# Canadian String Companies?



## jbealsmusic (Feb 12, 2014)

Are there any Canadian (electric) guitar string manufacturers?


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## Noise Supply (May 31, 2013)

Not that I'm aware of - I'd be interested to find out if there are any though. 

I remember about a year ago, Wyres was saying they had or were going to have some production in Canada, but I just checked and they seem to be all handmade in the U.S.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Firewire.

Don't know anything about whether they actually make them or whether they just import them like lots of brands. Anyone know?

Peace, Mooh.


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## jbealsmusic (Feb 12, 2014)

Mooh said:


> Firewire.
> Don't know anything about whether they actually make them or whether they just import them like lots of brands. Anyone know?
> Peace, Mooh.


They were made in Canada, but I'm pretty sure they are no longer in business.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that, much the way picture tubes for TVs used to be made, the various brands of strings are all made by a few manufacturers, who take on contracts, and produce them to different specs for different clients.


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## jbealsmusic (Feb 12, 2014)

mhammer said:


> I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that, much the way picture tubes for TVs used to be made, the various brands of strings are all made by a few manufacturers, who take on contracts, and produce them to different specs for different clients.


I've heard the same... Here's a quote from John Hall (CEO of Rickenbacker circa 1998).

John Hall had this to say about the effect string choice has on the
intonation of twelve-string guitars which have a six-saddle bridge. 
Even if you have a six-string guitar, you'll find his observations 
about the uniformity of diameter of strings fascinating:

"There are actually only a very few string factories producing guitar 
strings in this country, and all the rest of the brands . . . including 
some of the really well known brands . . . are done as private label 
production. Certainly we do the same thing; it's a very specialized 
business and we certainly know more about making guitars then we do 
about making strings.

The base problem is that the strings coming out of these very few 
factories are simply not created equally. There's one very prolific 
producer out there that simply makes a very poor quality product, and 
at times, strings from this factory end up marketed as expensive, 
quality brands. On the other hand, the identical strings also appear 
as bargain brands, just as some truly good strings do too.

I am specifically referring to uniformity of diameter, as this is where
almost all intonation error originates. If you have a guitar that doesn't
want to intonate but is otherwise in good adjustment, and you have a
micrometer available to you, measure the diameter up and down the string. 
I virtually guarantee that you'll find significant manufacturing variation
over the length of the string. Basic physics tells you that it will be
utterly impossible to adjust this out, no matter whether you have a 6 or 
12 saddle bridge.

Again I'll say it: if you use a quality . . . uniformly gauged . . . 
string set on a twelve-stringer, you will have no difficulty whatsoever 
intonating the guitar using a 6 saddle bridge."

Source: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/music/guitars/rickenbacker/


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Interesting. Although basic string properties haven't changed much over the years, apart from the introduction of things like hex-cores or plastic coatings or alloy formulae, one wonders if the technology for the _production_ of strings has changed very much. And if it has (which it _could_ have during the 15 years between John Hall's comments and today), I wonder if that has served to reduce, or to increase, the gap in quality between manufacturer X and Y.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Most of the actual wire comes from even fewer companies. Names escape me but maybe Mapes? There's another big one...it'll come to me...Roslau?

Peace, Mooh.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Us guitar players tend to forget that any single piano uses one heckuva lot of wire string, with a single "normal" 88-key piano using several hundred strings. The lowest notes only use two wound strings per note, but the upper registers generally use 3 strings per note.

Here's an interesting wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_wire

Which gives one pause to reflect: how many piano-wire manufacturers are there? Keep in mind that piano strings are somethng one doesn't change too often...particularly since pianos use friction tuners, and you can't be turning those things too much, or else they lose grip. Besides, do YOU want to change a few hundred strings?


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

mhammer said:


> Us guitar players tend to forget that any single piano uses one heckuva lot of wire string, with a single "normal" 88-key piano using several hundred strings. The lowest notes only use two wound strings per note, but the upper registers generally use 3 strings per note.
> 
> Here's an interesting wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_wire
> 
> Which gives one pause to reflect: how many piano-wire manufacturers are there? Keep in mind that piano strings are somethng one doesn't change too often...particularly since pianos use friction tuners, and you can't be turning those things too much, or else they lose grip. Besides, do YOU want to change a few hundred strings?


Piano wire doesn't have to be as uniform along the length of the string as each string is tuned to a single note. Also, the plain, un-wound strings in a piano are all the same gauge.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

A surprise to me. I would have thought that there might be several gauges of unwound strings, given the range of pitches. But, looking up images of grand pianos on-line I see that yes indeed they are the same gauge for about 5 octaves or so. Completely forgot that where a guitar has ONLY 6 strings, each of which remains under constant tension, despite where it is fretted, a piano can keep the same gauge of string under consistent tension, while adjusting length.

The wound strings DO vary in gauge a bit, though, since there are limits to how long you can make them (I gather they tend to max out at 11ft or so in length). So thicker strings make up for the fact that you can't simply use the same gauge and just keep making the same gauge longer and longer.

When one considers that the upper 5 octaves use three strings tuned to the same pitch, I wold imagine that string consistency (i.e., the same gauge along the full length of the string for all three strings) can make a difference in the "purity" of pitch. On the other hand, I'm no piano technician, so this is mere speculation on my part.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Poehlmann, I think, is the other company that supplies wire.

Peace, Mooh.


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