Acoustic Guitar: Reader's Rig

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Reader's Rig

WHO HE IS Singer-songwriter Dario Saraceno, from Newburgh, New York, received a bachelor’s degree from Berklee College of Music in 1988, and teaches guitar, mandolin, and bass to approximately 60 students per week. After years of performing cover tunes in clubs throughout West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York, Saraceno met Rick Witkowski from Studio L in Weirton, West Virginia, and shortly thereafter began concentrating on original songs as his top priority. “Rick had faith in me—first, in my songs, then in my vocals,” Saraceno says. “When he began dancing behind the mixing board, I knew something good was happening.” Saraceno is now working on his third CD with his band, Dario and the Clear. “Performing songs that mean something to you drives you harder,” he says. “It gives you a real sense of purpose.”

MAIN GUITARS 1986 Alvarez-Yairi DY61 dreadnought with a cedar top and burled-mahogany back and sides (“It has beautiful sustain”); Godin Acousticaster 6 (“There’s no soundhole, so there are no feedback problems when I perform with the band. It also plays more like an electric guitar”).

SECONDARY AXES Ibanez F302 series 12-string; Crafter M70E mandolin; Chapman Baritone/Melody Stick (“The hardest thing about learning to play the Stick was finding a comfortable playing position,” he says. “I learned that keeping it at a 60-degree angle allows the hands easy access without undue strain on the wrists”).

AMPLIFICATION For small gigs, a Fender Acoustasonic Junior amp. “For larger shows I use the venue’s DI box to go through the PA,” Saraceno says. “I tweak the guitar’s onboard EQ and, as long as the monitors are good, I’m all set.”

STRINGS AND THINGS LaBella lights (for guitars); Adamas lights (for mandolin); D’Andrea Cool Plecs medium and heavy picks.

FAVORITE GIG “At the last minute, I was asked to open for Warren Zevon at The Chance theater in Poughkeepsie, New York, during his last solo-acoustic tour, in 1998,” says Saraceno. “I had just released my first CD, which included a full band, and this gave me the chance to go out and perform the songs as they were originally written—with just me and my acoustic guitar. It was a magical night, because the songs went over well stripped down, and because I got to meet and spend time with Warren, who was such a great songwriter.”

HEAR HIS MUSIC www.darioandtheclear.com

This article also appears in Acoustic Guitar, September 2006

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