Tonante, initially called Ao Rei dos Violões Limitada (''To the King of Acoustic Guitars'' in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

), is a Brazilian

guitar manufacturing Guitar manufacturing is the use of machines, tools, and labor in the production of electric and acoustic guitars. This phrase may be in reference to handcrafting guitars using traditional methods or assembly line production in large quantities us ...

company founded in 1954 by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

brothers Abel and Samuel Tonante, who artisanelly built musical instruments, thirteen years after their arrival in the country. Tonante is well known for making highly affordable stringed instruments in Brazil, together with companies such as

Giannini Giannini is a Brazilian musical instruments manufacturing company, based in Salto, São Paulo. Products currently manufactured by Giannini include electric guitar, electric, steel-string acoustic guitar, steel-string acoustic, classical guitar, ...

, Del Vecchio and Di Giorgio.Tonante Guitars
on Music Minder.com Tonante's range of products include

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

and acoustic guitars, banjos and cavaquinhos.

History

During the

military dictatorship in Brazil The military dictatorship in Brazil ( pt, ditadura militar) was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against President João Goulart. The Brazilian dicta ...

import substitution Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is a trade and economic policy that advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production.''A Comprehensive Dictionary of Economics'' p.88, ed. Nelson Brian 2009. It is based on the premise tha ...

policies forbade or restricted imports, which led local manufacturers (like Tonante guitars) to achieve a dominant market position. Tonante guitars were notable for being cheaper than other local competitors such as Giannini, Snake or Finch electric guitars which made it one of the most popular stringed instruments manufacturer in Brazil.

Models

Guitar models manufactured by Tonante includes: Tonante Finder

* Finder: a cheap mix between a

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuousl ...

and a

Fender Jazzmaster The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in t ...

; * Erton: a

copy; * Starlight: a heavy metal guitars with a vibrola system derived from the Floyd Rose and three single coil pickups, with a body similar to the Finder; * Les Paul: a flat top Gibson Les Paul copy; * Banjoes, acoustic guitars and cavaquinhos; * Various cavaquinhos, mandolins and acoustic guitars.O Rei dos Violões Rare vintage Brazilian nylon-string guitar!
on Reverb.com

Cult status

Although early Tonante instruments were plagued by low quality electronics, rough, uncomfortable shapes and bad finish, they have attained cult status due to their historical significance. A

vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...

Tonante guitar can be worth as much as R$170 (approximately $).

References

{{Guitar brands Guitar manufacturing companies Musical instrument manufacturing companies of Brazil Brazilian brands