bad strings, ball-0ends popping off on tune -up.

[frus]

I thought they were counterfeit too, but I checked that serial number on their webpage, apparently they are genuine

[tonequester]

I tell my friend Tonequester on here has had terrible luck. I have the vp of marketings email address he claims no probs. Too many problems with too many people to suit me. I know of at least ten people plagued with this problem. Beginning to think they are cheap imports. Course the vp says there counterfeit. Who to believe? I believe my fellow forum guitar players over a company executive who's job is to defray any negative feedback as quickly as possible. Too many people on too many forums have had a heads up. Lonnie

Thanks for the back-up lonnieboy. I couldn't make this crap up if I tried. I e-mailed Dawson yesterday and told HIM my story, then gave him a hard time about the first rep who promised me, twice, to send me 4 free sets. I told him just like the first, 1 set of .011's would do fine. He hasn't yet returned my e-mail, and I don't think I'll hear from him.
I'm going to reply again, because I got a reply notice from jbltwin1 that he'd replied to the post. I sure don't consider the post to be mine anymore, but OURS. We have to stick together, and stick to our guns. Maybe I can "smoke" him out that way. I would think that he is keeping tabs on us here. If he's not, he's stupid to not do so. That is unless he just doesn't give a damn. Thanks for hanging in their with me buddy. I don't mind admitting when I'm wrong, I've done so often on this forum, but when I'm right, and I've been lied to, I feel I have the right to expose the B.S. we all have to put up with, from these big-shots with little brains, and even smaller hearts. Do keep me informed from your side, and I'll do the same from mine. You have a great day/night lonnieboy. tonequester.

[tonequester]

Greetings jbltwin1. tonequester, pleased to make your aquaintance on the forum ! I'm sorry to hear that you have encountered "the busted ball end plague". Of course, it'sjust a figment of MY mind, so please get out of my head buddy ! Seriously, I had bad sets of .009"s(2 sets), and a bad set of .0095"s, plus 1 set of .010"s within a couple of weeks.
I was lucky that any and all extra strings that i come up with, so I cobbled up a set that had an 11 for the high E string to get by. that's when I posted, and found out how wide spread the problem is, or has been. Twice, the same rep promised me 4 sets of my choice, and twice I told him one set of .011"s would do fine. It's been over 2 months since the problem was addressed by e-mail, by me. I've got SQUAT for my efforts, and I don't like being blatantly lied to. Especially by some B.S. expert who probably doesn't even play !
Now I've e-mailed this "Dawson" character. Well, I'll give him the weekend, and then he best contact me about what I told him, that being the TRUTH. I'd be willing to bet the set I'm playing now that he will avoid me like the plague his company foisted on all of those who are having problems without giving a crap. I'm playing my last set of D'Addarios right now. They have at least lost one 20+ year devotee. Unless they act on my correspondence, and soon, I'll be posting on 5 forums a final post they won't soon forget, and that will just be the start of what else I will do to see that they'll not soon forget how important quality and customer service is. If I had wabted crap quality, I would have gone to Walmart. They dish it out regularly. However, with them at least they have a liberal return policy. They have to to keep riots to a minimum. I hope you have no further problems, and it's good to "hear" from you here. Do watch those nines, one is libel to snap, and crack you like a whip. better where eye protection. I think that's a line I'll use often on these guys. D'Addario n eeds to provide a free set of safety glasses with every set.Have a great day/night jbltwin1. tonequester.

[jbltwin1]

I never got or asked for any replacement strings. Honestly, I just think it's part of the game. The 9's are the only ones that I ever had unwind on me. I still use d'addarios and probably will 'till I croak. I like them. I just got to the point that when I install d 9's, I get an extra 9 for the set in case it goes t!ts up. I buy 20 sets of 10's at a time so yeah, I'll keep using them. Mike.

[tonequester]

tonequester here.

Greetings and Best wishes jbltwin1. You certainly have the right to purchase anything that you wish. I too like the 99.9% of the D'Addarios I have bought in 20+ years of use.I wish I had your time and money, to fool around with buying and replacing extras strings that I figure will be poor quality, and prone to fail
as you say about the .009"s. I first "ran away" from the .009"s to .095"s, only to "run" again to .010"s before realizing that my D'Addarios had evidently moved lock, stock, an barrel to Red China, where the more garbage they can dupe Americans into buying, the better. You might want to use safety glasses when you install those nines.
Good Luck, tonequester.

[Chuck H]

D'Addarios had evidently moved lock, stock, an barrel to Red China, where the more garbage they can dupe Americans into buying, the better.

