Fano launches more affordable Standard Series guitars

As any of our reviews will tell you, we love Dennis Fano's mash-ups of classic guitar designs - the only problem is the price tags. Imagine our delight, then, when we learned that Fano has announced a more affordable line of guitars, the Standard Series.

Fano's Standard Series guitars feature many of the Premier Builders Guild company's signature traits - including, yes, the distressed finishes - but cut back on the more costly factors of building custom instruments. Two models are available: the JM6 (above) and SP6.

The Standard JM6 - we're sure you can guess what JM stands for - features an early '60s C-shaped maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, and alder body, and comes with a choice of hot P-90 or humbucker pickups, as well as Gotoh Vintage tuners and a TonePros tune-o-matic stop tailpiece.

Offering more of an LP Special vibe, the Standard SP6 boasts an alder body, bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, and a T-style control layout; pickups comprise a 'T' single coil in the bridge and P-90 in the neck, while Gotoh Vintage tuners and a three-saddle Fano 'T' bridge complete the hardware spec.

The Standard JM6 and SP6 are available now for $1,895, shaving a good grand or so off the usual Fano fare, and come in Olympic White, Bull Black, Ice Blue Metallic and Candy Apple Red (JM6 only) finishes - sign us up.

Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.