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Custom String Sources
- Thread starter DrRock321
- Start date
There was this thread, last year, there have been a few others (no personal experience, just serving up what search provides)
Kalium seems to have shut down. Their website is still running, but there are lots of reports on SSO of people ordering strings for the past several months and never receiving their strings or hearing anything from the company. The last post on the Kalium facebook page was from May 2020. The comments of their posts paint an unfortunate picture.
I just ordered a custom set from StringJoy. I wish they did stainless.
There is also Curt Mangan.
I just ordered a custom set from StringJoy. I wish they did stainless.
There is also Curt Mangan.
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Hmm... I ordered some strings from them like 6 months ago, but had to call them up to remind them to ship them to me. I can't imagine da-rona impacted a business like theirs much but idk what lock down laws are like on the west coast. Weird.
Thanks for the reminder. They have a decent gauge Bass VI set. Pity they're not stainless.
I ordered a Kalium custom string set as recently as last August, and their string tension calculator can be more exact than Stringjoy’s. But it is imperative that you communicate with Skip by phone rather than by email. And when you do, you’ll find him to be very helpful and responsive.
I had a custom set of tapewounds for my 23" scale uke bass made by Pyramid strings in Germany when no other manufacturer would even consider it. It cost a lot but it was worth it to get away from the usual idiosyncratic rubber uke bass strings.
I've heard LaBella will make custom lengths for gauges of strings they have in production if you contact them, but I have never tried it. I do weird things with fifths tunings and I have had the most luck with matching gauges from flatwound bass sets and the equivalent flat jazz guitar sets. Like Chromes and DR flats have bass and jazz guitar sets, and labella has its bass and bass vi sets. There are probably round sets where the bass and guitar sets are ascending gauges of the same sort of string.
If it’s a extended range, multi scale, (fanned frets) you could look at Dingwall and Payson strings. Payson sells singles for your mixing and matching pleasure. Dingwall has F#’s, I think, and six string sets both longscale (37” B) and medium scale (35 ish” B) sets.
Jason at a FretNation.com is a great source for building unusual sets.
Once you get into the skinny strings, there are plenty of brands with singles. I’m searching for the perfect super light set, .080-.030 ish for E-G. I’m doing lots of experimenting with sets and single C strings.
There are some true custom winders listed above. Kallium makes nice strings sets to order, but as was mentioned, ordering is hit and miss. I’ve never not gotten my Kallium order, and the strings were fine. So there’s that.
Jason at a FretNation.com is a great source for building unusual sets.
Once you get into the skinny strings, there are plenty of brands with singles. I’m searching for the perfect super light set, .080-.030 ish for E-G. I’m doing lots of experimenting with sets and single C strings.
There are some true custom winders listed above. Kallium makes nice strings sets to order, but as was mentioned, ordering is hit and miss. I’ve never not gotten my Kallium order, and the strings were fine. So there’s that.
Sorry, but this is really unacceptable. You can get your strings if you call and pester him, but to hell with everyone who orders online and doesn't know "the trick"? If that's the case, he needs to stop taking orders on his web site. and put up clear and concise instructions on how to actually get him to ship an order.
Does that really seem OK to anyone?
I bought some Kalium strings a couple of months ago, they came surprisingly quickly (doesn't happen very often). I think with all the gauges they make/sell, they have problems keeping them all in stock, so how long it takes depends on the cycle of manufacturing different gauges. I have never had problems with not getting strings from them - just ordering through the we site. Fast, though? - yeah, not their strength - I've decided to order well before I need strings from them - so far, so good.
Sorry, I feel obliged to respond. Granted, the procedure may not be ideal, but the phone number is prominently displayed on the website, and if an online order is slow in coming, a phone call to check on it isn’t out of the question. In my case, I didn’t have to “pester” Skip; I phoned just once, to ask him if my guess at a choice of custom gauges would work (an inquiry that may not be all that uncommon when dealing with custom gauges), we had a very nice and helpful discussion, and he went ahead and processed my order immediately. So the process may not be as unreasonable as you suggest.
Nope. It's absurd that any communication should be required for a simple stocked product ordered on a website. It's not a custom bass. It's not even a custom string. At most, it's a "custom" string set, which is really nothing more than a group of *stock* (i.e., non-custom) items. Also, plenty of people on facebook and on forums are reporting difficulty getting him on the phone. So no...not worth the hassle.
Newtone!
Haven't got any personal experience with them, but I've only heard good things about them, and I have considered ordering from them at some point.
Newtone Strings – British Handmade Guitar Strings
You can order any gauge and length.
Haven't got any personal experience with them, but I've only heard good things about them, and I have considered ordering from them at some point.
Newtone Strings – British Handmade Guitar Strings
You can order any gauge and length.
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I ordered a custom stainless steel set from Kalium for 5ths tuning back in May. It took a month to finally get it in the mail, and I had to call Skip multiple times to make sure everything was alright. I've since kept my distance and resorted to Stringjoy for custom gauges, and so far they're doing well for me. Nevertheless, Stringjoy doesn't have anywhere near the options as Kalium, so I might have to wade back into the murky waters in the future to realize more of my crazy tuning ideas. Now that I think about it, I should probably make that order now just to be safe...
-Cal.
-Cal.
Wow no mention of DR, they'll do onesies of any gauge and length.
They'll even print boxes with your custom strings and name of the set.
They'll even print boxes with your custom strings and name of the set.
