Fano guitars

[jellyjim]

I've gone all drooly and cow-eyed over Dennis Fano's range of boutique beauties. The SP6 in particular. Les Paul/Tele mash up!

Can I have a sanity check before I drop an eye-watering circa £2,000 on an electric?!! I haven't looked at any other manufacturers. Am I seriously missing some other options? Are Fano's guitars worth it? I haven't played one though seen/heard demos and read good reviews but I'm certainly in love with the look.

http://www.fanoguitars.com/products/standards/standard-sp6/

[Drew Stephenson]

I've gone all drooly and cow-eyed over Dennis Fano's range of boutique beauties. The SP6 in particular. Les Paul/Tele mash up!

Can I have a sanity check before I drop an eye-watering circa £2,000 on an electric?!! I haven't looked at any other manufacturers. Am I seriously missing some other options? Are Fano's guitars worth it? I haven't played one though seen/heard demos and read good reviews but I'm certainly in love with the look.

http://www.fanoguitars.com/products/standards/standard-sp6/

Normally I wouldn't put a comment like this on a thread like this, so I say this only to help you analyse your thinking, but to my eyes that is a phenomenally ugly guitar.
HTH

[jellyjim]

lol!

it's quite brutish i guess, different strokes etc

[Studio Support Gnome]

a couple of mates of mine have them….. they're interesting….. very well made , and utterly utterly not my cup of tea…. but the guys love them….. so ……. fair play

i wouldn't touch one with anyones bargepole, or cheque book, but hey….. if it floats yer boat, go for it.

[jellyjim]

Personal preferences aside ... ... my question really was, what else is there in this price range? Obviously I realise you can spend any amount you care to think of on various Fenders and Gibsons and PRSs etc but what of boutique guitars?

So perhaps the question is, who else makes guitars of this quality and price other than Fender, Gibson, PRS?

[Kwackman]

So perhaps the question is, who else makes guitars of this quality and price other than Fender, Gibson, PRS?

Musicman, super Axis etc?

[jellyjim]

So perhaps the question is, who else makes guitars of this quality and price other than Fender, Gibson, PRS?

Musicman, super Axis etc?

Ah yes, I certainly remember Musicman.

I think I've been totally Gibson and Fender focused for years and have forgotten what else is out there, particularly at the higher end.

[Kwackman]

Ah yes, I certainly remember Musicman.

Yeah, I remember coming across them in the mid 70s and hadn't thought much about them
until I played a Super Axis, which I now own. I've also owned a Godin LGX-SA which IMHO was stunning looking (looking at your Fano, we may have vey different ideas on beauty ) and played great, even if you don't touch the MIDI side of it.
A friend has a G&L tele, which is lovely to play too.

But, in the end, I prefer my Antoria Les Paul copy bought 2nd hand in 1978 for £120! No accounting for taste, is there!

[Dynamic Mike]

Dusenberg. Only played one and that only briefly but pretty sure its gonna be my next port of call. May be a bit too ornamental for some peoples taste, but play one before you judge them.

[BigRedX]

So perhaps the question is, who else makes guitars of this quality and price other than Fender, Gibson, PRS?

There are literally hundreds if not thousands of great guitar makers ranging from reasonably large companies like G&L and Musicman to luthiers working on their own. I personally wouldn't consider most guitars with Gibson or Fender on the headstock as quality instruments - well certainly nothing new from them.

How much do you want to spend?

[Studio Support Gnome]

Ibanez make some very nice, very expensive guitars

I like them a lot…..

and until you've lived with one , you've no idea how good they really.. really… are…..

