO!!!! I don't know, I mean it's not like returning a microwave there's really no compensation that can make up for a bad tattoo, even financial restitution will only go so far, cuz laser removal is a long process. I have to agree with whatup1979 that verbalizing the drawbacks should probably be mandatory. It's like when you go buy a television are you suppose to know everything about them? These are tattoos were talking about!! and this medium of art should be taken very seriously. I don't see what the big deal is about just telling someone the skin on knuckles takes the ink differently, and then letting the person decide if they still want it done. It's like 8 words! I have heard good and bad things about this place so I'm sort of on the fence with rating the place, but drinking alcohol while tattooing is just wrong!!

SO, I feel as if I should speak on Will Card/ True's Behalf in response to all the negative reviews. I have had nothing but good experiences and amazing tattoos here. The 1st time I got tattooed there I called ahead spoke with Alex on the phone described what I wanted to get and he set me up with the artist who he thought was well suited for the artwork. It just happened to be Will. I have been getting work by him ever since and so have several of my friends. Including my knuckles which he did for me. They look great! I think that perhaps the person complaining about the supposed "butchering" doesnt understand the nature of the type of tattoo they were getting. I feel as if the customer service, management, and ownership have always been on point and very accomodating. I dont understand what all the fuss is about. Sorry to those that feel slighted but all I can say for my self is THANK YOU and GOOD JOB. I love TRUE and will continue to go there for all my artwork.

Hello I've been reading some of these reviews and felt I needed to say something as well. I think out of all the negative reviews, the one that stands out in my mind the most is the "butchered by will card" review only because it has the most serious accusations. I notice that all the positive reviews that defend Will Card never address the accusation that this guy may have been DRINKING BEER while doing the tattoo? Why is that? That's huge!!! I think it's very peculiar that people haven't mentioned that?? I mean was it not possible for this guy Will Card to do a bad job considering he may have been drinking? The owner said that about a year ago he fired an artist for doing a tattoo that obviously was way below par, and the person was in need of a cover up or complete removal, but keep in mind when the owner hired the guy ,I'm sure he thought the guy was a great artist, I think that's safe to assume. My point is THESE THINGS DO HAPPEN!! What I would like to know is what does the owner... Read more

As the Owner and founder of True Tattoo I am only writing this to let it be known that any of these bashing reviews are very recent from what I see. I am really confused as to why no one who had these horrible experiences tried to contact me or the shop to let anyone think they were any less than happy with what they got. I can only recall one instance that i was contacted about and that was well over a year ago. I not only offered to cover the cost of removal or cover up but also fired the artist. I can only say that come down and decide for yourself , we have never tattooed anyone against there will and without there agreement on the design first . Anyone who does have a complaint feel free to e-mail me at claydecker at hot mail dot-com because I really want to know what happened in detail. after all it takes two people to do a tattoo the customer and the artist. Thanks for Your time, Clay Decker

I got some great artwork done here by an artist called D'mon about 6 months ago. I agree, a shop is only is good as it's artists and each one is different. This was not my first tat by the way. The guy was professional and easy to work with. People seemed pretty cool the couple of times I went in there. I only dealt with the manager and D'mon. Not sure what the rest of you are on about... If the "customer service" experience was really that bad, be specific! Too vague.

DO NOT GO TO THIS SHOP, YOU WILL REGRET IT!!!!!! I KNOW SOMEONE WHO WENT HERE AND HAD A HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE!!! I DOUBT SHE WAS THE FIRST BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE INTIMIDATED OR SCARED TO WRITE AN HONEST REVEIW IF IT'S NEGATIVE. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE HAD A GOOD EXPERIENCE HERE CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY.

My wife and I were in town from N.C for our 10th anniversary. Ever since we were married I had to put my ink onhold due to kids, home and other more pressing bills. Things are better financialy and it was time to get my leg done with a Neptune theme. Anyhow, I walked in and was greated quickly and felt pretty comfortable. I mostly talked with Jeffery Page. Jeffery had plans to do some work on himself the next day and was booked out for some time, but decided to help a borther out and cancel his personal plans to work with me. He came in early to meet me the next day, before the shop opened, and we worked out the design and then got to inking. Great conversation and very professional. I love my work and would definatley spend the money to fly back to have him finish the rest of my leg. Jeffery Page is a credit to the profession and his shop. This was my fourth tattoo and this was my best experience. Check this shop out and Jeff for sure. Great guy, exceptional work and friendly shop.

I've gotten a lot of work done at shops all over L.A. including this one and have almost completed a body suit, So my take on this place is based on real experience. First of all let me say that a shop can change employees (artists) all the time, and I think true tattoo is one of those shops. There's usually a couple of artists that will stay a while at one shop but I would say for the most part a lot of tattooers, generally speaking are somewhat nomadic. What this essentially means is that a shop is only as good as the artists that work there, regardless of their long term reputation. I've know people that will only get tattooed by one artist because they've delveloped a friendship or good repore and love their work. So this often times involves them getting there work done at a few different shops sometimes in different cities,if they still want to be tattooed by that one person. Sorry for the guy that got his knuckles "butchered by will card", I've never heard of him but if he was d... Read more

