About us
Meet the FrancoPro Family
FrancoPro is the place where the soul of a musician, the heart of a sculptor and the technical abilities of an engineer come to gather to help produce a one of a kind playing experience never before felt by guitarist anywhere. It hasn't been a short road or an easy one, to get to where we are at, but it has been a journey that, we believe as a family, has been more than worth taking.
Here is a little about us.
Who We Are
FrancoPro is one of those rare occurrences, in life, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Not that the people, who make up those parts, aren't wonderful in their own unique ways. It is just that when they joined forces something truly magical was created, FrancoPro. A company whose key players work together in a way that borders on the symbiotic.
Alessandro
Known by all as the resourceful guy, Alessandro is the nuts and bolts guy and the man you will most likely be talking to when you first contact FrancoPro. He oversees the majority of the daily operation and keeps our little ship sailing on an even keel.
Don't get the idea, though, that Alessandro is all flow charts and production figures. He scored his first job as a music producer at the ripe old age of 17 and his ear hasn't lost a bit of the sensitivity that it had then. If anything, thanks to self-education and his continued experience working all over Europe, with artists from around the world, he is even more aware of the impact that subtleties of tone and attack can have on musical performance.
When asked about his association with FrancoPro and their Lethal Weapon series of picks, he says:
" Today, with the lethal weapon series of plectrums, we help guitarists build their own nice deep and unique sound. In a market as competitive as music, our clients being able to highlight that difference in sound, I feel, gives them a competitive edge."
Franco
You guessed it, Franco is the grandfather, man with his name is on the front door and driving force behind the development of the entire Lethal Weapon Plectrum family of guitar picks.
Growing up in Venice, a city known for the production of fine jewelry since before there was time, it was only natural that Franco would end up in that trade. He spent 30 years working as a goldsmith and at other jobs in the jewelry industry. To be honest, though, despite his work being good to him, through the years, he was never really satisfied.
You see, Franco's first love was the Guitar. From the time his father showed him his first chords on an old flattop, he began to develop a passion for the instrument that simply would not die. Unable to attend music school in his younger years, at the age of 40, he gifted himself with a formal music education by attending both the RGA-Rock Guitar Academy of Milan and the Miles Davis School of Mestre. It was at these prestigious institutions that, with the encouragement of his teachers, he became convinced to move ahead with an idea he had been mulling over for some time; the creation of plectrums from precious metals and thus joining his two worlds into one. That was the birth of FrancoPro Design and Production.
Today, Franco's family still produces unique, innovative jewelry that has become known for its handcrafted attention to detail, but Franco himself, he spends most of his time either playing guitar with The Alchemy Band or doing research and development for new products.
On the Horizon
There is no limit to the doors that Franco and Alessandro are unlocking with their combined talents, but the next big project they are working on is a new Bass Pick. They say they have been receiving a lot of customer request for one and it is kind of a natural evolution for their line of plectrums.
"When people buy my jewelry to wear, I'm naturally very happy. I am a goldsmith, but when a musician buys my picks because they can feel the difference in the sound, then I feel a joy and satisfaction that brings tears to my eyes.
If you want to experience the beauty that comes from a family combining true love for each other, with passion for single pursuite, stay tuned into FrancoPro as we continue to explore the boundaries of what music can be."