“Washburn didn’t know I was leaving – it was probably a messed-up thing to do”: Nuno Bettencourt gave his new guitar brand its debut at Back to the Beginning – but Washburn had no idea it existed

Nuno Bettencourt has opened up on the origins of his new electric guitar venture, and revealed why he took the decision to part ways with Washburn after 35 years and establish his own company.

The Extreme virtuoso was the MVP for Back to the Beginning earlier this summer, and for the occasion he decided to give the Nuno Guitars Dark Horse model its public debut.

It left a fair few fans scratching their heads at the time. Here was Nuno, playing a mystery N4-style electric that wasn’t a Washburn. Stranger still, Bettencourt had been playing Washburns his entire career, so to see him don a six-string that had ‘Nuno’ on the headstock certainly raised a few eyebrows.

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Speculation of an imminent announcement gave way to the confirmation that Nuno Guitars certainly was A Thing, and would be taking up the responsibility of building Bettencourt’s guitars – and continuing the N4 legacy.

In a new interview with Premier Guitar, Bettencourt explains why he set up his own company, and admitted that when he first played the Dark Horse at Back to the Beginning, Washburn had no idea what was going on.

“To be honest with you, it probably wasn’t a good idea to play that guitar at all,” Bettencourt says. “I’d been thinking about this for a long time, and Washburn didn’t know I was leaving.

“So for them to see not only a guitar they’d never seen, but then to see not their name on the headstock – to see mine – was probably a really fucked-up thing to do. [laughs]

“But I didn’t really have a contract with them. It was more of a gentleman’s agreement that had been up for so long.”

As for why he wanted to part ways with Washburn, Bettencourt says the move had been on his mind since 2023, after Extreme released their last studio album.

“After a while, especially after Six came out, I just felt nothing from them,” he says. “Guitars were back-ordered, no press, nothing.

“But the reason I pulled the guitar out that day is because when I got it, I played it and was like, this feels like the best N4 I’ve ever played. I was super-excited. I just wanted to play it onstage. It wasn’t marketing or teasing.”

Bettencourt could have moved to a more established brand if he wanted to, but having his own guitar company was a bucket list venture. Pair that motivation with the fact Nuno has been killing it in the scene for the past few years, and the timing just felt right.

“It felt natural to do my own thing now,” he says. “And without sounding like a hippie, it was time. Everything was happening organically – the Six album, the attention with Rise, that solo, the Back to the Beginning concert – all these dominoes were tipping.

“I felt like the universe was saying, ‘Here are a few opportunities for you. You’ve worked your ass off, you’ve hustled for 40 years. This is it.’”

Head over to Nuno Guitars for more information on its upcoming releases.