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Who makes which strings???


LITTLEWING
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[quote name='Mog' timestamp='1334472350' post='1616495']
Don't Dean Markley produce their own strings too?
[/quote]
Probably.

I'm guessing that the general rule is string companies make their own strings (e.g. D'Addario) but guitar companies get a string company to make their strings (E.g. Fender strings are made by D'Addario) - or something like that.

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[quote name='bassmachine2112' timestamp='1335081595' post='1625392']
What about legacy from strings direct,aren,t they supposed to be made in the rotosound factory ?
[/quote]
I've never noticed those before. It does say: 'Legacy Nickel Electric Bass Guitar Strings are made for us in the UK to our own exacting specifications'

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Updated list:

D'Addario (Fender)
Dean Markley
DR
Dunlop
Elixir
Ernie Ball
Gallistrings
GHS (Lakland, Overwater?)
La Bella (Sadowsky)
Mapes
Newtone
Picato (Overwater?)
Pyramid (Hofner)
Rotosound (Legacy?)
SIT
Thomastik

Anyone know if Newtone are making strings for other companies - my guess is that they would be.

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[quote name='bassmachine2112' timestamp='1335081595' post='1625392']
What about legacy from strings direct,aren,t they supposed to be made in the rotosound factory ?
[/quote]
[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1335082257' post='1625396']
I've never noticed those before. It does say: 'Legacy Nickel Electric Bass Guitar Strings are made for us in the UK to our own exacting specifications'
[/quote]

The Legacy strings are Rotosound Rotobass in different packaging. Amazing value for money at £7.95 compared to £11-14 for the Rotosound version.

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  • 4 months later...

D'Addario does NOT make Fender strings. All companies may or may not occasionally subcontract out a particular line, and most get their raw wire from Mapes. Fender bought out the V. C. Squier company in 1965 and has made most of their USA strings in house.

Edited by iiipopes
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Had an interesting chat with a rep for a distributor and he said that there are only two major string factories around.
One in France and one in the U.S and all the name strings come out of one or the other.

You will get small makers who wind their own...Newtone, for exmaple, but the difference mostly between many makes is the metal grade, gauge
and the designe quirk.

Major plus for Newtone then, IMO, who are making the cleanest strings I've tried in the last two years.

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[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1347984787' post='1807695']
Had an interesting chat with a rep for a distributor and he said that there are only two major string factories around.
One in France and one in the U.S and all the name strings come out of one or the other.
[/quote]

So Rotosound no longer make strings in the UK then?

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This is Jim D'Addario (I'm presuming it really is him) from 2008:

[quote]
XL120
10-31-2008, 05:11 AM
This is Jim D'Addario here. . . .I find these threads very interesting. Unfortunatley there is a lot of myth and fantasy in some of them.

I can share with you that D'Addario is the largest manufacturer of strings in the world right here on Long Island. We have 800 employees in NY making strings and Evans drumheads. We produce 550,000 strings per day and devote ourselves to maintaining high quality standards. We have never purchased a string from anyone.

Yes there are only a handful of major string manufacturers and many of them including D'Addario make strings for other brands that you may play and love.

Many brands that out-source their strings from other manufactuers do have their own specifications so all strings are NOT THE SAME. It is true that prior to marketing D'Addario as a brand our family business was known as Darco Music Strings. We sold the company to Martin Guitars in 1969.

All D'Addario strings are made in the USA. Some major brands import strings. You should check your country of origin when buying.

D'Addario is also the only company that makes its own wire. We have two wire mills, one in Conn. and one in Mass. that make super high quality, specialized wires just for string making. One makes our core and plain steel wire and the other coated EXP wire.

FYI.

JD

[url="http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=456584&page=2"]http://www.thegearpa...t=456584&page=2[/url]
[/quote]

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[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1335093653' post='1625546']
The Legacy strings are Rotosound Rotobass in different packaging. Amazing value for money at £7.95 compared to £11-14 for the Rotosound version.
[/quote]

one of my guilty pleasures is buying dead cheap 4 and 5 string sets of Legacy. I actually really really like them, keep trying others but keep coming back. Suspected they were Rotosound nickels, now I know.

Edited by RichF
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[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1347984787' post='1807695']
Had an interesting chat with a rep for a distributor and he said that there are only two major string factories around.
One in France and one in the U.S and all the name strings come out of one or the other.

You will get small makers who wind their own...Newtone, for exmaple, but the difference mostly between many makes is the metal grade, gauge
and the designe quirk.

Major plus for Newtone then, IMO, who are making the cleanest strings I've tried in the last two years.
[/quote]
The distributor may have been referring to the wire companies like Mapes which make the raw wire for those who manufacture the actual guitar or bass strings.

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[quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1348016484' post='1808240']
The distributor may have been referring to the wire companies like Mapes which make the raw wire for those who manufacture the actual guitar or bass strings.
[/quote]

No, this was a face to face informal chat and we talked about metal grade in strings as well as winding factories.

I'd call Rotosounds, La bella and D'addario major names so if they have their own large factories..??? but then there is large and large.
When I see him again, I'll dig deeper

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[quote name='BassBod' timestamp='1332171352' post='1584220']
There was also a huge manufacturer called Mapes (or similar) who made them for lots of companies, but never had their own brand. Not sure if they still exist, but I'm sure Google will tell us.....
[/quote]
According to their website Mapes make piano strings but also supply specialist wire for the manufacture of guitar strings to Gibson, Fender, D'Addario, SIT, DR, Ernie Ball, GHS, and several others - [url="http://www.mapeswire.com/specialtywire.html"]http://www.mapeswire.com/specialtywire.html[/url]

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