PRISMA GUITARS – Made from Upcycled Skateboard Decks

Nick Pourfard makes custom guitars out of old skate decks, and UPROXX recently did a cool little feature on him and his company, Prisma. His skill combines two of my favourite things, skateboarding recycling and guitars. And the guy’s business is actually doing pretty well, which is rad to see for someone straight out of college. Dude even made a custom bass for Steve Harris.

The Prisma process is not as odd as you first think, considering the decks are hard rock maple. It starts with a stack of skateboards, sandwiched together to make a block of wood. He then cuts out the body shape and the regular guitar making stuff can happen from there. Also, not all of his guitars use decks as the main body wood. Some just have deck-ply tops. So if you’re hesitant about using somewhat unconventional material, he’s got you fam. But if it’s unconventional you want, there’s one build I saw where even the neck is deck wood.

Often people are turned off of alternative material guitars because they are worried about the tone. But really, can you tell the difference that much? Could you pick it in a double blind test? Your hands, the pickups and your rig are gonna add most of the sound. But I do subscribe to the art-douche philosophy of “any subtle difference just means extra authenticity and individuality.” And, “That’s just like, your opinion, man.”

It’s oddly satisfying to find out about new upcycled products. I think it’s the idea of old useless crap being turned into something that someone pays good money for. Or maybe it’s my inner hippie/horder. Mostly, I don’t like that swirling abyss of garbage in the Pacific Ocean getting any bigger. So, if there’s an economic incentive to make sure whales won’t get old Toy Machine decks stuck in their blowholes, it’s a win-win.

Now, someone work out what we can do with old guitar strings…