See this:

Strung Out on Counterfeit Guitar Strings Made in China | Alliance for American Manufacturing

And this quote from the D'Addario site where they explain their technologies and processes:

"Last but not least, every D’Addario string is made in the U.S.A. in our Farmingdale, NY facility, ensuring the highest quality and performance."

EDIT: Also, FWIW it was probably some unscrupulous American that contracted the counterfeit strings and packaging. China pretty much just makes what they're asked to make however they're asked to make it. Litterally for better or worse. In fact, I'd wager that they could make a superior string at a competitive price! But who'd buy it when there's so much misinformation around about "Chinese junk". Make no mistakes. It's American corporations low balling the cost of manufacture that generates the crap on the market. Not the Chinese. Consider that it's the Chinese that make about 70% of the parts we use to build the most expensive "boutique" amps! And consider the reliability of things like cell phones, Televisions, your DVD player, etc. So electronic components are one example of what the Chinese do when they have a more direct market position. Selling to rebranders and such. There are other examples too. Did you know that Cuisinart food processors are made in China? Mine has been abused for a long time since the warranty expired. Just sayin'... Statements like "the more garbage they can dupe Americans into buying" can be very misleading.

EDIT 2: I'm NOT pro "Chinese manufacturing machine". Far from it. I think that too many jobs are lost to it. I think that slave labor there evolved into more updated machinery as demand increased and now no one can keep up. I think that low tariffs and taxes are in place to facilitate this. I think it's because of the proficiency of Chinese manufacturing that such cheap materials can be used to make marketable items. But it's greedy US and UK corporations that fed the monster and helped it grow. Now it's going to eat us all. Mu-Hu-Ha ha ha haaaaaa!!!

EDIT 3: If the Chinese DO take over the world, you could hardly blame them. We (the US) certainly did it when we got the chance!!! I sure do hate incumberances on my lifestyle though... Damn it!!!

[JoeM]

Where do you think Apple has iPads and iPhones made? Are they junk? Largest company by market capitalization and huge profits. Two of my most played guitars are Chinese made, and believe me, these are not junk.

[lonnieboy]

This whole string business is beginning to get on my nerves. I just hope d'adarrio settles up with tonequester,I have a few other friends on different forums who have all been shafted by this company. Are they counterfeit or not? One guy says since they acquired Planet Waves their quality has gone downhill says they over extended themselves and are using their reputation to pay their way out. He also says they are probably counterfeit also. I have a question what is to prevent a company doing business with counterfeiters and claiming they are being counterfeited? I hope you understood that. These are hard business times and a little shenanigan like that could rake in a few million bucks and go back the way it was and no one the wiser??? Is that too much like something JR.Ewing might conjur up? Just Saying

[JoeM]

I dont care if D'addario settles with tonequester or not. It's just strings! Get some new ones that work, pick up your guitar and play.

[Chuck H]

He also says they are probably counterfeit also. I have a question what is to prevent a company doing business with counterfeiters and claiming they are being counterfeited?

Really!?!

First, There are laws that can present fines such as to bankrupt a company. Lying about something like this and getting caught is nothing any company I can imagine would risk. To even suggest it is just being contrary without consideration of reality. The people who run D'Addario aren't your run of the mill criminals trying to get one over. They're in business. Certainly, when it comes to making a profit, they do what they can. All of what they can. But they DON'T do what they can't. That would be suicide.

Just to bring it down to blue collar level... Ever notice that the gardener in the clean truck with employee uniforms that does the job they say they'll do is prospering? While the guy in the wood panel station wagon with the "little" spare on one tire is half the price, but doesn't always do good job or doesn't show up at all, tries to charge for extras and sometimes steals a sack of lemons off your tree just keeps moving from one area to another until he just dissapears. And others like him come and go. And the guy with the clean truck and uniforms that does the job just keeps going to the same jobs year after year. D'Addario isn't the guy in the wood panel station wagon.

[JoeM]

Oh jeez. One isolated incident and we should all go berserk over this?!

[tonequester]

tytonequester here.

