FANO GUITARS
JM6
Whatever your opinion of the aesthet- ics of a distressed guitar (I, for one,
turn into a pretty good distressing technician over the course of an especially exuberant show), a good distressing and aging
job can make a guitar feel extraordinarily
playable. Dennis Fano is one luthier who
understands that the art of distressing goes
more than skin deep. And the Fano Alt
de Facto JM6 that I spent the last month
with became a favorite companion precisely because of Fano’s skills in making a
guitar feel as comfortable as your favorite
recliner fresh out of the case.
Fano’s achievements are partly attributable to a design philosophy rooted in
combining the best features of classic
American electric guitars. And the JM6 is a
perfect embodiment of that mix-and-match
approach. While it’s Jazzmaster inspired at
a few paces, its Lindy Fralin P-90s, Tune-o-matic-style bridge, stop tailpiece, and
carved, angled headstock effectively make it
much more akin to a non-reverse Firebird
in terms of tone and personality.
BY CHARLES SAUFLEY
Well Worn
If you like your distressing job to look like
it’s done hard time, Dennis Fano is your
guy. One peek at this alder-bodied JM6
finished in nitrocellulose “shoreline gold,”
gives you the sense that Fano looks forward
to that part of the day when he can lay
down his intonation and neck-adjustment
tools and give his guitars a damn good
thrashing. There are some spots—
particularly the upper bout where a Jazzmaster’s
contours are subject to wear from the friction and sweat of a player’s forearm—that
look slightly less convincing and more the
product of skilled sanding and thinning.
But on the whole, the JM6 looks loved to
death—a veteran of knocks on tight stages
and spills in cluttered rehearsal spaces. The
hardware, which includes TonePros Tune-o-matic-style bridge and stop tail piece, and
If you love P- 90 tones, but dislike the heft
of the mahogany slabs with which they’re
typically paired on a solidbody, the JM6 will be
a delight to sling over your shoulder.
Gotoh reproductions of vintage Kluson
tuners, is also pitted and oxidized in a manner that looks perfectly consistent with the
battle-scarred body.
The maple neck is a thing of beauty. It’s
carefully sanded (worn) to feel as comfortable
as a battered pair of sneakers, and it’s fast and
silky, with a beautiful, narrow “C” profile
that feels a lot like an early ’60s Telecaster. It’s
joined with the body using a cool carve and
a compact neck plate that facilitates access to
higher frets on the treble side.
Getting Dirty
If you love P- 90 tones, but dislike the heft
of the mahogany slabs with which they’re
typically paired on a solidbody, the JM6
will be a delight to sling over your shoulder.
It’s a super-light guitar—at least as light as
the most featherweight Fenders I’ve played,
which can vary in heft considerably—but
it is very well balanced. And it’s quite possible that the lighter alder body also has a
great deal to do with the JM6’s bright, hot-rodded sonic personality.
