Nordstrand Audio

What Nordstrand Audio does

Nordstrand Audio is a privately held, founder-owned manufacturer of premium electromagnetic pickups, preamp electronics, effect pedals, muting systems, and complete electric bass instruments, founded in 2005 by Carey Nordstrand and operating from Redlands, California with approximately 10 employees. The company's core technology is analog pickup winding and preamp circuit design spanning bass configurations (Jazz, Precision, PJ, Music Man, Soapbar, Mustang, Rickenbacker, plus proprietary CatPups and Polyvox 5) and guitar configurations (humbuckers, Stratocaster and Telecaster single coils, G&L ASAT), with proprietary branded products including the StarLifter bass preamp/DI, NordyMute muting system, and the Acinonyx and Acinonyx V short-scale basses.

The business operates on a built-to-order manufacturing model with 3–4 week lead times for stock items and 6–8 weeks for custom pickups. Revenue is generated through multiple streams: direct-to-consumer e-commerce via the company's Shopify storefront, an authorized dealer network with a dedicated dealer login portal, an OEM program supplying components to instrument manufacturers, and a full repair and modification service shop. Pricing is quote-based rather than publicly listed, and the company also sells through an Amazon storefront for marketplace-oriented buyers.

Nordstrand Audio serves four primary customer segments: professional and serious amateur bass and guitar players seeking premium tone; luthiers and custom instrument builders integrating Nordstrand pickups into high-end builds (e.g., LEH Guitars); authorized music retailers reselling Nordstrand products; and OEM manufacturers embedding Nordstrand components in production instruments. Distribution is multi-channel including owned e-commerce, dealer channel, OEM, and marketplace, supported by organic marketing across the company website, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, an email newsletter, a company blog, and a structured Nordstrand Endorsers program featuring professional artists and builders.

Name

Nordstrand Audio

Legal name

Nordstrand Audio

Website

https://nordstrandpickups.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Nordstrand Audio is a founder-owned boutique manufacturer of premium bass and guitar pickups, preamps, effect pedals, and the Acinonyx electric bass, serving professional musicians, luthiers, authorized dealers, and OEM instrument manufacturers from Redlands, California.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Guitar and Bass Pickups

NAICS

Musical Instrument Manufacturing (339992), Musical Instrument and Supplies Retailers (45914)

SIC

Musical Instruments (3931)

akta.pro primary industry

Musical Instruments (Acoustic & Electric) (MPAIAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Music Production Hardware (Synthesizers, Drum Machines, Samplers, MIDI Controllers) (MPAIAJAE), Instrument Repair, Maintenance & Luthier Services (CRALAEAF), Music Instruments & Sheet Music Retail (CRALAIAE)

Keywords

• Bass pickups
• Guitar pickups
• Bass preamps
• Guitar effect pedals
• Electric bass guitars

Headquarters

HQ city

Redlands, California

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: One-time sale of physical products including bass pickups, guitar pickups, bass preamps, mutes, guitar pedals, and accessories. Products are built to order with specific lead times: 3-4 weeks for stock items, 6-8 weeks for custom pickups.
2. Instrument Sales: Sale of house-designed instruments, specifically the Acinonyx bass and Acinonyx V bass models. California-built instruments released in batches throughout the year.
3. Repair and Modification Services: Full repair and modification shop offering services for guitars and basses, generating service-based revenue.
4. OEM/Dealer B2B Sales: Bulk sales to manufacturers (OEM) and authorized dealers for resale, offering components and finished products through B2B channels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Nordstrand Audio designs and manufactures electromagnetic pickups, bass preamps, guitar effect pedals, and complete electric bass guitars for the electric guitar and bass market. Products are built to order at the Redlands, California facility with extensive customization across virtually every major bass and guitar pickup configuration (Jazz, Precision, PJ, Music Man, Soapbar, Mustang, Rickenbacker, plus proprietary CatPups and Polyvox 5 designs). The company also operates a full repair and modification shop servicing guitars and basses, and supplies components to OEM instrument manufacturers and authorized dealers.

