Recommendations for custom tattoo (Tampa, Madeira Beach: shops, reviews, studios)

[CrowGirl]

None of my Tampa friends have gotten a tattoo here in Tampa so I'm hoping to get some word of mouth information regarding a good place to get some a custom tattoo done. I've been trying to get some information online and so far RedLetter1 and Mean Machine look like good possibilities. Has anyone had any experiences (good, bad or otherwise) with either of these shops? Are there other shops I should consider?

As always, thanks for your help

[boredathome]

Id like to know also. I want to get inked of a burning skull on my back and maybe a piercing downstairs

[I_Want_Snow]

I got 4 of my 9 done including a right forearm sleeve at Atomic Tattoo. They have a handful of shops in Tampa and St. Pete.
Tampa Bay Tattoo Studios

Also you can check out State of Mind Tattoo over by Madeira Beach. I had 3 of them done by Aaron. The othger artist name there is Josh. You can check out Josh's My space page here: MySpace - Josh Hazle - 28 - Male - SAINT PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - myspace.com/joshhazletattoos and you can see some of Josh's work, but Aarons profile is set to private. They are by appointment only

If you look at my profile here, I have an album with some of my tattoos. I have them named by what studio did them. Take a look...

[ladyspeed6]

I have had 2 done at Mean Machine in S. Tampa and 4 done at Blue Devil in Ybor City. I think both places were clean and professional.

I prefer to go to Blue Devil. The artists that work there have been there forever and are all extremely talented at custom work. I've had large pieces done by Esben and Ed-E.

Good luck!

[CrowGirl]

Sorry for not respondiong earlier - I've been out of town. Thanks for all the recommendations...maybe I will take a day to visit Mean Machine, Atomic and Blue Devil. I've heard mixed reviews about Atomic. Some have said that the shops vary in quality. But this is very helpful. There are so many studios here I needed to filter out a few to check out. I'll post a pic when I get it done!

CG