Very interesting - it only took 5 years for this to completely unwind. Never mentioned in this video is that PBG had purchased Fano from Dennis, and B3 from Gene, turning Gene's B3 factory into their guitar factory. Koll, Gustavsson, Giffin and Schroeder were all doing licensing deals. Schroeder and Gustavsson dropped out pretty early on - by 2011 probably. Giffin might have lasted another year or so, but he's been out for several years. Fano was just consulting, but as of 2014 he has his own company (Novo). Koll dropped his licensing deal earlier this year, and PBG shut down this facility in Arroyo Grande several months ago. As part of his severance Gene Baker has taken back his B3 name and designs; some of the people are probably sticking with him.PBG has hired former Fender Master Builder Chris Fleming, and they still build the Fano brand, and have added a "Fano Standard" line as well - but they have outsourced it to some other "Southern California" guitar company that they have yet to name.
i just played a fano yesterday , The sp6 is a very basic guitar but with tons of mojo. i look at the fanos as real player guitars . The saturated shredder type player wont appreciate these type of guitars . i really cant speak for the politics of how it was made or whatever because it doesnt matter to me . My favorite guitars are made in japan and are made as good or better than anything out there .
I've felt that way too for some time now. Almost everyone is making some variation or hybrid of the Les Paul or the Strat, but they never quite match up to the real thing anyway and more often than not they look goofy.
Glad I saw this video... I've been thinking about getting a custom Fano but the whole assembly line thing is no bueno. I would've expected that for the price you pay for Fano's name, you actually get his own hands-on work.
guild bluesbird is sick chambered bodies awesome sound and very stable not like most Gibson or fenders better tuning stability I think people like eric Clapton slash and others are magicians cause old guitars tone is awesome but tuning suck
great for the smaller builders, but takes the soul out of a custom guitar. all you get is a assembly line { quality i am sure} but line made none the less with a designers name on it. i don't want that
Notice the instructions on the headstock, so the minimum wage idiot won't screw up the "premier builder" guitar. Lol. Thanks every guitar company for being the way you are, it's done wonders for my woodworking skills.
I wouldnt trust these guys. Bunch of hacks. I had a Fano, had a question, emailed and called a bunch of times for like 2 weeks. Nothing. Good thing too cause after three of owning the Fano i took it back. Lifeless and stale sounding. Took it back agot a Masterbuilt Telecaster. It was more but soooo worth it. These guys cant compete with Fender CS work. They dont care about the guitars they build, just the bottom line. It reflects in the sound. Don't waste your money and make these guys rich.
+H2O you're kidding right. just because you didn't like one guitar you're calling these passionate builders hacks. i'm sorry but no fender or gibson can stand up to an original gustavsson guitar.
Very interesting - it only took 5 years for this to completely unwind. Never mentioned in this video is that PBG had purchased Fano from Dennis, and B3 from Gene, turning Gene's B3 factory into their guitar factory. Koll, Gustavsson, Giffin and Schroeder were all doing licensing deals. Schroeder and Gustavsson dropped out pretty early on - by 2011 probably. Giffin might have lasted another year or so, but he's been out for several years. Fano was just consulting, but as of 2014 he has his own company (Novo). Koll dropped his licensing deal earlier this year, and PBG shut down this facility in Arroyo Grande several months ago. As part of his severance Gene Baker has taken back his B3 name and designs; some of the people are probably sticking with him.PBG has hired former Fender Master Builder Chris Fleming, and they still build the Fano brand, and have added a "Fano Standard" line as well - but they have outsourced it to some other "Southern California" guitar company that they have yet to name.
It gets cut off unless you hit the "read more" but I do mention in my post that Gene Baker retained his B3 name and is back in business on his own.
i just played a fano yesterday , The sp6 is a very basic guitar but with tons of mojo. i look at the fanos as real player guitars . The saturated shredder type player wont appreciate these type of guitars . i really cant speak for the politics of how it was made or whatever because it doesnt matter to me . My favorite guitars are made in japan and are made as good or better than anything out there .
+LfunkeyA what are talking about ? I wrote that I loved the fano
+carey crash my bad replied to the wrong comment
this is fantastic! What a great idea, thanks for the tour!
Jacob
That green Koll looks awesome.
I've felt that way too for some time now. Almost everyone is making some variation or hybrid of the Les Paul or the Strat, but they never quite match up to the real thing anyway and more often than not they look goofy.
Glad I saw this video... I've been thinking about getting a custom Fano but the whole assembly line thing is no bueno. I would've expected that for the price you pay for Fano's name, you actually get his own hands-on work.
muito bom!!!!!!!!!!!
this factory swears qualite buit.i ve got a fano and it 's a fantastic guitar.
Joe Coffey.... so basically his name is Coffee Coffey?
67 Corvette and 59 Les Pauls were made on assembly lines too. Guessing you wouldn't want that either.
It's not 1959 anymore. Upload a video of the folks on the PBG assembly line next time you visit their shop. Do you not understand what this is about?
i like to relic my own guitar over a 30 year period by playing it
guild bluesbird is sick chambered bodies awesome sound and very stable not like most Gibson or fenders better tuning stability I think people like eric Clapton slash and others are magicians cause old guitars tone is awesome but tuning suck
How Many of these guys would have come up with the Strat shape in 1950 ? 2013 and they still copy it same with th LP .
great for the smaller builders, but takes the soul out of a custom guitar. all you get is a assembly line { quality i am sure} but line made none the less with a designers name on it. i don't want that
lol 3:26 eric clapton
Notice the instructions on the headstock, so the minimum wage idiot won't screw up the "premier builder" guitar. Lol. Thanks every guitar company for being the way you are, it's done wonders for my woodworking skills.
I wouldnt trust these guys. Bunch of hacks. I had a Fano, had a question, emailed and called a bunch of times for like 2 weeks. Nothing. Good thing too cause after three of owning the Fano i took it back. Lifeless and stale sounding. Took it back agot a Masterbuilt Telecaster. It was more but soooo worth it. These guys cant compete with Fender CS work. They dont care about the guitars they build, just the bottom line. It reflects in the sound. Don't waste your money and make these guys rich.
+H2O you're kidding right. just because you didn't like one guitar you're calling these passionate builders hacks. i'm sorry but no fender or gibson can stand up to an original gustavsson guitar.