Product overview

Nordstrand Audio is a manufacturer of guitar and bass pickups, bass preamps, effect pedals, and electric bass guitars. The company offers a diverse portfolio centered on three main product lines: (1) Bass Pickups covering Jazz, Precision, PJ, Music Man, Soapbar, Mustang, and Rickenbacker configurations in 4, 5, and 6-string variants, plus proprietary CatPups and Polyvox 5; (2) Bass Preamps including the StarLifter Bass Preamp/DI, 2 Band, 3 Band, and 2 Band Boost Only modules; (3) Guitar Pickups including humbuckers (NVH Vintage, NDC), Stratocaster single coils (NVS), Telecaster single coils (NVT A3, NVT, NMT), and G&L ASAT pickups; and (4) Guitar Pedals including Boris fuzz, Ice Caves reverb, Astro Rocket overdrive, and Codename Black Hat fuzz. Additionally, the company designs and manufactures complete electric bass instruments under the Acinonyx brand, and offers the NordyMute muting system and accessories. Founded by Carey Nordstrand in 2005, the company operates from Redlands, California with products built to order with 3-4 week lead times for stock items and 6-8 weeks for custom pickups.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Acinonyx Short-Scale Bass California-built short-scale electric bass guitar designed by Nordstrand Audio, featuring innovative pickup and electronics design. Sold in batches throughout the year.
• Acinonyx V Bass V-style variant of the Acinonyx bass, a California-built electric bass designed by Nordstrand Audio, released in batches throughout the year.
• Jazz Bass Pickups Pickups designed for Jazz bass configurations, available in 4-string, 5-string, and 6-string variants; built to order.
• Precision Bass Pickups Pickups designed for Precision bass configurations, available in 4-string, 5-string, and 6-string variants; built to order.
• 51 Precision Bass Pickups Vintage-style pickups modeled after 1951 Precision bass specifications, designed to replicate classic Precision bass tone.
• PJ Bass Pickups Pickups combining Precision and Jazz bass configurations in a single setup, offered for players seeking both tonal profiles in one bass.
• Music Man Bass Pickups Pickups designed for Music Man style bass guitars, built to order.
• Soapbar Bass Pickups Soapbar-shaped pickups for bass guitars, available in 4-, 5-, and 6-string variants; built to order.
• Mustang Bass Pickups Pickups designed for Mustang bass configurations, built to order.
• Rickenbacker Bass Pickups Pickups designed for Rickenbacker bass guitars, built to order.
• CatPups Proprietary Nordstrand Audio pickup design featuring custom pole piece configuration, originally developed for the Acinonyx bass.
• Polyvox 5 Bass pickup featuring continuous sensing blades, available in Warm & Wooly or Clean & Clear tonal variants.
• StarLifter Bass Preamp/DI Bass preamp and DI box offering top-notch sound quality with a simple accessible feature set and clear, easy-to-use controls.
• 2 Band Bass Preamp Two-band bass preamp for tonal control on electric bass instruments.
• 3 Band Bass Preamp Three-band bass preamp offering expanded tonal freedom with three bands of equalization.
• 2 Band Boost Only Preamp Two-band preamp with boost-only functionality for electric bass instruments.
• The Tone Drop Big tone switch providing additional tonal options for bass instruments.
• NordyMute Bass Mute System Proprietary bass muting system whose effect is akin to upright-like inhibition of resonance; available for 4-string, 5-string, 6-string basses and Dingwall basses.
• NVH Vintage Humbucker Vintage-style humbucker pickup for electric guitars.
• NDC Humbucker Guitar humbucker pickup with NDC designation.
• NVS Single Coil Vintage (Strat) Vintage-style single coil pickup designed for Stratocaster electric guitars.
• NVT A3 Vintage (Tele) Vintage A3 single coil pickup for Telecaster guitars.
• NVT Vintage (Tele) Vintage-style single coil pickup for Telecaster guitars.
• NMT Modern (Tele) Modern-style single coil pickup for Telecaster guitars.
• AL-SAT for G&L ASAT Single coil pickup designed for G&L ASAT electric guitars.
• Boris: Fuzz For The People Guitar fuzz effect pedal designed for electric guitar players seeking classic fuzz tones.
• Ice Caves: Ambient Reverb Ambient reverb guitar effect pedal.
• Astro Rocket Kit Overdrive Overdrive guitar effect pedal.
• Codename: Black Hat Fuzz Fuzz guitar effect pedal.
• Repair and Modification Services Full repair and modification shop offering services for electric guitars and basses, generating service-based revenue at the Redlands, California facility.
• OEM Components Program OEM services supplying Nordstrand Audio pickups and components to instrument manufacturers for integration into their production instrument lines.

