Carey Nordstrand began instrument making with Traveler Guitars in 1993, and designed several guitars while working there. Nordstrand then trained with Steve Azola in 1996, then going on to work with Suhr Guitars in 1998. He started making Nordstrand basses in 2002, and word spread of the Nordy-J model via the talkbass.com forum. Carey Nordstrand started winding his own pickups to use with his own basses, but soon began selling them to other luthiers and began making guitar pickups in 2004. By 2017 Nordstrand Audio were also offering guitar and bass pedals.

Source: Nordstrand Audio website (4 September 2018)