Why Buy an Old South Custom Guitar?
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We provide the finest components, materials and workmanship.
(Major manufacturers' quality is not what it once was.)
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Every Old South Custom Guitar is made by hand, one at a time.
(Their "custom" guitars are now made on an assembly line.)
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You deserve an instrument made to your specifications, matching your style, your aesthetic.
(Mass produced isn't a good fit for anyone.)
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Your need the right feel that becomes an immediate favorite!
(Your guitar shouldn't be identical to thousands of others.)
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Scotty Huffman
Born in Kentucky in 1968, my biggest influences were my father and two older brothers.
Dad was a factory worker by night and an artist during the day (and on the weekends). He had an automobile paint and body shop he ran as a hobby, a calling, and a second income. If anyone was ever looking for my dad, it was always best to start the search out in the shop, where he was in his element.
Both of my older, guitar-playing, brothers encouraged my love of music and by age ten, I was listening to the blues and had started idolizing blues rock artists. The day I turned 14, I got my first real guitar. That was a pivotal moment and I have played ever since.
With a father who could fix anything, it was natural for me to learn to repair and worked on my own guitars. As I matured, my love of playing, repairing and customizing my own guitars wasn’t enough, even working on my friends' guitars wasn’t enough. I had to do more...
In Honor of My Dad
In 2006, when dad passed away, I continued the family tradition of working in Dad's shop, with just a few changes. The auto customization shop was converted into a guitar shop where I started building and finishing custom guitars.
A year later I launched an eBay shop to develop my niche market of custom, aged guitar necks and bodies for fellow guitar fanatics who wanted to build their own guitars. This fledgling business grew into Huffman's Custom Guitars and soon I was selling his custom parts all over the world!
Old South Is Born
In 2022, I had lunch with fellow musician and long-time friend Joe Caldwell and we decided to partner up and launch our own custom guitar shop. After several months of preparation, we launched Old South Custom Guitars, basing our logo on nostalgia and old vintage signs.
We are a two-man operation, handcrafting guitars one-at-a-time in the heart of Central Kentucky to give you an instrument with superior look, fit, feel and tone.
Joe Caldwell
An appreciation for great music has always been present in my life. I remember being in church as a small child watching my grandpa play guitar and sing. It inspired me. When I visited his house, I would sneak into the room where he kept his guitar leaning in the corner and ever so quietly remove it from its case to hold it. I’d position my fingers on the fretboard, pretend to play and tell myself, “I’m gonna play in church like grandpa when I get older.”
Around the age of 13, I started learning my first chords. My older brother played, but didn’t want to be bothered with showing me anything. I would sneak and get his guitar when he wasn’t home, listen to records and figure things out for myself.
After learning a little basic guitar, around age 16, I transferred what I had learned to the piano. The result was a life-long love affair with the piano, and guitar took a back seat for several years, but in my mid to late 20s, I fell in love with the guitar all over again.
Building a Business... and a Passion!
At 29, I opened a pawnshop in Danville, KY. I had a blast buying and selling hundreds of the most sought after and desirable vintage guitars. I would chase them down all over the country, which added to my appreciation of and love for the instrument.
An amazing bonus of this treasure hunt journey, I met a ton of great musicians and created life-long relationships. both musical and personal.
Playing Music
- I recorded my first Solo Acoustic Album, "Acoustic Thoughts," in 2002
- In 2003, I formed a instrumental duo, Melodic Brotherhood, with my musical partner, Tim Readnour
- We recorded our first album in 2004, followed it up with a live album and DVD in 2005.
- I joined my good friend, Jeff Cain, to form a blues group, The Mighty Blues Dragon, and played lead guitar for about 12 years.
I have been blessed with the opportunity to play many gigs with wonderful musicians through the years.
Getting the Bug to Build
Running my shop for 24 years permitted me to get to know all these great players who would frequent my shop weekly.
I was always working on their guitars, setting the action up on them so they would play right, fixing and tweaking them, and I developed the bug for doing more than fixing... I wanted to build guitars.
In this group of musical friends, I became acquainted with luthier/guitar builder, Scotty Huffman.
I purchased a few of his guitars and they were just wonderful. After I closed my shop down in 2021, Scotty and I had a few meetings in 2022 and tossed around the idea of starting a custom guitar company that would build premium guitars inspired by players.
In 2023, Old South Custom Guitars was born.
The Sound... The Feel... The Vibe...and The Look... Scotty produces some of the best consistently exceptional finishes and instruments that you can get. A real treasure!
- Joe Dumas, Classic Tone Guitars
I've known Joe Caldwell of Old South Custom Guitars for the last 12 to 13 years. He has set up many guitars for me and his work is outstanding.
- Rob Burchett