Gorilla Pickups Contact Info
Workshop location:
Via di castel di leva 298
00134 Roma (RM), Italy
VAT no: IT15589641008
e-mail: info@gorillapickups.com
A FEW WORDS ABOUT ME
Would the world be a better place without Gorilla Pickups?
Absolutely not, or absolutely yes, I don't know…
But since I exist let's just accept the situation as it is and move on with the story.
The brand is run by me, Diego, born in 1986 during a summer storm in the Italian countryside.
My father was a jet pilot, my mother a comic book designer and swimming teacher. Is this important for the story? Nooope, anyway…
I was a smart boy (my mum said that), quite shy and not particularly fond of being under the spotlights, but my life was running smooth and my curiosity was always fed.
After a while, my family moved to Rome (Italian capitol), and my horizons broadened.
Throughout my adolescence my mother insisted that I take piano lessons, I wasn't particularly into it but I continued to play to make her happy. It would later turn out to be the best decision I ever made.
During high school my focus totally shifted towards the real boss, the bass guitar.
The energy of that instrument, the charm and the possibilities that open up when you play a string instrument made me decide to be a bass player from that moment on.
I started a band, finally, girls were into musicians but this is not the reason I became one. At least not the main one…
The world was in the post grunge / alternative rock era, while new metal was blooming.
Plenty of songs to play, enormous amount of influences, Mtv, music videos, my favorite bands making tours in Europe and passing by my city.
Guitars were around since decades but lately anyone could afford one because they were cheaper (thank you Japan, thank you Messico, thank you China) so, guitars everywhere and amplifiers too, and pedals, gear and everything related to music.
But the most important thing is that music recording was becoming easier and cheaper, thanks to personal computers and, you know, progress.
I was totally in my zone, my friends were musicians and nerds, my band was doing good and my attitude improved too (goodbye shy Diego).
We recorded 2 albums and toured around for 8 years (mostly Italy by the way, nothing huge), then we split up and I kept going on as session musician.
The top of my career is probably a tour of Japan I made in 2009, core memory, I will probably never forget that experience.
Anyway, I studied sound engineering at college along with physics and electronics, worked in this field for various years.
In 2015 we finally start to see some connection to my current project.
I met Matteo, owner of Overload Guitars, he was building guitars in the storage room of his recording studio so I joined the team (the team of the two of us hehe) and became a luthier .
The workplace was small, the hype exaggerated, the irony just the right amount.
So, professionally speaking we grew up together, surrounded by musicians and producers, giving ourselves the time to improve our skills and learn new ones.
In 2018 Matteo gave me a book about guitar electronics and told me “since you already studied that stuff you should build pickups”.
At first I said “Meeeh”, then “OK” and one year later boom, Gorilla Pickups exist.
I didn't wanted my surname to be the name of the brand and I was looking for something easy to remember and to shape around a vintage aesthetic.
I also liked the idea/concept of a gorilla impersonating various characters (like Barbie), that's why many of the models are named as such.
Anyway, after 7 years I'm here collecting thoughts and adding this small bio to the website.
Currently the brand has surpassed 1000 pickups made and has customers all over the world, with Europe, USA and Japan at the top.
The approach remains boutique/artisanal, not aiming for large numbers but for good product quality and customer service, so every time you see a Gorilla pickup you will know it was hand-wound and built with care by me.
Cheers
Diego Tomelleri
