A DEEP DEDICATION TO QUALITY As DR Strings reaches the 35-year mark, its foundational principle remains the same: upholding its commitment to refining the quality and tone of each string it produces. — By Kimberly Kapela
W ithin the walls of DR Strings’ West- wood, New Jersey-based facility, skilled string winders take a minimum of six months to learn the craft of making the company’s strings. Every twist, every turn, every wind is executed by hand, guided by a serious understanding of the materials and techniques involved. Often hailed as “the handmade string,” it’s DR Strings’ focus on the human touch that sets it apart in an industry dominated by mechanical processes. Through countless hours of practice and refinement, DR’s winders have developed an intuitive sense for the adjustments nec- essary to produce quality strings. Founded in 1989 by Mark Dronge, DR Strings remains a proud family-owned busi- ness. Dronge’s vision was simple: to create strings that not only sounded exceptional but also stood the test of time. “Our company, supervisors and fac- tory managers have been with us for de- cades,” said Annika Dronge, DR Strings CEO. “That’s a testament to how my father [Mark] treated his people and the values he had. He always said to put people first and then the business will follow. There’s a joke with our factory managers that we’re bonded by battle, and we’re very close and we have a lot of respect for each other.” In 1989, Mark re-introduced the hand- made round core string to the general mar- ket with all materials being sourced from the U.S. According to Annika, the brand’s current flagship string, its Hi-Beam Bass String, is a round core steel-string known for its comfortability. “We’re constantly reinventing as we re- introduced our round core strings to the market, but we didn’t stop there,” Annika said. “We brought out Pure Blues, which is a vintage, pure nickel string and then
WHITE GLOVE SERVICE When entering DR Strings’ facility, one can expect to be met with workers wearing white gloves. The significance of these gloves goes beyond aesthetics, as they represent a principle of no metal is touched until it’s in the hands of its owner. “If you come to our factory at any time, you know everybody’s wearing white gloves,” Annika said. “Nobody touches the metal until the person who bought the string puts it onto the guitar. The person who buys that string is the first person to touch that metal, so it’s their own chemistry on that string. It hasn’t started to deteriorate by anybody else touching it. People ask us, ‘Why do your strings last longer?’ Well, it starts with the materials, but it’s also how we handle them.” This age-old practice is a testament to DR Strings’ dedication to preserving the purity of its products. While it may slow down the manufacturing process, the company refuses to compromise on quality. After all, as they say, the proof is in the sound. Its dedication to quality has lead the brand to strike a major partnership with an industry leader along with releasing a full lineup of new products — all to be announced later this summer. “Another mantra my dad lived by was, ‘We make something different and we hope you can feel and hear the difference,’” An- nika explained. “We hope musicians find the strings sound as great as we think they do and feel as comfortable to play as we do. We just would love to see the whole industry elevate and continue to inspire new players, and we want to be part of that creative process. We want to inspire that whole next generation of players.” MI
DR Strings’ vice president Dave Avenius with Annika Dronge.
he brought out special strings called DDT (drop down tuning) that’s geared towards metal players. Then of course the Hi-Def Neon strings have been really fun colors that pop on stage.” DR Strings’ reliance on the human touch enables the detection of inconsistencies that may evade mechanical processes. With their trained eyes and skilled hands, its winders strive for perfection in every string they craft. “What’s interesting about wire and metal, even though we source our wire from the U.S. and it’s medical-grade, sometimes there are inconsistencies that are difficult to ac- count for when it comes to the machine- made string,” Annika said. “Our winders get a feeling for that over time and they can adjust some of those inconsistencies. It’s a myth that all metal is uniform. Metal is almost like wood, so making small adjust- ments, I think, is part of the secret to our string making.”
18 I MUSIC INC. I JUNE 2024
Powered by FlippingBook