tone-index.com

Home / Browse Instruments / Novo Serus J

Novo Serus J

Generic depiction of the instrument model, not the specific item offered on a linked platform.

Electric Guitar

Novo Serus J

Novo · Serus J

Price: 1.100 EUR – 8.094 EUR

Price history 07.09.2026 20.09.2026
Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

Availability: 9/10 (Common)

An offset guitar built around a genuinely original design thought experiment: what if a fictional 1950s guitar company had combined Gibson, Fender, Rickenbacker, Gretsch and Guild under one roof? Dennis Fano's tempered pine body, twin Lollar P-90s and Mastery M1 bridge with NV vibrato answer that question with cross-bred styling rather than a faithful reissue of any single vintage template - built by a luthier who'd already run one respected boutique brand before losing the rights to his own name and starting over from scratch.

Where available? Go to the best price – 1.100 EUR About this instrument

About the Novo Serus J

Every spec on this guitar serves a single, explicitly stated design idea rather than paying homage to one specific vintage model. The tempered pine body with light factory distressing, the compound 9.5-to-14-inch fingerboard radius, and the offset silhouette all borrow visual and structural language from multiple mid-century American guitar traditions at once, deliberately blended rather than reproduced faithfully from any single brand's archive.

The hardware choices back up that philosophy with genuine boutique-grade components: twin Lollar P-90s rather than a mixed pickup format, and a Mastery M1 bridge paired with Mastery's own NV vibrato - complete with its recognisable lightning-bolt-shaped arm - rather than a generic offset tremolo. Mastery is widely regarded among boutique players as having solved intonation and stability problems that plagued original vintage offset bridges, so specifying it here signals a guitar built to actually outperform the vintage designs it visually references, not just imitate their look.

Where to buy

Some links below are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Source: https://reverb.com/item/97763164-novo-usa-custom-series-serus-j-64-3-tone-burst-rosewood-2024-reserved

Sound character of the Novo Serus J

No independently verified, model-specific tonal review could be confirmed for this exact current Serus J configuration. What can be said with confidence is general to the pickup type: P-90 single coils generally sit tonally between a humbucker and a Fender-style single coil, offering more midrange grit and directness than a humbucker while carrying more output and growl than a typical Stratocaster pickup - the same general character already discussed for the P-90-equipped Epiphone Casino elsewhere in this research, though the specific voicing of the Lollar-branded units here wasn't independently confirmed.

Midrange-forward Punchy Woody Vintage-voiced

What owners of the Novo Serus J say

No independently verified body of owner or reviewer sentiment specific to the current Serus J spec was found in the sources reviewed for this research, so this section is left honestly limited rather than filled with generalised boutique-guitar praise that couldn't be tied to this exact model.

Playability & handling of the Novo Serus J

The Medium C neck profile at 0.830 inches, combined with the compound fingerboard radius, points toward a genuinely modern playability target rather than a strict vintage recreation - flatter and faster in the upper registers than a true period-correct board would be, while keeping enough roundness near the nut for comfortable chord work. No independently verified hands-on review with specific playability impressions for this exact current model could be confirmed, so this description stays close to what the spec sheet itself indicates rather than reporting invented review quotes.

Recommended accessories & strings for the Novo Serus J

The guitar ships with Stringjoy Signature 10-48 strings already fitted and a Novo Deluxe padded soft case included - genuine standard equipment at this price point rather than a bare instrument requiring immediate additional purchases. The twin Lollar P-90 pairing suits classic blues, rock and indie amp setups with moderate gain; P-90s generally take on a rawer, more midrange-direct grind than a humbucker once pushed into higher gain, a general characteristic of the pickup type worth knowing rather than a claim specific to this guitar's exact tonal signature.

Technical data for the Novo Serus J

Type Solid-body electric guitar, offset double cutaway, bolt-on neck, vibrato bridge
Production Novo Guitars, founded 2014 by Dennis Fano, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Body Tempered pine, light factory distressing
Neck Tempered maple, Medium C profile, 0.830 in. depth
Fingerboard Rosewood, compound 9.5-14 in. radius, MOTO dot inlays
Scale 25.5 in.
Nut 1.65 in. width
Frets Medium nickel/silver, .047 x .095 in.
Pickups 2x Lollar P-90 (bridge and neck)
Bridge / vibrato Mastery M1 bridge with Mastery NV vibrato, lightning-bolt-shaped arm
Controls Volume, tone, 3-way toggle switch; passive
Strings Stringjoy Signature 10-48 as shipped
Case Novo Deluxe padded soft case included
Price context Approx. $4,199 at time of research
Origin note Design concept: imagining a fictional 1950s guitar company combining Gibson, Fender, Rickenbacker, Gretsch and Guild; founder Dennis Fano previously ran Fano Guitars (1996-2014) before losing rights to that name in a 2014 business split

