Retro Deluxe

Dennis Fano and Eastwood Guitars team up to create a fine slice of modern retro at far from boutique prices.

- Dave Burrluck

There aren’t too many brands that capture the retro-modern zeitgeist quite like Fano’s Alt De Facto artful relics. While Dennis Fano is no longer involved in his eponymous brand, and has subsequently created Novo Guitars, a further twist comes with this new joint venture that utilises his design with Eastwood Guitars’ Asian manufacturing to create a temptingly affordable slice of retro.

Currently, there are two Rivoltas that differ in just their offered bridge: the Combinata Standard has a compensated wrapover bridge, while our Combinata Deluxe Trem swaps that for a roller saddle tune-o-matic-style bridge and Duesenberg’s Les Trem II – a rather nifty design that’s a reversible replacement for a Gibson-style stud tailpiece. The Combinata itself is based on Fano’s RB6 (modelled on Rickenbacker’s Combo from 1954), but the body is slightly upsized to 356mm (14 inches) wide with a subtly offset waist, 635mm (25-inch) scale length and 24 frets.