Franko Torres
Franko Torres
My name is Franko Torres and I’m a guitar player by trade but love to experiment with other instruments, especially bass and cuatro. I grew up in a small town in Puerto Rico and when I was 14 I had to make the tough call to either play soccer or guitar as an extracurricular, and guess what I picked…
Since then, I’ve spent the past decade+ playing music from my bedroom, to the classroom, to the stage and studio and have enjoyed all of it!
Outside of Sweetwater, I spend most of my time playing and recording music as a hired guitarist and original projects, as well as still teaching guitar for the love of it. I also love trail hiking, photography, and gaming.
Besides spending hours in trainings every week, I constantly put in the time to check out all sorts of gear that I can, to provide the best information that I can! I’m very passionate about both learning and music, so if there’s something I don’t know, I’m going to do my best to learn about it more and figure out what works best for your needs. I’m deeply committed to providing my best to everyone I meet!
As your personal contact here at Sweetwater, please let me know anytime I can offer help or advice.
(800) 222-4700 ext 3688
E-mail Franko-
Education/Certifications:
Jazz & Contemporary Music Performance, BA - Puerto Rico Interamerican University Metropolitan Campus
Minor in Music Business
MBA in Marketing and Sales Management - AGMU -
Where are you from originally?
San Sebastian, Puerto Rico
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What was your occupation before coming to Sweetwater?
A little bit of everything! But the last few things I did before moving to Fort Wayne would be: Guitar and bass instructor, freelance studio and live guitarist(decade+) and part-time photographer/videographer.
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Why did you first apply for a job at Sweetwater?
I’ve always loved gear and talking to people about gear, and on top of that, I’ve been a Sweetwater customer for a few years! So I thought… Why not try to combine them all? And thankfully, here I am! Loving every second that I get to nerd out about guitars and music gear!
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Favorite music-related website:
I’d have to say Equipboard and Premier Guitar! It’s what first got me into gear after all. I remember being a 13 year-old looking up John Frusciante’s pedalboard chain on equipboard, and buying the strings he used on his strat for my stratocaster. Fell in love with every bit of music gear.
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Instruments you play:
Guitar
Bass
Piano -
Gear you own:
Many guitars, more than what I want to mention on here but some notable ones are: Fender Custom Shop GT11 Strat, Ibanez Prestige MM7, Iconic JM62, 70s Lawsuit era Ibanez Flying V, Heritage H535, Taylor 814e Gold Label.
Nord Stage 3
Apollo Twin, X6 + Satellite
Quad Cortex
The list of pedals can go on and on... but my favorites are the Xotic BB Preamp, Xotic RC Booster, Dirty Boy Preamp. -
Family info:
Beautiful woman I get to call my wife, and our dog Lana, who's a Husky/Shepherd mix.
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Other stuff we should know about you (hobbies, talents, interests, etc.):
I love photography! It’s one of those things I started to learn to take better photos of my guitars and suddenly found myself a few years later doing pro-photography for a while. I've also gotten into Film Photography which has a neat twist to it. I was also certified as a clay artisan for a few years, which is usually not something people expect.
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What's the biggest gig you've ever played?
Opening for Panic! At The Disco for a 14K people crowd.
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Who are some of the notable artists you've worked with?
A few of the artists that I’ve either played live or recorded guitars for their songs: Jacky Fontanez, Smash Hits, 'Koi, The Great', Sonic View, Sharif Rafael, Axel Pabon, De La Rose, Jeyy.eyy, and LOUU.
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Links to my music
instagram.com/frankotorres
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=frankotorresmusic
https://www.instagram.com/sonicviewband/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3OPD8NNhI8