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and moderate.

• Authorized DealerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNetwork of authorized music retailers and instrument shops that resell Nordstrand Audio products to end customers. Dealers have access to a dedicated dealer login portal for ordering and account management.
• OEM ManufacturerscoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerMusical instrument manufacturers who incorporate Nordstrand Audio pickups and components into their production instruments. The company offers OEM services for manufacturers seeking to integrate Nordstrand's pickup technology.
• Nordstrand EndorsersmoderateOthersProfessional artists, luthiers, and builders featured on the Nordstrand Endorsers program who publicly use and advocate for the products. Includes notable figures like Ellis Hahn of LEH Guitars and professional musicians.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Seymour Duncan: Seymour Duncan is one of the largest makers of guitar and bass pickups worldwide, including bass-specific designs (SPB, SJB) and preamps — directly comparable to Nordstrand's pickup and preamp catalog. Both serve OEMs, dealers, and pro players.
• Lindy Fralin Pickups: Lindy Fralin builds hand-wound guitar pickups (Strat, Tele, humbucker) sold direct-to-consumer with custom options — matching Nordstrand's boutique guitar pickup offering and built-to-order philosophy.
• Aguilar Amplification: Aguilar makes bass pickups, on-board bass preamps (OBP series), and bass pedals/effects — directly overlapping Nordstrand's bass electronics, preamp, and pedal product lines. Both serve professional bass players and custom bass builders.
• Sadowsky Guitars: Sadowsky designs boutique electric basses (NYC and Metro lines) with their own proprietary electronics and pickups. Comparable to Nordstrand's Acinonyx bass business and even appears as pre-owned inventory in Nordstrand's online store.
• EMG Pickups: EMG designs and manufactures active and passive guitar and bass pickups plus on-board preamps — the same product categories as Nordstrand. Both sell to OEMs, dealers, and individual players seeking premium electronics.
• Darkglass Electronics: Darkglass makes bass preamps, bass pedals (overdrive, distortion), and pickup systems — overlapping Nordstrand's pedal line (Boris, Ice Caves, Astro Rocket, Codename Black Hat) and bass electronics. Both target the same professional and boutique bass community.
• Fishman Transducers: Fishman designs pickups, preamps, and electronics for acoustic and electric instruments — closely comparable to Nordstrand's pickup and on-board preamp systems (StarLifter, 2/3-band). Both serve OEM partners and individual instrument players.
• Bartolini: Bartolini manufactures bass pickups and on-board preamp electronics for electric basses — the same core specialty as Nordstrand. Both target boutique bass builders and OEM instrument makers with premium electromagnetic pickup and preamp solutions.
• Dingwall Guitars: Dingwall is a boutique Canadian bass builder that partners with Nordstrand for the 'Dingstrand Nordwall NordyMutes' (visible in Nordstrand's product catalog). Both are boutique bass brands selling premium instruments and electronics to professional bass players.
• DiMarzio: DiMarzio designs guitar and bass pickups (including bass lines like Model P/J and Ultra Jazz) for players, luthiers, and OEMs. Directly comparable to Nordstrand's guitar pickup (NVH, NDC, NVS) and bass pickup (Jazz, Precision, PJ) offerings.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/nordguitar
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/careynordstrand
• Facebookfacebook.com/NordstrandAudio
• Instagraminstagram.com/nordstrandaudio
• TikTokTikTok.com/@nordstrandaudio
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nordstrand-audio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nordstrand Audio