Caldogno, 2016/05/19

Dear customers,

we often receive requests for strings for new kind of instruments, in particular Bass ukuleles whose scale often do not comply with our standard string size. We offer strings in bulk, designed for a scale of 20”-21”(inches) instruments. The same problem occurred with some new models of Ukuleles designed for different tuning/scale.

The problem is that we receive your strings enquiry only when the instrument has already been invented and realized, hoping that the right strings will be produced without any problem. Unfortunately, you cannot give this for granted. Before a new instrument’s creation, you have to find its appropriate strings. Plastic and metallic materials available for strings production do have specific limits and properties that must be take into consideration when designing new strings. Therefore, if the suitable strings are yet to be created but the instrument has already been manufactured and is ready to be launched in the market, the economic damage can be very high.

The best way to proceed is to involve our company since the beginning, informing us about the scale, the number of strings and the chosen tuning. In this way, we can test the real feasibility of the strings and the time that we will need to design them.

Please do not forget that we are a large-scale strings factory. Requests for a small quantity of new instruments’ strings can lead to various problems. For example to test the new prototypes, large-scale production has to be stopped for an uncertain period.

It is very difficult to design the best setup without having the prototype of the new instrument in our hands: the whole process may become very long. If we do not have the instrument sample in our headquarters, we have to send our strings samples to the customers and wait for their feedback. This can cause delay of months, without considering the uncertainty of information received. To make the process faster the best solution indeed is to send us as soon as possible a sample (prototype) of the new instrument.

We also would like to inform you that new strings’ creation brings higher costs: extra costs for labor and for tested materials. During the fine-tuning tests and the final cleaning of the machineries there is a material waste of around 5.000/10.000 strings.  Time also represents an extra cost: the full process required to the string maker to find all the right parameters of a new product can take from few days until few months.

Finally: we would like to remind you that our bulk standard set for the Bass Ukulele 68U code is designed for 20-21” inches only (50.80 – 53.34 cm), and that the length of each string is 76 cm. If these strings are installed in longer scale instruments, they can be damaged (localized not regular diameter).  Please kindly always specify us the scale of the bass ukulele.

Hoping that the above information will lead to a stronger mutual knowledge and cooperation.

Best regards,

Mimmo Peruffo， Aquila strings manager