Nova Guitars USA was founded by John Buscarino in the early 1980s. By the late 1980s the Nova range included electric guitars and basses as well as electro-acoustic steel-string and nylon-string models. Buscarino developed an improved releasable neck joint for his instruments (patented in 1989). Around 1991 the Nova Guitar Company was sold to Japanese investors -  so they could obtain the rights to this neck joint. Buscarino carried on making archtop guitars under his own name and the Nova USA brand was discontinued in the early 1990s. Since then Sears catalog company has used the Nova brand for Chinese made electric guitars.

Source: Nova catalog 1989.

Source: Buscarino neck patent

Source: Buscarino website