1970s Sano Custom
The late 1950s and early 1960s saw a precipitous drop in
accordion sales as the guitar rapidly became a much more popular instrument. A
number of European accordion builders – especially Italian ones – responded by
diversifying into guitars. The result was a new generation of electric guitars
whose aesthetics were influenced more by flashy accordion design than the
traditional finishes offered on stringed instruments. Companies like Eko and
Crucianelli wrapped their earliest guitars in the same pearlescent plastics used
on their squeeze boxes, creating a distinctly Italian design sense. As the 1960s
wore on, however, it became clear that players preferred guitars that recalled
the expensive American instruments played by many top rock performers. European
guitars never made much of a dent in the American market (except perhaps for the
Hofner 500/1 “Beatle” bass), and by the end of the decade, many European
builders were moving toward more Gibson- and Fender-derived designs in an effort
to compete.
However, some European guitars were imported to the US in
the 1960s and 1970s. Most were sold under the name of their manufacturer, but a
few were re-named by distributors or amplifier companies looking to dip a toe
into the guitar market. The Sano amplifier company already had distributing
Italian-made accordions, so it’s not surprising that they also distributed
guitars from several of the same factories. Sano never showed great interest in
guitars; a 1960 catalog lists eighteen accordion amplifier models but only one
amp designed specifically for guitars. Rather than build their own – something
with which they had no experience – they imported guitars from Zerosette and
Crucianelli with their own name on the headstock.
Much like many Japanese guitars of the time, the Sanos
were really stock models that differed from factory brand names only by the
logo. This is an example of a later Sano instrument, built by Crucianelli and
also found bearing the Godwin and Elli
names. Those other brands offered the bass as both a fretted and fretless
configuration, though all the Sano-branded versions I’ve seen are fretless. It
came in two colors, apparently regardless of brand: black, and the
superbly-named lobster.
The body shape is a clear nod to the Les Paul basses that
appeared around the end of the 1960s. The phase switch may also have been
inspired by the complex wiring available on the Gibsons, though Italian guitars
already had a long history of myriad switches and buttons. The bass is fitted
with a pair of humbucking pickups, a hand rest over the bridge unit, and a
separate bridge and tailpiece. Some of these basses featured double arrow fret
markers, while others (like this one) have simple block inlays. The fretless
versions, regardless of brand, all have fret markers inlayed on the bass side of
the fretboard.