(i'm talking about custom shop and proper top line Jap signatures , and some of the upper prestige stuff….. )

just because it might be pointier than you think sensible, doesn't mean it;s a one trick pony…..

and they make stuff that is VERY different from that……

http://www.ibanez.com/products/u_eg_det ... color=CL01

http://www.ibanez.com/products/u_hb_det ... color=CL01

http://www.ibanez.com/products/u_hb_det ... color=CL01

http://www.ibanez.com/products/u_hb_det ... color=CL01

[Soo Bee]

I have owned well over 100 guitars in my life. (No, that does not make me cool.) Dennis Fano makes some of the sweetest guitars out there. I stop and play his stuff every year at Namm at The Premiere Builders Guild and his stuff is just killer, and a stand out in a sea of guitars at Namm. That exact guitar you linked too is one of my very favorites as well (color too,) but I'm probably gonna end up with one of those red burst thin line RB6's at some point. Haven't popped on one yet, and I don't know Dennis personally, though I have talked to him a few times at the Namm show. Anyway - You're not alone.

[Music Wolf]

I've gone all drooly and cow-eyed over Dennis Fano's range of boutique beauties. The SP6 in particular. Les Paul/Tele mash up!

I'm with you on that one. There's just something about it that appeals.

As has been pointed out, there's masses of choice out there so you need to start narrowing your options somehow. For me the starting point would be;

What can I afford?
What can I try? (I've only once bought a guitar without trying, and it turned out ok. But that was in a much lower price bracket).
Do I like how it looks?

I see no point in spending that much money on a guitar that I'm not prepared to leave my wife for.

The challenge is then how to avoid confirmation bias once you actually get to try the guitar. You may spend an unhealthy amount of time looking at pictures of that guitar on-line (as I did with my PRS Studio 22) to the point that you become somewhat blinkered when you actually get around to trying one (happily not the case with my PRS but my judgement may have been clouded when I bought my Parker Dragonfly - which later got traded against the PRS).

I suggest that you get out there and play one (but leave your credit cards at home).

I really hope that the Fano works for you. I can well remember spending a day in London with the intention of buying a Les Paul only to discover that they simply do not work for me. Similar disappointment when I finally got my hands on a Brian May guitar.

[jellyjim]

Great info everybody thanks and yay to Music Wolf! Impeccable taste sir

Look at this beauty

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-FANO-ALT-DE-FACTO-SP6-SINGLE-CUTAWAY-GUITAR-IN-RELIC-GOLDTOP-FINISH-/381606830756?hash=item58d98a22a4:g:YQgAAOSwIUNXF68W

Budget is up to £2,000 for the right guitar

[SecretSam]

If you want custom for around two grand, that should get you something special from Gordon Smith

http://www.gordonsmithguitars.com/product-category/guitars/

Dunno how good they are ... but a top-of-the-range one would almost leave you enough change for ... well ... about 500 quids worth of other stuff.

[6120]

And don't forget that if you're spending around £2k on a guitar that there's many very high quality UK builders that could help in your quest. One name that comes to mind is Case Guitars that build very good '59 style guitars and Tim Mills of Bare Knuckle pups is a very enthusiastic user.
If you're looking for more tele/strat styles try Manson Guitars in Exeter, very very good too and Matt Bellamy uses them.
Cheer's

[Dave B]

For a LP/Tele mashup from Gordon Smith, they do the T-Graf :

http://www.gordonsmithguitars.com/shop/guitars/tgraf/

GS guitars are lovely and the new team at Auden seem to be doing a fantastic job at continuing the brand. They even wire the pickups the right way round (in joke for GS owners).

I have a GS or two and they are lovely. The are quite wide necks, so if you're a Tele neck man then they might be a bit unwieldy. But all of mine are top notch guitars for a silly price and all hand made (they are allowed to call them that again - you no longer need to cut the tree down it seems, just make them by hand...)

[jellyjim]

Well here's a zombie thread back from the dead!

Over two years later I finally tracked down an SP6. It was stunningly gorgeous (previous divergence on taste noted) and ...

... the neck was like a freakin' baseball bat. OMG, it was so chunky. I found it unplayable to be honest. Unfortunately (for the guy trying to sell it) it was poorly set up too. Very high action. The seller (small used gear shop) was kicking himself. Even so, there was just way too much wood in the palm of my hand (whoops pardon, excuse me vicar etc).

