Welcome to V8 Custom Guitars

The Tone Speed Shop

 

   After so many years in the guitar fixin' business, we're able to offer you a repair & maintenance service we think will get you revved up!

Please take a moment to check out our REPAIRS & MAINTAINANCE section and see why our SETUP PACKAGES leave others in the dust!

Now, let's kick it into overdrive...

   Founded by "Spanky", hot rodder, klassic kar kustomizer & all around guitar fiend, V8 CUSTOM GUITARS also offers a unique style of guitar hot rodding.

   Call it ol' skool, traditional, rat rod, whatever; you kats & kittens know who you are and what kind of rides you're building and driving. Well if you wanna play an axe that captures all the kool elements of your hot rod, then take a look at our KUSTOM GALLERY and see what "KUSTOM" really means!

  If you don't know why 'Kustom' is being spelled with a 'K', you may not fully understand what we do here.  See, although repairs, maintenance and upgrades are the bread and butter of our little shop, the true heart and soul of V8 Custom Guitars has always been what you are about to see when you click on the KUSTOMS section. 

   Sure, others have incorporated car themes and aesthetics into guitars.  The two just belong together!  Sometimes they’re cool, sometimes they’re cartoonish, and not something a serious musician would take actually on stage or in the studio.

   INSPIRED and heavily motivated by the style, craftsmanship, and ingenuity of the hot rodders of the 1940's, '50's, and '60's, and by the masterpieces of legends like Barris, Winfield, Kocsis, Hines, Alexander brothers, Watson, Roth, Von Dutch, etc.,  based on Deuces, Mercs, Devilles..., we capture the essence of that timeless philosophy of 'traditional' hot rods in every instrument we build or modify.

     INSIDE you will find just a few examples of what we do, with many more on the way as projects and pictures become available.  Of course, there is no 'catalog' to order from, since your guitar would be unique, designed around YOUR CAR!  Since no one is out there driving around in your dry lakes racer, hot rod, or kustom kemp, we work with you to make sure the instrument built for you reflects the individuality of your ride, using your kool elements, paint and parts.  Take a look at Mystery Machine II, the rockin' flagship Tele designed around our traditional '52 Chevy Kustom shop-car.

     YOU might notice some of the models appearing here are built using 'budget' or import models.  Don't be fooled for a second!  They are completely stripped down and rebuilt.  The custom fret work and electronics alone beat pretty much any USA made guitar off the rack by a quarter mile!  Although there are 'boutique' models on the way, based on dream cars from shows like the Autorama (cars the average Joe could never afford to have built), our goal is to build you a guitar in YOUR budget.   Just like hot rods were built in back yards 50 years ago, and in your back yard today!  

     SO if you have a few bucks and an old Tele knock off kicking around that doesn't get much play anymore, or if you want to bring your USA Les Paul up to the next level, or your Gretsch needs to show off your rockabilly koolness, or if you want something built from scratch, please don't hesitated to contact us at service@v8customguitars.com so we could make that happen for you.  In the e-mail, don't forget to include pictures of your hot rod, muscle car, chopper, truck, skateboard,... you get the idea!  How cool would that be for this seasons' car shows and gigs?!?

     THANKS for taking the time to see what we do.  Did we mention that you could totally afford this?  Just checking...

*Barris, Winfield, Hines, Alexander brothers, Watson, Roth, Von Dutch, Deuce, Merc, Deville, Chevy, Autorama, Tele, LesPaul, Gretsch, are all registered trademarks of their respective companies and are in no way associated or affiliated with V8 Custom Guitars other than to inspire koolness.  Obviously.