THE AXEMEN SERIES : Umberto from Crepuscolo

1. Tell us your name and the band you play for. I’m Umberto and I play with Crepuscolo
    

2. Who made you want to pick up the guitar? 

My granfather was very interested in music so he bought my first guitar when I was 11. It was an italian guitar, a Eko S 300.

3. Are you self taught or did you take lessons?

 I started self taught but I’m still learning with a guitar teacher

4. Can you read music, Can you read tab? 

Yes I can

5. Do you feel like you have your own sound / tone? 

Yes I do. It took many years before I reached the sound I was looking for, but now I can say my sound represents very well my band

6. Tell us about your guitar (brand, model, year, color).
    

 I have many guitars, classics, electrics and acoustics. I have got Jackson guitars like Randy Roads, Soloist 6 and 12 strings, Ibanez RG that I customized my self, Eko guitars, a LTD and a Hagstrom Swede

7. What about pickups? Passive or active ? Tell us about them.

 I love both passive and active. On Jackson guitars I used ESP EMG 81-85 and 81-89, on the customized Ibanez i used Seymour Duncan 59 and JB.

8. Lets get into amplification.

 Same drill: brand, model, speakers, etc. I use Marshall, actually I’m playng with a JCM 2000 Super Lead with 2 cabinets 4x12, a 1960 A and a 1960 vintage. I like to have a wall of sound behind me!

   

9. Do you have a pedal board? Tell us about that badboy.

 First of all I use the Boss HM-2, it is the  distortion used to get the swedish sound. It’s a shame that Roland/Boss doesn’t produce it anymore, and it’s pretty hard to find it new or second hand. Then in my pedal board you can find a chorus, a delay and a pitch shifter armonize. Then I use, as crunch, the distortion of the Marshall. In the past I used to have some other pedals like 2 noise gates, another distortion, an equalizer, then I chosed to use just a few to get a more clear signal.

10. Now tell us your Dream Rig in detail…..

Well I think mine is perfect for me. I don’t like digital stuff, or something like using pc programs used during live or during recordings. I think that my sound must be obtained with a great amp and analogic pedals, a good guitar and the volume pot on 10!
     

11. What guitarist can you not stand?

 There isn’t a guitarist in particular. I don’t like the guitarist that plays eternal solos without the groove. There are many guitarist that have a great taste for rithm parts and solos with just a few notes but done in the perfect way. I don’t like who play is lead part with tapping just to show how good he is.

12. Is tone more important or is technique? 

They are both important, I think thato one should be useful for the other and vice versa. Tone and tecnique are the guitarist’s soul, his fingerprint. Hearing the sound and the song you should be able to under stand who is the man playing.

13. Name your top 5 guitarist?
 Uhm… I think Alex Hellid ex Entombed, Dismember and At the Gates guitarists, Dimebag Darrell, Ola Englud, Uffe Cederlung, David Gilmour…

14. Who is the most overrated guitarist? 

Eric Clapton over all!
  

*so did you want to talk about my bank account? its not overated
15. Who would you like a one hour private sit down lessons with anyone dead or alive? 
David Gilmour.