FAQs
General
How do I contact you?
Write us an email anytime! We’d love to hear from you and will be glad to help you any way we can. Here’s our address: [email protected]
What happens if a string breaks?
First of all, we should say that we do everything possible to ensure that our strings don’t suffer premature breakage. That said, when you stretch tens of thousands of wires to tension and hit them with a plectrum, inevitably a couple are going to break. That’s why we replace any Stringjoy string that breaks prematurely free of charge. Just shoot us an email: [email protected]
Do you make your own strings?
We know there is a lot of mystery out there about who actually makes guitar strings. Let us clear up any ambiguity: We make all of our own strings, in our own shop, right here in Nashville, TN—on custom made winding equipment. Check out our guitar string making process here.
But a guy at the guitar store told me only three companies make guitar strings?
The guy at the guitar store is wrong.
Will you sponsor my band?
Realistically, probably not. If you do reach out about sponsorships/endorsements, please read this awesome guide our friends at Orange Amplifiers wrote about when endorsements make sense, how they work, and what to expect out of them first: THE (INDEFINITE) GUIDE TO ORANGE ENDORSEMENTS They did a better job writing this up than we would, and all the same principles apply.
But my friend Jeff told me you didn't make your own strings?
Your friend Jeff is wrong.
Can I tour your shop in Nashville or buy strings from you in person?
Unfortunately, our shop isn’t open to the public and we do not offer tours at this time. But that said, our strings are carried by a number of awesome guitar stores here in Nashville, and are also always available here at Stringjoy.com
Why are your prices higher than some brands?
Short answer: Our string prices are based primarily on the amount of labor that goes into them. There are a lot more man-hours in each set of Stringjoy strings than with the larger brands, and man hours are expensive, particularly when you have a staff of string experts that is paid a fair living wage, as we do. Longer answer: These days many string brands have moved to a two-pronged model where they sell a “budget” line of strings (such as Slinkies or XLs) and a “premium” line of strings (such as NYXLs or Paradigms). We don’t believe in putting out a product that we cut corners on just to compete at the bottom-end of the market, so all of our strings are the best strings that we can make, and we back all of them up with the same ironclad guarantee. While our strings may be pricier than some budget lines, Stringjoys are priced similarly to, or lower than, other premium string lines, even though we believe our strings are head and shoulders above the rest.
Do you do sales or offer discounts?
Not really, no. The silver lining here is that you don’t have to worry about missing out on a better deal if you had waited a few days. We sell our products for a fair price year round, and you always get the best deal there is.
This guy on a forum said only D'Addario actually makes their own strings?
The guy on the forum is wrong. We make our own strings. In our own shop. We have the sore backs to prove it.
How can I become a Stringjoy dealer?
Reach out to [email protected] with some info about your store and we’ll get the ball rolling.
Our Strings
What do “P” and “W” stand for?
On electric and acoustic sets, all gauges lighter than .018 are always plain steel, all heavier than .026 are always wound. On gauges where we overlap (we make some both wound and plain strings between .018 and .026), a “p” signifies plain steel, a “w” signifies a wound string. So, if you see a .020w, that’s a wound string. A .020p is a plain string. If it doesn’t have either letter we only offer it as a wound string (if it’s heavier than .026) or a plain steel string (if it’s lighter than .018). Got it? Good. This doesn’t apply to our bass strings, since all of those are wound.
Why don’t you make “X” gauge string?
We make a lot of different string gauges—over 100 actually—and with all companies there are certain limitations in terms of how many gauges we can keep in stock, fulfill in a reasonable timeframe, and ensure that they aren’t sitting around our shop for too long before they ship out. As such, we’ve chosen the gauges we do make intentionally in order to satisfy the needs of as many players as possible. Unfortunately, we aren’t able to make any gauges that we don’t currently produce as a one-off, the costs of setting up a new gauge for manufacture are very high, and it only washes out when we produce enough of them—if we were to make a 6 string set all out of gauges we don’t regularly make, it would cost hundreds of dollars—for one set. Nobody wants that.
How long are your strings?