Probably my fault, but you and I are in agreement about the Chinese. I'm sure that the Chinese worker is exposed to the worst of sweart shop conditions. I don't blame them for the undeniable crap that is shipped in from that country(arsenic,lead, and mercury at no extra cost). I blame U.S. big business for this crap. I once lost an electronics assemblers job that paid a whopping $10.00 per hour because the company high tailed it to Indonesia to save labor costs, I lived it ! I know it ! As far as the counterfiet D'Addarios are concerned, their reps had every opportunity to explain this to me in two conversations by e-mail. Instead, they first insisted that there was no problem, which has been proven to be false by the forums replies to my original post, and by the replies made on a competing forum. The second opportunity they had to explain this to me, they also failed to do so. My main problem with D'Addario is that the LIED when they twice told me that they would replace 4 sets of strings of my choice, when in
trying to be reasonable, I asked only for one set. I truly feel bad if D'Addario has some BAS_____ screwing them over. If they wanted to do it right, they should have sounded the ALARM, by all possible means. Also, I didn't get my strings from Alibaba, but from Spencer's Music in Olathe, Kansas. They had no idea as to what was going on, so evidently their own dealers(at least not all of them) were in the dark as well. I know my dealer, and have for 30 years. He is beyond reproach in my book, and he immediately offered to
give me a set. As far as the reliability of the other electronic devices you mentioned, You must have a much higher standard of living than I do. Most of the things electronic I buy i either end up fixing or trashing well before I've gotten my money's worth. you speak of boutique amps. I wouldn't have a clue. I'll never be able to afford one. You can even afford a Cuisinart food processor. I use a sharp knife and elbow grease, and my knife will still be chopping away when the "poor old Cuisinart" is long since residing ion the land-fill. My point is that no-one has a bit__ at all unless they try to put some pressure on the very American busuness that you one minute defend, and the next minute blame for the
whole outsourcing problem. If you don't think that the countries that are receiving all of American big business giant efforts in outsourcing are not actively "lobbying" for it, on the table and uinder it as well, my friend, you live in a dream world. I'll go so far as to say that I apologize for thinking the worst of D'Addario. They were only perhaps half as dishonest as I first believed. I'm surprised that you didn't make a major effort to defend Walmart's business practices. However, I doubt that you have to shop there, by the expertise you have on those boutique amps you must own. As far as your assumption that it had to be an unscrupoulous American who negotiated the deal on the phoney strings,
you don't seem to realize that the way these things are usually proven to be(if ever discovered), is that one crook makes a deal with another crook. In this case, I would bet my 1970's touch tone phone that American crooks and Chinese crooks brokered this deal...TOGETHER ! If the American crooks get caught they might stand a chance of being prosecuted. Your such an expert on American lawbreakers, surely you are equally up to the task of detailing the ILLEGAL activities of criminals in China and elsewhere. Not a chance that the "crooks" in China might actually be upstanding folks over there. I just love it when someone who is not involved in what happened in ALL HONESTY, and believes that they are so intelligent that they can place themselves in the shoes of the one doing the walking from LONG DISTANCE. It's always easier to be critical about things you really don't know the half of with inplied impunity, than to actually engage someone on an equal footing. You did not read my e-mails, or the ones sent me in reply, but you seem to castigate me for impropriety, and give ME the impression that you believe ME to be the liar. This forum was my first, but not my last. This forum has been the most contentious
wioth no comparison. I heard that this one was "the original". I may be wrong here. However, if I am right, I thank God that most of the folks who were just looking for easy prey
to vent their UNDOCEMENTED frustrations on seem to have exclusively parked it here. In all honesty however. I asked for it. I ask for opinions, not that yours are the kind that I asked for. I was talking about, and suggesting that we, as consumers would do well to stick together. Now I can see that this is probably never going to happen. There is one thing for sure that America has the "corner'on, and that's inflated egos. Now I HAVE said my last word. I won't even bother with the SH__-storm that the "Gang of TEN or so" will'
be busy burning up their keyboards churning out. Thanks for the reply. I now have changed my mind on some issues, and am more committed to others. One thing remains. In MY opinion, D'Addario sucks ! They had their chance to be honest, but for reasons I don't know, although I'm sure they got my $25.00, they chose to be dishonest with me. I reaqd it. I know it. There are others in complete agreement with me as well. best wishes with your Cuisinart and your boutique amps, tonequester, gone, but watching out.

[tonequester]

JoeM. Sorry you misunderstood the message intended. My fault. China is great. We should all move there, where the quality can't be beat. Be sure to purchase some of the toys made for the little ones. Do buy the ones that have been caught time and time again contaminated with arsenic, lead, and mercury. Give them to the little ones in your life.

[tonequester]

I'm with you JoeM. I don't care if tonequester gets his strings or not either. He probably deserves it anyway. a matter of fact, I don't care if you are ever of the mind that you are treated unjustly. Whatever it is, it's just WHATEVER ! As long as your the one getting it, and not me. Now I'm starting to feel like I belong here. Time to move on! tonequester.

[tonequester]

Forget it. Why cast pearls before schwining ! tonequester.