Price history for the Novo Serus J

Cheapest seen: 1.100 EUR  ·  Most expensive seen: 8.094 EUR

8.199 EUR1.100 EUR 07.09.2026 14.09.202616.09.202618.09.2026 20.09.2026
Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

The history of the Novo Serus J

Dennis Fano's path to Novo runs through a full career cycle most builders never experience: starting out as a repair technician at New York's legendary Matt Umanov Guitar Shop on Bleecker Street, he founded his own brand, Fano Guitars, in 1996, initially modifying Jazz Bass guitars before opening a dedicated shop in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania in 2001. Fano Guitars built a genuine reputation, attracting high-profile clients including Johnny Marr of the Smiths, Walter Becker of Steely Dan, and Andy Partridge of XTC.

Fano sold the company to Premier Builders Guild in 2009, and when he parted ways with PBG in 2014, the separation deal cost him the rights to his own eponymous brand name. Rather than stop, he started an entirely new company from zero: Novo Guitars, relocating operations to Nashville and building a new manufacturing facility there, this time deliberately committing to all-original designs rather than the vintage-homage instruments that had partly defined Fano's earlier work.

The design philosophy behind guitars like the Serus J is a specific thought experiment Fano has described directly: imagining a fictional 1950s guitar company that combined Gibson, Fender, Rickenbacker, Gretsch and Guild all under one roof, then asking how classic designs might have turned out differently if those legendary builders had actually collaborated. Rather than a straight homage to any one brand's offset guitars, the Serus line cross-breeds proportions, hardware choices and aesthetic details across that imagined lineage. Most recently, in January 2025, Fano Guitars and Novo Guitars announced a merger under a new parent company, Psonic Design Lab - bringing Fano's original brand name back into the same business as Novo more than a decade after the split that had separated them.

About Novo as a manufacturer

Novo represents something genuinely rare in the guitar industry: a builder getting a second, deliberately different attempt at running his own company after losing his first brand entirely in a corporate split. That history gives Novo's positioning real weight - the all-original-design commitment isn't just marketing language, it's a specific reaction to how Fano's earlier work under his own name had been received and ultimately controlled by someone else.

The 2025 merger back into a combined structure with Fano Guitars under Psonic Design Lab is worth watching as recent, ongoing history rather than a settled fact - it reunites the two brand identities commercially without necessarily meaning either one's product philosophy changes, and this research couldn't confirm further detail on what that merger means for day-to-day design direction going forward.

Notable players & recordings featuring the Novo Serus J

The high-profile client list tied to Dennis Fano's work - Johnny Marr, Walter Becker and Andy Partridge - belongs to the earlier Fano Guitars era before 2014, not necessarily to Novo or the Serus J specifically, and it's worth keeping that distinction clear rather than implying those artists play this exact current model. No verified current professional endorsement ties a specific touring artist to the Serus J itself.

Related guides

  • Do Tonewoods Matter on Electric Guitars? The Ongoing Debate View details
  • Vintage vs. Reissue: Is an Old Electric Guitar Worth It? View details
  • Stratocaster or Les Paul? Two Electric Guitar Classics Compared View details

Similar instruments

Fender American Professional II Stratocaster HSS 10+

Fender American Professional II Stratocaster HSS

1.181 EUR – 8.296 EUR

Fender Player Stratocaster 10+

Fender Player Stratocaster

527 EUR – 8.967 EUR

Fender Stratocaster (1971-1977) 10+

Fender Stratocaster (1971-1977)

192 EUR – 8.250 EUR

Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster 10+

Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster

10 EUR – 7.823 EUR

PRS DGT David Grissom Tremolo Signature 10+

PRS DGT David Grissom Tremolo Signature

650 EUR – 6.688 EUR

Ibanez RG550 Genesis Collection 10+

Ibanez RG550 Genesis Collection

751 EUR – 10.579 EUR

Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014 10+

Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014

2.199 EUR – 4.827 EUR

PRS Silver Sky John Mayer Signature 10+

PRS Silver Sky John Mayer Signature

572 EUR – 6.184 EUR

← Back to all instruments