Collection: Nash Guitars

NashGuitars are to vintage instruments what the Flintstones are to the Stone Age; new guitars with a classic look and feel, but with modern amenities hidden within. Bill Nash has unlocked the brand secrets behind certain models that made them so appealing in the first place. In fact, some would say he was able to make them even better.

Nash's instruments are aged to perfection, embracing a torn-jeans aesthetic that will make you feel very Rock & Roll. Nash guitars are here to convince us that if all vintage guitars were new once, then it’s entirely possible and desirable to make a new guitar feel used and vintage. Simply put, if you want a vintage instrument, but shudder at the price tag, and potential structural issues that come with a 60-year-old guitar, then a Nash may be the perfect fit.

In the world of electric guitars, everyone’s got their favorite shape, finish, and pickup combination. It seems to have as much to do with style as the music we make. For those who like the look of raw simplicity, a heavily aged T-52 in butterscotch would be perfect. For those who prefer a sleek, versatile look, perhaps an Ocean Turquoise Nash JM63 (Nash Jazzmaster) with light aging would do the trick. Rather than list every possible combination, I’d like to spend some time fantasizing about some Nash guitars that would suit me best. Contact us if you’d like to do the same. Get on board with the dream and design a Nash guitar with us here at Midwood.

Fresh from the Time Machine!

As far as American electric guitars go, the most recognizable is probably the Fender Stratocaster. In the case of Nash, the brand may have changed (along with the price when compared to a used, vintage original), but the spirit and specs remain the same as when the strat was first introduced. For that reason, I’d love to see a Nash S57 with a “boat neck” and a paint-over-paint, light surf green on vintage white finish. The classic look, sound, and feel of the one-piece maple neck suits me. I’m thinking a heavy aging job, though. I get excited when I see guitars that REALLY look and feel like they’ve been used and loved. The back story that I’ve concocted for this one is that a defiant teen painted over the white Strat that his Dad bought new in the late 50s. He wanted that beach-body look.

The Esquire is the Telecaster‘s single-pickup, back-woods cousin. There’s something charming about it’s simplicity, but Bill Nash had the wisdom to replace the single-coil pickup in the bridge with a humbucker. If you’re gonna’ just have one, might as well go thick, right? If you get inspired when there’s as little as possible between you and the music, then the E1HB should top your list of prospective guitars. I’m thinking a natural (ash) finish with a 3-ply tortoise pickguard.

Named after the classic dodge car of the early 50s, the Nash Wayfarer is an incredibly striking instrument that speaks towards vivid imagination of Nash guitars. It looks like the offspring of a Rickenbacker and a Stratocaster, but it sounds like a vintage Gibson ES-335. The unique semi-hollow design combined with a single teardrop pickguard and a f-hole is devastating. One of the coolest new models available. Though he gained esteem for brilliantly aging quintessential models by mostly one classic brand, Bill Nash has created something entirely new with this one. If you get it, you get it. This look is killer!

In addition to guitars, Nash offers thundering basses that harken back to the first electric versions of the instrument introduced by the Fender brand. The P(Precision)Bs and the J(azz)B's come with different features that reflect the specific years from which they drew inspiration. In my mind, however, a fret-less burgundy mist JB63 with a matching head stock, black pickguard, and light aging would cover all the bases (pun intended). The music’s always better with a bit of lower register backbone.

For the non-traditionalists, Nash guitars makes a couple of 12-string models in T body-shapes (both solid and thin line). They also offer T style guitars with Lollar’s interpretation of the iconic gold-foil, Teisco Del Ray pickups of the 60s. My favorite hybrid that they make, though, is the JM, an inspired synthesis of Telecaster and Jazzmaster specs. I’m thinking gold with a black pickguard, a humbucker pickup in the neck, and heavy aging. An electric guitar like that would certainly produce some beautiful music.

As the decades roll on and we find ourselves fully immersed in the 21st century, we begin to grow sweet on more recent past eras of guitar-craft. Always attuned to their customers whims, Nash guitars even boasts a model inspired by the Super-Stratocaster's of the 80s. Their S81 features a double-locking tremolo system, a flatter radius/thinner fretboard, and is most commonly ordered with an HSH pickup combination. I’d get mine in grape finish with a black guard, and only slightly aged. I’d call it the super shredder, and it would be the nemesis of ninja turtle electric guitars.

Contact us to dream up a Nash Guitar!

The Bill Nash aging and building formula for Relic'd guitars is a proven success. As guitarists, we are attracted to vintage collector's pieces, but are dissuaded by their massive price tags. We are attracted to the look and feel of used guitars, but don’t want to deal with the structural issues that come with natural aging. The trick to making beautiful music is the right source of inspiration, and it’s hard not to feel inspired when looking at a guitar that’s been artfully aged to look like it’s been with you from the beginning. Contact us for more information on Nash electric guitars, and we’ll help you write up some new history.