Practically Weightless – The Story of Nashville Customs and Their Carbon Fiber Guitar

An average sized Chihuahua, a small bag of flour, a table lamp – each item weighs, on average, between around five and six pounds. These are all things that weigh slightly more than the electric guitars Gary Nash is producing at Nashville Customs.

“Our guitars weigh only a third of the weight of comparable models of different brands of guitars,” says Nash, owner. “This is due to most electric guitars being made of a solid block of wood while ours are made from a sheet of carbon fiber. Typical electrical guitars weigh between seven to 12 pounds. And ours weigh between three and a half to four and a half pounds, depending on which model is selected.”

Nashville Customs started about 20 years ago as a concept, which would raise the bar for electric guitars. “I wanted this guitar to be the one guitar that every artist could not do without,” says Nash. “There are acoustic guitars made of carbon fiber, but we are the first ones to build an electric carbon fiber guitar as far as we know. Our guitar is unique because of the internal sound chambers inside of the guitar and the materials it is made from. We have four different body composites each one different from the other.”

Nash chose carbon fiber as his medium of choice because it is lighter than aluminum and stronger than steel. “It has a resonating quality that equally resonates on every string, so that the instrument doesn’t just sound good on the bass strings and weak on the high strings,” he explains. “I have engineered it so that the sound is rich and clear on every string. The sound has more character and sensitivity than any other instrument I have ever played in my 40 years of playing guitar.”

The process of building the guitars begins with the bodies. “The guitar bodies start out as carbon fiber and polymer sheets,” Nash explains. “They are stacked on top of one half of the mold and the other half of the mold is put over it. Then it is pressed down by a fifty-ton press and heated to over 400°F causing it to become liquefied. While still under pressure, cold water is pushed through the molds to rapidly cool the body making it become a solid half of the body. The process is then repeated for the other half. Then the bracing and chambering is built into the body by hand by myself or by another craftsman. The body is then cut for the neck, pickup, and controls. Finally the body is primed and painted. After many coats the body is cleared to preserve the color and finish and then budged out to a high gloss finish. After that the neck, bridge, pickups, electronics, hardware trim, and strings are added making it a handmade USA Nashville Custom built electric guitar.” Nash’s instruments are not machine made; rather they are made one at a time by hand using custom state of the art molds. Each guitar is made according to exacting specifications, which means there are no variations from guitar to guitar.

Nashville Customs currently has one body style, which is similar to the old ‘50s Telecaster, but it is contoured for the body in the back of the guitar. It’s also contoured for your arm to be able to comfortably rest on the front of the guitar. Customs cost $2,699 for any configuration you would like. Exotic requests may garner an extra charge. One can choose any of Nashville Customs’ neck and pick-up packages and they will combine it with a custom carbon fiber body. Nashville Customs has started working with an airbrush artist to produce more eye-catching designs. 

One of Nash’s priorities, besides building a better guitar, is charity work. “Nashville Customs is a Christian based guitar company who helps provide food clothes and shelter for people in need and in other countries,” says Nash. “Once we have more funds we hope to help thousands more.” According to the company’s website, they put a percentage of their profits to be used to minister to the needs of victims and rescuers alike. They are dedicated to helping others through trying times, aiding them through natural disasters, tragic accidents, or any other great loss.

What’s next on the agenda for Nashville Customs? “We are constantly finding new breakthroughs in quality of sound each time we upgrade our product,” says Nash. “We will have new models coming out in the near future. We want to build a bass for all the bass players out there that will be equally as exciting as our carbon fiber electric guitars at the company grows. We are always looking for new ideas and new ways to improve.”

Customers can view and place orders on their the company’s website, Nashville-customs.com