W
ith only a few notable
exceptions, the Italian
gear scene is one that
has, over the years,
remained mostly domestic. And yet,
Italy is home to one world’s foremost
amplifier engineers—Guglielmo
Cicognani.
Despite more than 25 years of
experience in designing and building
guitar and bass amps, his Cicognani
brand has rarely been handled outside
of Italy, leaving Guglielmo one of Italy’s
best-kept secrets.
But the word is out.
Gurus, the Cicognani Boutique Series, is
a co-venture between Guglielmo and
Chicco Bellini, a guitar player who has
used Cicognani’s signature amps since
they were first introduced.
“I was often in his laboratory to see
what was new and chat about gear, so
when I decided it was time to use my
skills in this industry, applying my
experience in something I completely
love, I tried to involve Guglielmo,”
Chicco says. “For me, he’s the perfect
guy for this project.”
Chicco calls Guglielmo a genius—a
laboratory guy who loves to engineer,
test, design and test again—but where
he came up short was in focusing his
product range and handling the
marketing and sales end of the business.
“I have twenty years of experience in
sales,” Chicco says. “I’ve worked with
small companies and multinational
corporations, but at a certain point, I
noticed that after the first two or three
years, there was always something
missing—it was passion!”
A team of Italians all working in a pedal
shop—sounds passionate.
Let’s dig in and learn more about Gurus
from Chicco.
TRW: Gurus is based in Faenza Italy—
what’s the Italian gear scene like?
CB: We are based in the Emilia Romagna
region of Italy, better known as “Motor
Valley” where Ferrari, Lamborghini,
Ducati, Maserati and Bugatti are
based—but Italian gear was never so
famous, except for products like the
Binson Echorec or a few others. But it
was famous for its engineers and quality
of its craftsmanship. You may know how
many brands like Vox, for example, had
their production plants in Italy during
the ‘60s and ‘70s—and some still exist.
But it’s a strange market where
distributors are the leaders and there
are almost exclusively “general stores”
that carry products from the entire
industry. From guitars to keyboards, PA,
lights and drums—there’s no space
inside Italian stores for boutique gear.
TRW: So where does Gurus fit in?
What’s your niche?
CB: That is a good question. I think the
most politically correct answer should
be—it’s too early to say. We’re only two
WORDS BY NICK RAMBO
ToneReport.com
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