String manufacturers

Don Benoit · From: Okanagan Falls, BC

Everybody talks about different string brands but nobody wants to say who the real manufacturers are and their factory locations. I'm sure we have players on this forum that know but don't want to say. Why? What is the mystery? Where are Cobra Coils and Jagwire stings manufacured? I would like to visit the plants and check out where the wire comes from.

I use both GHS and SIT on my Mullen and I don't have a string breakage problem.

Will some post a list of the brands and who manufactures them?

I will be the first. I witnessed Martin making their own strings at their guitar factory.

John Roche · From: England

Martin have moved to Mexico. China are big guitar strings manufacturs as is a lot of far east countries.

A. J. Schobert · From: Cincinnati, Ohio,

If you saw Martin making guitar strings then I am sure you would see that PSG strings would pretty much be identical.

On my george l's it says L&L Sales, Madison Tn.

I would think that this is either a distrubtor or the name of the company that printed the label.

I am sure if you found a distributor then you can start your dective work this should be fairly easy.

Also on "How its made" they showed how they make guitar strings.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

I buy Ernie Ball strings by the gauge. I just got some in and looked on the package.
It says: "Made in the USA".

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

John Roche · From: England

Did you know that Ernie Ball's grandfather wrote "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"

Al Marcus · From: Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)

If Ernie Ball strings are made in USA, that's good enough for me...al. Smile

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Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

Ernie Ball strings are made by GHS.
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Steve Leonard · From: Bristol,VA.,U.S.A

The Mapes Piano Wire Company in Elizabethton, Tennessee manufactures the wire for a lot of the string manufacturers. Go to www.mapeswire.com and click on Specialty Wire and it lists several string brands.

Gary Jones · From: Mount Vernon, Wa

No Stu, EB strings are not made by GHS. When Ernie first started selling strings from his Newport Beach music store he bought them in bulk from the lowest bidder, and then packaged and sold them as Ernie Ball strings.
In 1978 he opened his own string winding operation in San Luis Obispo, California, in partnership with D'Addario. He also provided strings for many, many other string vendors. I know this because I worked there in 1978 and '79, and put in many a shift on a string winding machine.
I understand that since that time the string winding operation has been moved to El Centro, California, but the company is still winding their own strings, in the USA.
On the other hand, I also know that the EB steel guitar tone bars are provided by the Jim Dunlop company and are identical to the Dunlop bars.

Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

Gary,I'm guessing that in the year 1979-1980?I went to lunch at the Pacific Coast Diner in Costa Mesa and ran into David,Sterling and Ernie Ball,I had known David for a while they invited me to join them and I got to ask Ernie a few questions,I was playing steel guitar in the Palomino band then,and Ernie told me that he had done that also in 1962?Anyway I asked him where the string winding machine was and he chuckled and told me that GHS made their strings for them,I was shocked!Ernie told me that they "GHS" would make sets of Stu strings if I wanted them,A very nice guy to boot.That's where I got that from...Ernie His own self.
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b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

I don't think anyone will ever get a straight answer to this question. The people who know don't want to give away their secrets.
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Gary Jones · From: Mount Vernon, Wa

Stu, for some reason in the beginning, Ernie was rather secretive about both his string winding operation, and his partnership with D'Adario.I'm sure that he did tell you that he got all his strings from GHS, but I can assure you that as of June 1978 he was winding his own strings at the San Luis Obispo facility. I was part of the first crew hired, to move in and set up the machinery, and stayed on to operate it. I eventually became manager of the volume pedal operation, leaving in October of 1979.
His first facility there was on Tank Farm Road, right next to the airport. Ernie was a pilot, and would fly back and forth to Newport Beach, before they moved the corporate office up north. The plant manager he hired, a fellow named Chuck Braun if I remember correctly, was also Ernie's flight instructor, and did his annual flight certifications.
A few years later they built a new facility, but I was already gone by that time. As I said in my last post, I have heard that they moved the string winding operation to El Centro, and of course Sterling is in charge now that Ernie is gone.

One last story, and I promise to shut up.
Ernie had a collection of about 20 wood-burning stoves that he was storing in the San Luis Obispo facility before he moved the string-winding equipment in. As we moved more and more stuff in we ended up having to move the whole collection about 10 times. One guy quit rather than move those damned wood-stoves anymore.

Gary Jones
Henderson,Nv

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

GHS makes strings for many brands, including George L's, which are a custom made string and not equivalent to any "stock" GHS string (e.g.the GHS Stainless Steel Pedal Steel Guitar Strings are not the same as the George L's).

Years ago I did a string article for the PSGA Newsletter and at the time I could only find 3 companies that were actually making strings, two I confirmed were Squire and GHS. There was proportedly another in NYC at the time but I couildn't nail down who it was. Times have changed and several more are making their own strings but for the most part it's still mostly strings actually made by only a few companies.

The original Sho-Bud and Emmons strings were made by GHS. When George Lewis left Sho-Bud and went to work for GHS (and George owns a part of GHS), Sho-Bud shifted to Squier for their strings. Emmons also changed sometime in the 70's but I don't know who they OEM'd their strings from. I worked for Little Roy Wiggins at his Lower Broadway (Nashville) music store in the early 70's and he had his labeled strings OEM'd from Squier (who had recently been acquired by Fender) and they were the exact same strings that Sho-Bud was selling at the time.

Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

Gary,Thanks for the info...Wood Stoves?My X girlfriend's Dad had a bizz in Salt Lake City that built a line of Wood Stoves that he designed...heavy suckers. Winking

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Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

Craig A Davidson · From: Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin USA

I don't know who makes what but whoever is making Jagwires can just keep making them because I plan to continue using them. GHS? Huh. Every set of GHS I ever tried the third string broke before I got the rest tuned. Ifyou haven't tried them folks please do. There are a lot of know players using them. Even if they didn't I would still play them.

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

What ever happened to Squire? Did they go out of business?
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Craig A Davidson · From: Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin USA

bOb, I think Fender bought them up.
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Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

Off topic, I know, but Ernie Ball gave me my first steel guitar lesson at his store on Ventura Blvd. in Tarzana in 1965! It was on a Fender 1000 he wanted to sell me to replace my Fender 400. A6 tuning. What a nice guy!

About 1986, I was working at Danny Hawk's music store and we dealt with Sterling Ball all the time. He asked me if I knew his dad, and I said yes. He said "don't know if you knew this, but dad was always an atheist. That is, until he married this beautiful Polynesian girl and started reading the Koran. He's now Muslim!"

Little bit of steel guitar trivia for y'all. Smile

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Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

In 1972 we (Little Roy Wiggins music store) were still dealing with "Squier" for OEM'd strings. I don't know if or when the Squier name was dropped.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Jack,
Now Fender is putting that name on guitars.

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Erv, I was only referring to the Strings.

Willis Vanderberg · From: Petoskey Mi

I believe GHS were the initials of G.S.Squier.
I grew up in Battle Creek Mich and the Squier music store was on Michigan ave. At one point the store was named Squiers and Roat, maybe Rhoat. They were the Gibson dealer for Battle Creek.I believe their big thing was pianos. Their string operation was about three miles south of there. When I had a store I ordered the gauged box of assorted string from them and made up custom sets. This was about 69 or 70. As I recall Mr Squiers first name was George. A close friends mother, worked in the string factory for over thirty years. My memory could be failing but this is as I recall it now.

Old Bud

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