In late 2002 Valley Arts reopened as a music store, repair facility and small manufacturer specializing in custom guitars in downtown Nashville. Through the 1990s Gibson was moving to expand and diversify its brands, and by the late 1990s they had decided to acquire the "Valley Arts" name as an outgrowth of the Gibson Custom Shop. They quickly became dissatisfied with their positions in the company and the quality of the guitars manufactured by Samick, and by 1993 they had moved to positions at Gibson. In an attempt to expand their business, in 1992 they sold half of Valley Arts to the Korean guitar manufacturer Samick. Underinsured, McGuire and Carness found it necessary to sell the store and concentrate on the manufacturing side of the business. In late 1990 the store was destroyed by fire. "Signature" Valley Arts features often included highly-figured wood grain on the front, translucent colored finishes, gold hardware, Floyd Rose locking tremolos, EMG and Seymour Duncan humbucking pickups. Most of their guitars had a radical styling similar to that of a superstrat others were modified versions of Fender's popular designs, the Stratocaster and the Telecaster.
They began building custom guitars from scratch in 1977, and by 1983 demand for these guitars had increased to the point of requiring a separate manufacturing facility.
Partners in a music store and repair shop, their repairs and customizations gained the attention of Los Angeles studio musicians and jazz guitarists such as Lee Ritenour, Steve Lukather, Tommy Tedesco and Larry Carlton. Mike McGuire and Al Carness founded the company in the mid-1970s in North Hollywood, California, a district of Los Angeles, California in the San Fernando Valley the name "Valley Arts" is a reference to the firm's original location. Valley Arts Guitar is an American electric guitar manufacturer currently owned and operated by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. Have a nice case for this beautiful guitar. Plays great with low action and frets are like new. It is all original and the 22 fret model seems even more rare. I had this guitar since 2005 but barely played it but with serial # 0903 I believe it dates back to early 1990's or earlier. Very rare original US model (pre-Samick / Gibson - see Valley Arts history pasted below).
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