Nissan Partners with Gibson to Create Mobile Guitar Workshop

Converting the compact cargo van to a mobile repair and restoration van for guitars, Nissan and Gibson have teamed up to create a one-of-a-kind NV200. The NV200, acting as a mobile guitar repair shop, serves the needs of both working musicians and casual pickers. The van can service at locales where guitar players meet, or at major music markets such as music festivals, concerts, recording studios, or even homes.

gibson vanBased in Nashville Tennessee, the goal of the Gibson NV200 is to be a quick-response support vehicle for the Gibson’s Repair & Restoration shop. A pullout bench features an array of luthiuer’s tools including calipers, scale rulers, fret files, sandpaper, super glue, wood glue, tuning forks, a radius planer, various guitar parts, (strings, tuning machines, frets, nuts, bridges, linseed oil, potentiometers, pickups), pliers, screw drivers, and a solder station all fill the inside of the van. In order to work on instruments, the bench can be extended to the lip of the NV200.

A custom rack sits directly behind the front seat that can hold up to four guitars while the cockpit has been customized to resemble Gibson’s classic designs featuring wood veneers in the dash and special leather-appointed seats. A Gibson Pro Audio consumer electronics brand named Onkyo provided the NV200 with a custom audio system. To top it off, the NV200 was then wrapped with a full Gibson theme to make it recognizable from far away distances.

“Gibson and Nissan are both Tennessee-based companies that build products worthy of consumer passion yet suitable for everyday use,” said Joe Castelli, vice president of Commercial Vehicles and Fleet for Nissan North America. “We’ve sought a way to combine forces for many years now, and the introduction of the 2013 NV200 Compact Cargo van gives us the perfect opportunity to do so. Working with Gibson has been a dream come true for many of us here at Nissan, and we look forward to the next steps collaborating with them.”