Plain Steel Strings (found in all electric or acoustic string sets): At least 43″ from ball-end to tail Wound Acoustic Strings: 46.5″ total length, 39.75″ of which is wound and 6.75″ of which is a core wire tail, which can be used to anchor the string around the tuning peg if extra length is needed. Wound Electric Strings: 46.5″ total length, 39.75″ of which is wound and 6.75″ of which is a core wire tail, which can be used to anchor the string around the tuning peg if extra length is needed. Strings .068-.074 and up have a taper at 35.5″ from the ball-end, since these fit through standard tuners the linger taper makes them fairly universal. Strings .080-.095 have a taper at 32″ from the ball-end (great for most 27″ scale and under guitars), except for Bass VI .090 and .095s, which have a taper at 35.5″ Strings .080 and up have a very slight taper at the ball-end to keep them from getting stuck in bridges. It does not affect performance. Bass Strings: All bass strings are 54″ in total length, roughly 48″ of which is wound (slightly less on short and medium scale lengths) Strings .065 and up have a taper at a certain length from the ball-end, depending on the scale. When installed, this taper should sit between the nut and the tuning peg, if you have picked the right scale strings for your bass. Short Scale: 32.75″ Medium Scale: 34.5″ Long Scale: 37.1″ Extra Long Scale: 38.5″ Strings .060 and under are “Universal Scale.” Since they have only one wrap they have no taper, so they can be cut to any length to work for any scale bass. Strings .125 and up have a very slight taper at the ball-end to keep them from getting stuck in bridges. It does not affect performance.
Can you help me find the perfect custom gauges for me?
Absolutely! Just shoot a message over to [email protected] with any requirements you have. Be sure to mention what your your playing, the tuning you’re using, what you’ve played in the past, and what you’re looking for in your next set.
Do you use round cores or hex cores?
Both! A lot of companies show a clear bias to one type of core or the other, we use each core type in the situation that we think it works best. Everyone has an opinion on the round core vs. hex core debate—and everyone you ask will tell you different reasons for why they like either one. To us, hex cores hold tune better, break less often, and have a clearer, more natural top end. That’s why we use hex cores for our Signatures, Naturals, & Brights lines. Where we do like round cores is on our pure nickel Broadways. Round core strings have a smoother, deeper bottom end and seem to resonate very well with the combination of pure nickel wrap alloy. As we develop new string lines, core geometry is always a key piece of the recipe we put together for a line, and we will certainly have more round core offerings down the line as they make sense.
Do you make flatwound strings?
Not yet, but we’ve been working hard on it for several years now. Our tentative hope is to have something to show you sometime in 2023.
Can you make strings for a specialty instrument, or one not listed on your website?
Sadly, no. The costs of setting up a new gauge for manufacture are very high, and it only washes out when we produce enough of them—if we were to make a 6 string set all out of gauges we don’t regularly make, it would cost hundreds of dollars—for one set. Nobody wants that.
Subscriptions
How can I subscribe to a product?
All of our subscribe-able products have an “auto-restock” option above the add to cart button. Select the frequency you’d like for your subscription from here. To modify the number of sets you’d like in each subscription, use the “Quantity” field above the “Add to Cart” button. Then continue to checkout as normal!
How do I modify my subscription?
Login to “My Account”, navigate to your subscription and you can edit to your liking. If that gives you any trouble, you may find it easier to click “Cancel,” then, create a new subscription with your new specs. Easy as that.
Can I purchase a subscription along with other, non-subscription items?
Absolutely! Only products that you select an “Auto-Restock” frequency for will come through as subscriptions. You can select “one-time” for any products you don’t want to create a subscription for, and can check out with everything together in the same cart.
Will I be able to add other products to be included with future subscriptions?
Yep, we can handle this for you directly, just drop us an email at [email protected] with what you’d like to add to your next order.
Ordering
When will my order ship?
Typically, it takes up to 2 business days to process your order, regardless of the shipping option selected at checkout. In rare cases we experience extremely high demand and it may take up to 4 business days for your order to ship. We ship Monday through Friday, excluding weekends and holidays. We cannot guarantee Saturday delivery, even if your shipping is upgraded to express. Please allow up to 2 (or in rare cases, 4) business days for orders to process (for example, if you order on Monday, your order should ship out on Tuesday or Wednesday). You will receive a confirmation e-mail with the tracking link once your order ships. Please allow up to 48 hours to receive this shipping confirmation e-mail. Express shipping options and any other third-party fees are non-refundable. We cannot be held accountable for delays caused by the carrier. Do note that if inaccurate or incomplete addresses are provided your order may be delayed. Please thoroughly review their shipping information prior to checking out to avoid any such delays. Any expedited shipping you purchase does not expedite this handling time—it simply means that we will purchase an expedited shipping service from USPS on your behalf to cut down on the transit time of your order.
