LA MIRADA, CA — The live performance music community was shocked to hear of the sudden passing of freelance touring instrument/amplifier technician Lauro “Larry” Melero, who died on Saturday Sept 22, 2018, of an apparent heart attack. The lifetime southern California resident was 50.
Born September 2, 1968, Melero had been surrounded by music his entire life, taking up guitar at the age of 10 and later playing in various bands, with his day job working in doing amp repairs/mods. He loved experimenting with various combinations of tubes, pickups and components to get certain sounds. Eventually one of his clients — industrial metal band Static-X — hired him to go out on tour as a guitar tech, and he never looked back.
Melero — also an accomplished guitarist/bassist in his own right — was well-known and regarded as one of the best guitar techs in the industry, and had spent more than half his adult life working for top artists such as Cheap Trick, George Benson, SUM41, Incubus, Gwen Stefani, Godsmack and many others.
He founded his own company, Melero Mods, in 1992. “Being able to cover everything from strings to speakers has always been a benchmark for me. I pride myself on being able to perform any repair, from a pickup swap to repairing and/or modifying a tube amplifier,” Melero said in a profile of top guitar techs on the Big Bends Nut Sauce guitar lube website, one of the few products he endorsed. “Since I also play guitar, I can offer artists advice on their gear so they can achieve any tone they’re looking for. I’ve also been fortunate enough to ‘pinch play’ for guitarists and bassists when they’ve been unable to play due to injury or other situations.” One of the best examples of Melero’s talent in that regard occurred when Cold bassist Jeremy Marshall broke his wrist and Melero stepped in to cover for him on the tour.
Larry Melero is survived by his wife Sandra, adult children Anthony and Sierra, as well as many clients, friends and colleagues throughout the industry. He will long be remembered not only for his expertise as a guitar/amp tech, but also for his love of life and sense of humor, which included his almost-trademark use of a certain universal hand gesture as a means of effective, non-verbal communication.
No funeral plans had been announced at press time.
Photo by Todd Kaplan
