D'Addario Strings

[richard parker]

Here's an e-mail I've just sent to D'Addario.

Any thoughts ?

Dear Folks,

What is the idea of packaging your strings wound together in pairs ? I can't separate one from another without both unwinding. Not a problem when I'm changing all strings (still irritating though) but if I needed to change a single string at a gig I'd end up with another string unravelled that I'd just have to throw away.

What is the thinking behind this ?

Many Thanks.

 

[Kais]

Re: D'Addario Strings

my impression was that all 6 strings were in the same package to be "environmental friendly", also because D"Addario will save $$$ on packaging costs.

 

[richard parker]

Re: D'Addario Strings

They used to be all in the same pack but separate. Now each pair of strings are wound together so your high E is entangled with the B and so on.

 

[JeffB]

Re: D'Addario Strings

Everyone is starting to do that envelopes or not. irritating for sure. Bought a pack of Martin SP acoustic strings the other day, 2 in each envelope. DR, same thing. Cleartones wound 2 at a time. Rotosound has been doing that for several years in their double decker packs.EVH (dad built) are too.
I think the last set of Helix I bought were like that.

Oh well.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: D'Addario Strings

yeah that ****s me off. Another reason to stay with ernie ball

 

[richard parker]

Re: D'Addario Strings

Didn't realise it was so widespread. As much as I like D's I was going to ask for recommendations for other strings but if everyone else is doing it.........

K'steen - I don't like Ernie Balls. To me they sound weak and break easily but that was probably 10 years ago at least so may be worth re-visiting.

 

[Brian Griffin]

Re: D'Addario Strings

I think it attempts to ensure that guitar players do not put unbalanced stress on the neck by putting the strings in order (from 1 to 6 or vice versa). Maybe by putting them randomly the neck would receive less stress. But in practice it doesn't really matter. Why do you think they are not packed in order like 1st and 2nd, or 3rd and 4th?

Darco also does this by the way.

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: D'Addario Strings

Straight from D'addario's mouth (to their computer, to the internet, read by me and regurgitated months later here for you now):They do it because apparently there was an issue with people getting less than six strings in a pack. The winding of strings together in pairs allows people on the production line to spot missing strings much more easily (remember, D'addario makes a TON of strings every day so it has to move pretty quickly) and since they've started doing this I think they said that they have received almost or exactly no complaints about missing strings per pack.

 

[Seymour's son]

Re: D'Addario Strings

yeah that ****s me off. Another reason to stay with ernie ball

EB's are the way to roll!

 

[Bludave]

Re: D'Addario Strings

I use D' Adarrio strings exclusively and never really had any issues with the packaging. They are an environmentally stable Company and use all Soy based ink in the printing of the packaging material, they also use all recycled paper products for the packaging as well. I know this because they are literally right down the street from where I work and I work in the Print/graphic industry.

Now what I do is buy my strings (XL115 or J17) in boxes of 10 sets. For guys that are in the maintenance of guitars doing setups & builders they have a bulk box of 25 sets. Each string gauge is in a tube of 25. These don't work for me as I don't go through them fast enough. I prefer the 10 sets per box. Now I also buy a package of 10 for each string gauge and I keep these in my gig bag in the unlikely event I actually break a string I can just pull one without busting a set. Sometimes you have to search for the individual strings but you can find them. Makes life a lot easier for a working musician.

 

[koshikas]

Re: D'Addario Strings

hope this does not turn into dog fight, OP was after why strings were packed in pairs and not brand relevant. i ve used both D'ad and EBs and find them both to be very good strings with slight EQ difference (EBs to me have tiny bit more high-end). I m still a D'ad user.

However in recent developments (well atleast from year before) I ve begun noticing that D'add EXL series (regular nickel wound) is not lasting long for me as it used to. I see treble strings turning dark where my fingers used to land on even after first few hours of playing. Some painstaking wiping of strings right after play gets the shine back, it goes rubbery sticky very quickly from there onwards, making it ****ty to play. This never happened earlier, and I m not sure whether they messed up the strings.

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: D'Addario Strings

Seems like a pretty petty complaint to be honest. If I ever need one I either a) have spare singles on hand or b) wrap the paired string back up.

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: D'Addario Strings

Never bothered me either. Always kept them fresh too. EBs would always come in a bunch of mini paper packs with the same color ball end and I got some with rust right out of the package too. Whenever I do break a string (which I haven't genuinely done in like a decade since switching to D'addario), I usually change the whole set anyways to be consistent.

 

[trevorus]

Re: D'Addario Strings

Seems like a pretty petty complaint to be honest. If I ever need one I either a) have spare singles on hand or b) wrap the paired string back up.

This was my thought. It's searching for problems that are so so tiny... it's a quality control measure, and if it makes the strings more consistent, so much the better. Just unwrap a pair, then wind the one you don't use.

I personally have not broken a string playing in about ten years. If you're breaking them, find out why. I always change strings in sets anyways, and have a backup guitar so if there is a broken string,I just switch to the other guitar.

 

[ddawson2012]

Re: D'Addario Strings

Don from D'Addario here - and Agileguy is correct - one of the main reasons for double coiling was to prevent strings from leaving our facility with less than 6 strings in a pack. We weigh each pack before it gets placed into the cardboard package. It also helped us reduce packaging and save costs. When this was implemented 2 years ago, we actually reduced the cost of XLs to the player. Dating back to 1991, when we started the whole E-Series of packaging, our intent was to be environmentally-friendly and reduce as much of our waste from landfills worldwide. http://www.daddario.com/saves/main.swf

Don Dawson
Product Marketing Specialist
D'Addario / Planet Waves

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: D'Addario Strings

Don from D'Addario here - and Agileguy is correct - one of the main reasons for double coiling was to prevent strings from leaving our facility with less than 6 strings in a pack. We weigh each pack before it gets placed into the cardboard package. It also helped us reduce packaging and save costs. When this was implemented 2 years ago, we actually reduced the cost of XLs to the player. Dating back to 1991, when we started the whole E-Series of packaging, our intent was to be environmentally-friendly and reduce as much of our waste from landfills worldwide. http://www.daddario.com/saves/main.swf

Don Dawson
Product Marketing Specialist
D'Addario / Planet Waves

Thanks for posting Don...The D'Addarios are my main go to strings for many years now!

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: D'Addario Strings

Don from D'Addario here - and Agileguy is correct - one of the main reasons for double coiling was to prevent strings from leaving our facility with less than 6 strings in a pack. We weigh each pack before it gets placed into the cardboard package. It also helped us reduce packaging and save costs. When this was implemented 2 years ago, we actually reduced the cost of XLs to the player. Dating back to 1991, when we started the whole E-Series of packaging, our intent was to be environmentally-friendly and reduce as much of our waste from landfills worldwide. http://www.daddario.com/saves/main.swf

Don Dawson
Product Marketing Specialist
D'Addario / Planet Waves

WAAAAAAIT before you go! What does the XL mean?

 

[richard parker]

Re: D'Addario Strings

Just got an e-mail from George Santos at D'Addario stating that it was because of the occasional missing string issue. Thanks George. I haven't noticed any decline in quality and I love the tone so I guess I'll live with it.

Now, why do effects pedals have the input and output the wrong way round ?