Do you provide phone help or take orders over the phone?
Sadly, we do not—and there’s two reasons for that. The good news is, we’re always here to help over email at [email protected] First, we’re a really small team and we sometimes help hundreds of customers in a given day. Phone calls take a lot of time, and if we offered that we’d only be able to help a few dozen customers in a day, which is no good. Secondly, because there’s just a few of us, if we were all helping customers you might have to wait on hold for 30 minutes or more, and nobody wants that. Second, we don’t take orders over the phone for simple security reasons. Our website is fully encrypted and safe, no one here has access to any of your personal information. When you give out your info over the phone, that isn’t secure, and we want your information to be as safe as possible.
Is it safe to provide my Credit Card information on your site?
In short, yes. We use 256 bit encryption on our checkout process to ensure that your information as not accessible to hackers or other bad folks. Your credit card is not stored here, and we do not have access to it. As always, spyware can exist on your own computer, and we recommend running anti-virus checks regularly, but that doesn’t have much to do with us.
How do I exchange an item?
We’ve got all the details you need over in our Return & Exchange Policy. Got questions? Contact us anytime at [email protected]
What is your return policy?
We’ve got all the details you need over in our Return & Exchange Policy. Got questions? Contact us anytime at [email protected]
How much does shipping cost?
Depending on size, orders placed through Stringjoy.com may be eligible for free standard shipping, please see our Shipping Policy for full details. Got questions? Contact us anytime at [email protected]
International Orders
Who pays import duties/tariffs?
Due to the wealth of country tax and tariff codes the world over, any and all import duties or fees on international orders are the responsibility of the purchaser.
What does International shipping cost?
Our site will automatically calculate the shipping costs to your exact destination on the Checkout page. We’ve worked really hard to get international shipping costs super low, currently they are $9.95 – $12.95 flat depending on the country, and we do subsidize them substantially to keep them that way.
How long will it take to receive my order?
Typically, international orders arrive in 2-4 weeks, though occasionally packages will take a bit longer and still arrive safe and sound, so we don’t consider a package to be “lost” until 45 days from the shipment date. Once we ship your order, it’s up to the USPS, your own country’s customs department, and your local postal service to get it to you. We may not have any more information available to us about that status of the package than you do. If it has been 45 days since your order was shipped and you do not have it, please let us know so we can get you taken care of: [email protected]
What countries do/don’t you ship to?
We ship to all countries not listed below. We would love to ship to players everywhere, but unfortunately, international trade & political concerns make us unable to ship to to a few countries (excluding AFO / DPO / FPO Military Mail): Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Cote d’ivoire (Ivory Coast), Croatia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Montenegro, Myanmar (Burma), Nigeria, North Korea, Paraguay, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Togo, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
Our Company
Who/What is Stringjoy?
We’re guitar players just like you who wake up every day trying to make the best strings we can. Check out our About Us page for the full story!
Where can I buy Stringjoy?
You can always purchase Stringjoy directly from us over at our online shop, as well as through a number of amazing physical retailers, both in the United States, and around the world. For a complete list of retailers that carry Stringjoy, see our Dealers page.
What else sets your strings apart?
Not only do we make all our guitar strings right here in the USA, we also source as much of our raw materials as possible from the USA. We obsess with the quality of our products—that’s why we relentlessly inspect every single string before it goes out. Even though we have strict quality controls at every step of the winding process, not every string makes it through this last step. We only want you to get the best strings, period. When somebody tries a set of Stringjoy strings for the first time, we only get one shot to impress them, so we want to make sure everything is as perfect as it can possibly be.
Can I invest in Stringjoy?
We are a bootstrapped company (we started with just $500) and prefer to hang onto our equity and control. We’ve averaged 70% YOY growth since inception, and we enjoy navigating the challenges of rapid growth without having to focus on short-term results. That said, if you are an accredited, institutional, or strategic investor and you believe you can help us deliver even more value to our customers, we would certainly hear you out. Shoot an email to [email protected]
Are you a corporate offshoot/part of the music industrial complex?
Most certainly not. We’re guitarists ourselves, and we strive to make Stringjoy about helping guitarists get the best quality products at a fair price. We love music, playing guitar, and helping other guitarists find new ways to improve their playing and their tone.