Made in usa

[ledbailey]

I just spent time reading the forum on amazon fake strings. if you ask the makers of your favorite strings And they are honest most will tell you well we do no make ower own strings they get packaged in packets with brand names on them. look up mapes wire company and you will find they make strings for most big name brands .Plus they include extra strings in their packs for free. ledbailey

[Chris Daniels]

I get your point but it's a bit more nuanced than that. While they do have a small line of their own strings, Mapes mainly produces much of the wire used by the many string factories that produce our favorite brands. Those winding machines are likely owned by the larger companies who make their own and also white-labelled brands for others, but each will almost certainly have unique specs so you can't just say they are the same strings with a different name on the package.

Due to their status as the largest maker (and yes they wind for other brands), it's simple statistics that D'addario strings are on most of the mandolins owned by the Cafe forum users. They have their own wire factories as well so the inclusion of Mapes-produced materials wouldn't apply.

Glad you found strings you like. Keep pickin'!

C.

[ddawson2010]

I just spent time reading the forum on amazon fake strings. if you ask the makers of your favorite strings And they are honest most will tell you well we do no make ower own strings they get packaged in packets with brand names on them. look up mapes wire company and you will find they make strings for most big name brands .Plus they include extra strings in their packs for free. ledbailey

LED - that's not an accurate statement - Don with D'Addario here. Much like the comment above indicated, Mapes provides raw wire to manufacturers and from that wire, strings are made. We've used Mapes wire in the past and we may still (it's been a while since i've been out in our wire warehouse) but in the last three years, we've opened our own wire drawing facility called - D'Addario Wire Works. So we are not only able to make hex wire for cores but also wrap wire for wound strings, plus it allows us to do a great deal of research and development with materials that might be too expensive to normally test with an independent wire manufacturer. That being said, we make over 750,000 strings-a-day. We make a great many strings for guitar companies, builders as well as companies that sell their strings under private label. There are several other string manufacturers in the USA that produce strings on a large scale, Ernie Ball being one of them. We appreciate your insight into the String market but your comment regarding Mapes is just not accurate. Have a great weekend and i agree with Chris - keep on pickin!

[lukmanohnz]

LED - that's not an accurate statement - Don with D'Addario here. Much like the comment above indicated, Mapes provides raw wire to manufacturers and from that wire, strings are made. We've used Mapes wire in the past and we may still (it's been a while since i've been out in our wire warehouse) but in the last three years, we've opened our own wire drawing facility called - D'Addario Wire Works. So we are not only able to make hex wire for cores but also wrap wire for wound strings, plus it allows us to do a great deal of research and development with materials that might be too expensive to normally test with an independent wire manufacturer. That being said, we make over 750,000 strings-a-day. We make a great many strings for guitar companies, builders as well as companies that sell their strings under private label. There are several other string manufacturers in the USA that produce strings on a large scale, Ernie Ball being one of them. We appreciate your insight into the String market but your comment regarding Mapes is just not accurate. Have a great weekend and i agree with Chris - keep on pickin!

Thanks for setting the record straight, Don. I've been stringing up fretted instruments for over 4 decades, and D'Addarios have been my first choice for most of that time. You folks make a great product, and I truly appreciate that you do it right here in the good ol' US of A.

[dhergert]

... There are several other string manufacturers in the USA that produce strings on a large scale, Ernie Ball being one of them. ...

Don, I had heard a few years ago that D'Addario had acquired Ernie Ball or possibly just part of it. Is that accurate?

Btw, thanks for your insights!

[ledbailey]

remeber it started out by saying amazon was selling china strings. sorry for the mix up I only wanted to point out there are other sources closer to home. as we can see d'addario used mapes wire and I hope that shows how good their quality is. I am knew on this site I hope everyone took my comments as positive info . mapes is a great US string company AND I ONLY SUGGEST TRY ONE PACK AND NOTICE THE QUALITY. thanks for your input . ledbailey

[Stringking11]

Really when you get down to the facts their are only 2 providers of raw materials for core and wrap wire. That being said most everyone are working with the same materials.And just a handful of companies that process that raw material , Mapes being 1 of the larger so chances are your playing mapes wire be it wrap or core on the current strings you are using.

[George R. Lane]

I have tried D'Addario strings in the past and they just weren't for me, sorry Don. I did use GHS A270's for many years and I liked them very much, but when I head about Mapes I thought I will give them a try. For my mandolin and playing style the Mapes came out on top. They took less time to break in than the GHS and the intonation stays true longer than the GHS strings. I will be using the Mapes strings from now on.

[Tom Wright]

I have never been disappointed in D'Addario quality. But I feel their styles break in a little sooner, which I think many players like. Back before phosphor bronze became common I knew a guitar player who handed off his somewhat used strings to a friend, who then handed them off when well-used to a third player..

I like new-string twang, and although I find the D'Addarion PB have a beautiful tone, they do wear in fast in my playing style. I tried Mapes mainly because they could do both custom gauges and a 10-string set. There is one significant formulation difference---my lowest course, C at .047, sees a fatter core from Mapes as opposed to D'Addario, something like .021 instead of .016 (given the inaccuracy of my inexpensive calipers). It seems to hold tone longer at my short scale length of 14.25".

The tone is overall a bit fatter, less smooth high end and a bit more "clang" from Mapes, perhaps due to the coating (?). I'd stick with D'Addario but I was spending a lot of money in singles, and I do like the Mapes .047 and the set holds tone well.

I would recommend D'Addario for most instruments, and would be using them on my electric but for the 10-string challenge. But the custom gauge feature is very useful for those with non-standard instruments and/or different needs for their style of playing.

[Bill Kammerzell]

I have tried D'Addario strings in the past and they just weren't for me, sorry Don. I did use GHS A270's for many years and I liked them very much, but when I head about Mapes I thought I will give them a try. For my mandolin and playing style the Mapes came out on top. They took less time to break in than the GHS and the intonation stays true longer than the GHS strings. I will be using the Mapes strings from now on.

Just put a custom set of Mapes Stainless Steel strings on my Gallatin "A" wide neck. Really like the way they sound so far. (11.5 16 26 40). I'll follow up.