D'Addario (company)
| D'Addario
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|---|---|
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| legal form | family business |
| Seat | East Farmingdale , Long Island , New York |
| Branch | Musical instrument making |
| Website | www.daddario.com |
D'Addario is a manufacturer of strings (mainly guitar strings ). The current headquarters are in East Farmingdale , Long Island , New York . The family company, one of the largest string manufacturers in the world, not only produces a number of string series under its own brand name, but also produces OEM strings for other instrument manufacturers. With its subsidiaries Planet Waves , the company also produces and sells guitar cables, belts, polishes and other items, Pro Mark drumsticks , Evans drum heads and Rico reeds for woodwind instruments .
Company history
The string maker family D'Addario comes from the small town of Salle in the province of Pescara in Italy . A christening certificate from 1680 names a cordaro (Italian string maker ) Donato D'Addario . Other historical records state that the town's first residents were farmers and string makers. At that time, strings were painstakingly made from sheep or pig intestines.
After an earthquake devastated the city in 1905, two brothers-in-law, Rocco and Carmine D'Addario (who later changed his first name to Charles) emigrated to Astoria in Queens , New York to expand the market for their products. They imported and sold the strings made by their family in Salle. In 1918, Rocco returned to Salle and Carmine (Charles) started making his own strings in a small shop. Since natural casings were still being processed, all family members were involved in the production.
The guitar became increasingly popular in the early 20th century and the D'Addario family began making strings for this instrument in the 1930s. She produced the strings for individual musicians or for guitar makers .
The development of nylon during World War II meant a big change for the family business. When they received the first samples in 1947, the D'Addarios immediately began experimenting with this new material. The development of nylon strings was carried out with constant advice and coordination with many regular customers.
During the late forties and early fifties (especially after the birth of rock 'n' roll ) nylon strings on the "classical guitar" were overtaken in popularity by steel-string guitars. Some younger family members wanted to expand the range to steel strings, but Charles D'Addario hesitated. He felt it was risky to expand the business to a segment of the market that he considered unsafe. In 1956 a new company, Archaic Musical String Mfg Co. , began producing steel strings. The new company was led by John D'Addario Sr. , the son of Charles. The company manufactured steel strings for several well-known guitar makers of the time, including Gretsch , D'Angelico , Martin Guitars and Guild . In 1962 the two companies were merged under the name Darco .
The guitar had become the most popular instrument in the United States of America , and the Darco company developed many innovations in the manufacture of guitar strings, such as the first automated system for pulling strings and the first wrapped strings for the bass guitar .
In the late 1960s, Darco received a merger offer from Martin Guitars to combine resources and development efforts. Although the partnership was beneficial for both companies, the D'Addario family decided in 1974 to market strings under their own name and founded the J. D'Addario & Company . Darco is still a brand name used by the Martin Guitars company today.
As the business grew, the Lynbrook, New York office grew too small and in 1994 the company moved to its current location in Farmingdale. The company is still owned and run by the D'Addario family. Today thirteen family members belong to the total of 900 employees of the company.