Having been to this shop myself I would definitely question the customer service aspect, but to be fair there are some talented artists here as there is all over Los Angeles. If your new to town or just visiting you may also want to check out Mark Mahoney's Shamrock Social Club on Sunset or Bob Roberts Spotlight Tattoo on Melrose, the talent is just as good if not better. I just think that in most cases people think this shop is so great because some artists that use to work there are on television. People don't realize that those artists that are on television, even though they are very good, are not necessarily considered the "best" even by their own peers(other tattoo artists). In Many cases it depends on the style of tattooing your talking about when labeling someone "the best" if there is such a thing. There are so many brilliant artists that work at other shops in a 5 mile radius from True Tattoo that have unbeleivable talent, and that will probably never be on television. ... Read more

It looks like this shop's rep is getting trashed a little because of several people's run-ins with one artist, so I felt like I needed to say something. I don't know anything about Will Card. I do know that I chose True Tattoo based on it's reputation and got some kick-ass work done here by D'mon. The atmosphere was friendly and professional. There is some serious talent in this shop. It's perfectly ethical to ask for a deposit with an appointment as to not waste the artist's time. They can't be expected to work on your design and have you wimp-out later (that's time they could've spent working on other designs). Time is money. In regards to Vanessa1981. It's not ok to be pressured into making an appointment or to be unable to get basic info on the process. The dude you dealt with sounds impatient and obviously wasn't into your design. The rest of the artists here are awesome! I think you just ran into the wrong one...

Being that I didn't know much about tattoos at the time (and still don't..LOL) I went in to this place because it was pretty close to where I lived at the time and had heard some good things about the shop. So I decided to walk in one afternoon and see if I could get some info about a tattoo that I was dying to get. As I walked in I was greeted by I guess the manager I told him about the tattoo and my idea and he said he would get someone to talk to me in a second and to have a seat so I did. About 10 minutes later a guy named Will came out from the back I thought he was cool at first but then he made me feel a little uncomfortable about the whole thing. For one He didn't seem as if he really cared to discuss the design, and appeared to be almost annoyed because I didn't understand the process very well. He also said I should put 50 dollars down so he could draw something up and schedule an appointment wich I felt was somewhat premature considering I wasn't sure If I even wanted to ... Read more

Will Card is NOT the best tattooer in L.A.. That statement is just NOT true. Not even Will Card himself could say that's true. I got a tattoo from him once and wasn't all that great. Buyer Beware!

I have gotten several amazing tattoos at true tattoo by Will Card. He is a gifted tattoo artist with great ideas, a light hand and a true dedication to the art. I went to that shop specifically to get tattooed by him and can tell you that you will not be disapointed with his work. I will continue to go to this shop and am looking forward to collecting pieces from the other highly gifted artists who work at this establishment.

I have never written a bad review in my life. If I have a bad experience at any establishment I usually let it ride. NOT THIS TIME! I called one afternoon to to see if WILL CARD could do some knuckle tattoos on me and since I had been tattooed by him before I thought I could trust that he would do a good job, in addition the lettering in his portfolio looked good. I WAS WRONG!! To make a long story short I had my first laser tattoo removal session last week the first of many I'll need to rid my knuckles of his hideous lettering. WILL CARD is very limited as a tattooer. I think my first tattoo came out good because the design and placement was in his comfort zone wich is great, I mean thats how it should be. Right? Look If an artist can't do a great job with a 100% certainty, than they should'nt take the job, it should be passed on to someone who can. He was also drinking beer in the middle of doing my tattoo!! You know I don't want to bad mouth the shop as a whole but they ... Read more

Artists Clay Decker, Jeff Page and Paul Stottler are just a few of the famed inkslingers at this popular Hollywood shop.

Like most people I think I discovered True Tattoo after watching Miami Ink and falling in love with Chris Garver's work. I had been planning to get a tattoo for quite some time and I saved up my money all of summer to pay for it. I went to True Tattoo and found the shop to have a very relaxed atmosphere. Alex was the one that assisted me in pricing and showed the designed to an artist. I had made my appointment to see Ric for the next day. When my appointment day had arrived, Ric was very nice and diligent in his work. He knew that it was my first tattoo and did everything to keep me calm. By the time the tattoo was done, I wanted to get another one done so I wouldn't have to leave.

I had come to see Jeffery Page at True to have a skull on my arm. It was beautiful. The wait wasnt long, everyone was friendly. You ask a question and you get a quick answer. They dont look at you like your stupid you should know the answer to that one already! I had gotten my first tat at a really shady place and i am already going back to see Jeffery to add to it to make it look tons better!!!! Go check it out you wont be dissapointed.

They were very cool guys. Love the atmosphere. They did a great job! Can't go wrong with whoever you get!

Ok. so I moved here with this tattoo I'd had in mind for 8 years. I finally get it translated (correctly...) and (recommended by my tattoo parlour in Portland, ME) I head over to True Tattoo. I made an appointment with Tim Hendricks. His lines looked super clean and he had done a lot of asian art. NOW that frigging Miami Ink is on all the time I'm going to have to wait a year to get an appointment with Garver (who i've wanted to free design a color piece for my side) or Kat Von D (who I want to do my ship and anchor on the other side of my ribcage in black and gray)... Not to diss miami ink, the show is rad and it only makes me that much more impatient to get my next tattoo, but it's made them totally unattainable, and it was hard enough before... :) SO, if you've got the time, head over to true tattoo, some of the finest artist converge at this shop, and it's got a pretty cool atmosphere too...

Everyone here is awesome! But what really counts is their artistry and committment to the craft, which is second to none!