We demonstrate that guided acoustic waves inside a nanorod can be excited through an external metallic acoustic transducer. By attaching gold nanodisks on top of GaAs nanorods, the femtosecond optical excitation on the external acoustic transducer enables the generation of guided acoustic waves in the rods. The propagation behavior and mode shape of the observed guided acoustic waves are analyzed. These observations would not only lead to the development of superior external transducers for acoustic imaging, but also provide an experimental system for the study of the acoustic phonon transport behavior in nanorods and nanowires. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.