GIANNINI

In 1890 Tranquillo Giannini left Italy and migrated to San Paulo, Brazil where he began manufacturing guitars. The company eventually became one of the largest manufacturers of guitars in Brazil. In the 1960s, Giannini released a line of tube amplifiers that were basically copies of many Fender designs including models Tremendao (copy of Twin Reverb), Thunder Sound Bass (copy of Bassman), and the Jet Sound (copy of Tremolux). In the early 1970s, Giannini was distributed in the U.S. by Giannini Guitars at 75 Frost Street, Westbury (New York 11590). If that address seems somewhat familiar, that may be because it was shared by Westbury Guitars, the Merson company, and currently Korg USA (Marshall, Parker, Korg, and Vox). Giannini also produced a line of solid-state amps in the 1970s and/or 1980s but very little information is known about them.