D'Addario Strings and Accessories
A History of Guitar Tone
In a lone church at the center of the small Italian village of Salle is an archive of the town’s past inhabitants. A baptismal form filled out in 1680 by Donato D’Addario lists his occupation as corduro, Italian for “string maker.” In the early 1900s, Donato’s descendent Carmine (“Charles”) D’Addario left Salle and set up a string-manufacturing factory in Queens, New York.
Today, D’Addario & Company, Inc. is the world’s largest manufacturer of musical instrument accessories marketed under seven proprietary brands. D’Addario manufactures 95% of its products in the U.S., much in their 190,000 square foot factory in Farmingdale, New York, home to 1,100 employees.
The D’Addario Difference
It all starts with D’Addario’s custom-engineered string winding machines. A winning combination of the most advanced computer-controlled winding technology, stringent incoming wire inspection, and “quality at the source” manufacturing delivers unmatched consistency, string after string. Whether for electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, or ethnic instruments, each D’Addario string is made in the U.S.A., ensuring the highest quality and performance.
If you’re a musical instrument builder and you’re considering stepping up to D’Addario, please contact us. Inside Track is your source for bulk-packaged or private label branded D’Addario strings.
Why Experts Trust XT and XS
D'Addario XT are the most natural-sounding coated strings available in today’s market. XT dispersion coating technology starts with the highest quality wrap wire materials, precision drawn and micro-coated on advanced proprietary machinery all under the same roof. The strings are then wound normally, delivering tone and feel identical to D'Addario's world renowned EJ acoustic and XL electric strings.
D'Addario XS are the most advanced coated string. Ever. With its ultra-thin film coating on every wound string and the XT polymer treatment on the plain steels, XS offers our highest level of protection for maximum life with an uncommonly smooth feel.
Both XT and XS use higher tensile strength NY Steel for the plain strings and the hex-shaped core wire. Higher tensile strength steel translates to increased pitch stability, stays in tune better, and longer lifespan. Plus, the lock twists of the plain strings are fused for greater stability and to guard against breakage. Because of all this, XT and XS strings retain a fresh sound for a ridiculously long time!
Why is this important to you? If you’re a working musician, you’ll be able to play more and change strings less. You can open your gig bag and take the stage knowing your tone is dialed in. You’ll enter the studio ready to play and not fuss with string changes.
If you’re a guitar builder, think about this: you spend so much time and effort designing and building and setting up a quality instrument. But after it leaves your workshop, it could spend literally weeks or months hanging on a hook in a guitar shop before it’s sold. Are you going to rely on the salesperson to change the strings on your guitar after they’ve gone dead? When you use XT, you’ll rest assured that when the customer pulls your guitar off the wall, the strings will sound bright and lively.
If you’d like to test XT strings against the strings you’re currently using, please contact us. Inside Track would love to work out a plan for you that will result in increased retail sell-through.
D’Addario Accessories
D’Addario offers many great accessories for guitar builders. All are thoughtfully designed and real world-tested by working musicians. And they’re positioned to be incorporated into your instruments. For example, Auto-Trim tuning machines, elliptical end pins, ebony bridge pins, branded headstock tuners, Humidipaks, private label cables, and much more.