Well I learnt something at least. I like slim necks. I play a '65 Musicmaster II and the neck is circa mid-90s Kate Moss/heroin chic compared to the SP6's busty 50s era pinup vibe.

Back to the drawing board then.

It's really quite odd to have lusted afrer something for ages and then realise you didn't want it after all!

[CS70]

Personal preferences aside ... ... my question really was, what else is there in this price range? Obviously I realise you can spend any amount you care to think of on various Fenders and Gibsons and PRSs etc but what of boutique guitars?

So perhaps the question is, who else makes guitars of this quality and price other than Fender, Gibson, PRS?

A lot.. shur, music man, even Ibanez, you name it. Dozens of brands small and big.

[jaminem]

Dennis Fano doesn't own that brand anymore he sold it and now makes guitars under the Novo name, so it MAY be that a 'Fano' era one is a bit different *(maybe not though)
I too found myself lusting after an Alt de facto JM6 for a long time...

However

moving away from the 'classic' brands can be scary but ultimately rewarding. As a bass player once I got into a position of being able to afford some nice basses, I stuck with the classic, Fender, Musicman and Warwick ranges, BUT recently after getting a new job (Theme developing here - get a job: get a guitar, keep your job: get a guitar, lose your job: Get a guitar!) I went for a Sandberg California and it is blatantly the nicest bass I have ever played.

Now that's saying something considering the company its in, so its always good to broaden the horizons

They also do guitars and have some lovely mashup-a-likes

[jellyjim]

Dennis Fano doesn't own that brand anymore he sold it and now makes guitars under the Novo name

I too found myself lusting after an Alt de facto JM6 for a long time...

I went for a Sandberg California and it is blatantly the nicest bass I have ever played.

Now that's saying something considering the company its in, so its always good to broaden the horizons

I'd read Fano left a long time ago. I don't like the styling of his Novos. I'm a vintage feel kind of a guy!

Funnily enough I played a JM6 when looking for the SP6 and I did like the neck on that. I checked the specs on their site and they are different.

Yes, definitely coming round to the idea of other boutique brands. I have a vintage Fender anyway ('65 Musicmaster II, she's a beaut!) and I used to own a fairly old SG. It was pretty poor tbh!

I'll take a look at Sandberg, thanks, though I've just had a thorough look at Gordon Smith and I'm liking what I see. They have the Melody Maker/Les Paul Jr body shape in the single-cut GS2, lots of custom options, the prices are good and the lead times aren't horrendous.

Good words to say for Gordon Smith? I know they're under new management, it's not the original guy now.

[Wonks]

They are certainly more consistent now. Dave B knows a lot more about them than I do and has been to the Northampton factory several times. Previously, they could be made from any wood they had handy, regardless what the spec said. And some of their pickup constructions were 'interesting'.

But certainly now worth a try.

[Sam Spoons]

The original Gordon Smith workshop was about 10 mins from my home so I did go and met John Smith a few times over the years. His guitars were usually prettyy good and excellent value for money, I even owned one for a while (a GS2).

But I did see a one real shocker too (see Wonks' post above), it had a large knot about halfway up the neck which broke quite soon after the owner bought it, apparently JS refused to replace it (which IMO he should have done as the guitar should never have made it to the finishing shop) and repair was probably never going to work. It may be that it was roughly handled but the timber was so weak it wouldn't have taken much......

But, GS did have a good rep which was mostly well deserved. And the new builders have stared with a clean sheet so, hopefully, will maintain the standards GS were usually renowned for. Reviews I've read suggest the guitars are better than ever.

[Humble Bee]

Well this guitar springs to mind...

https://nikhuber-guitars.com/krautster.html

I've played a few and they have all been wonderful.

To expensive for me tho...

[jellyjim]

Well this guitar springs to mind...

https://nikhuber-guitars.com/krautster.html

I've played a few and they have all been wonderful.

To expensive for me tho...

Oh yes, very pretty! Bit too spendy for me also.