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-   -   String shortage? (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=604136)

Captain Jim 01-16-2021 09:02 PM

String shortage?
 
Seems that a couple times a year, Elixir has their "3 for the price of 2" sale... maybe I missed that in the last few months. My wife ordered me 3 sets on-line of the Nanoweb PB lights that I usually use. I asked her to get me a set of Polywebs to try, as well. Nope - couldn't find any at the usual places (Sweetwater, MF, GC) on-line.

While out and about on some other errands today, we swung by the closest Guitar Center to us (about 45 minutes away), and they had a grand total of ZERO Elixirs. I asked the guy at the desk if they were no longer handling Elixirs and he said they couldn't get any. Last time they had a shipment of Elixirs was before Thanksgiving and they were gone in a few days.

What's up with that? My Emeralds almost always wear Elixirs, and I used the last of my stash last month. I picked up a set of Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalts for the new electric... and they didn't have but a few of them left.

A big run on guitar strings these days?

jdinco 01-16-2021 09:28 PM

I'd be glad to send you a set if you are in dire need Jim....you can replace them sometime in the future. Be sure and read the fine print at the bottom. :D

martinngibson 01-16-2021 09:29 PM

Hey, I buy a lot of strings from this company; strings and beyond, good company and if these are what you use, they show them in stock

https://www.stringsandbeyond.com/eli...r-strings.html

steelvibe 01-16-2021 11:04 PM

Strings By Mail has been my vendor of choice and seem to always have what you need. Even Amazon is out of Elixirs.

Silly Moustache 01-17-2021 04:22 AM

Where are they made, distributed ?

Dru Edwards 01-17-2021 07:51 AM

I heard on a Phillip Mcknight podcast (great YouTuber who has 20 years in retailer experience) that it's possible that the issue with Elixirs being hard to find the past few months is that the company is unable to get the materials for the coating, or unable to coat them (for obvious reasons). I think that makes sense.

Mr. Jelly 01-17-2021 09:49 AM

I have had great customer service from "Just Strings". I buy single strings sometimes. I usually have several packs of strings in storage and when I get to the last pack I purchase more. It seems crazy having a $50 string bill.

Danz567 01-17-2021 09:55 AM

I had ordered a couple of sets of Elixirs a couple of weeks ago from Strings by Mail but they are back ordered and still are. I just ordered them from Strings and Beyond and they are in stock. Thanks for that tip.
Dan

Captain Jim 01-17-2021 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdinaz (Post 6606697)
I'd be glad to send you a set if you are in dire need Jim....you can replace them sometime in the future. Be sure and read the fine print at the bottom. :D

Thanks for the offer, John - most kind of you. I have 3 sets of Nanowebs that should be here tomorrow. With the guitar rotation and the fact that the Elixirs last so long, I'm not in dire need. Just not able to stock up when they're on sale, 'cause I haven't found a sale... 'cause they aren't in stock most places.

Just ruminating about yet another "shortage." I'm generally frugal with my string purchases, and didn't realize I had put on my last set of my go-to strings. I had to pay $9.99 for the set of Ernie Ball Cobalts yesterday. Why, back in my day...

;)

Bob Womack 01-17-2021 10:31 AM

Another thread came up about this and prompted me to cal the Mapes Piano String Company, the largest producer of strings in the world, quietly located in Elizabethton, TN. Their director of production told me they are producing string at capacity so any string shortage isn't coming from them. In fact, there has been an increase in demand during the lockdown so they haven't slowed down in the least.

Bob

AZLiberty 01-17-2021 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards (Post 6606895)
I heard on a Phillip Mcknight podcast (great YouTuber who has 20 years in retailer experience) that it's possible that the issue with Elixirs being hard to find the past few months is that the company is unable to get the materials for the coating, or unable to coat them (for obvious reasons). I think that makes sense.

Seems unlikely.

The coating is by W L Gore, which is a US company, using US materials.

I would more readily believe a shortage of core wire. Also, there has been quite an uptick in acoustic guitar sales during the pandemic...

TRose 01-17-2021 04:56 PM

I’ve used Strings by Mail and have been happy with the selection and their customer service.
I recently ordered a variety of light-medium/ true medium strings to use during a deep dive down the alternate tunings rabbit hole.
All the strings were available and promptly shipped except the Elixir Nanoweb PB light medium 12-56’s.

Captain Jim 01-17-2021 07:15 PM

I checked out Strings by Mail, and all their Polyweb were showing not in stock when I put them in the cart. Joan just found a set of Custom Light Polywebs (11-52) on Amazon and ordered them; in stock, will take a week to get here.

Of course, I was hoodwinked (and how often do you get to say that?) with an Epiphone SG Prophecy that was listed by Cream City Music on Reverb - they said they had two in stock. After 9 days of waiting for a shipping notice, they finally admitted that they did NOT have that guitar in stock. They did leave their ad up for another 24 hours for the other one, until I complained to Reverb. Just a heads up.

AZLiberty 01-18-2021 04:28 PM

I'm actually surprised that they still make the Polyweb. That's the original formulation that shredded and got mangy easily. Then nano-web is much more popular and outsells it by a considerable margin.

Earl49 01-18-2021 04:41 PM

There is still some demand for Polyweb. I mostly choose Nanoweb too, but when getting ready for a recording project I often switch to fresh Polyweb's just to minimize finger squeak. Just because Poly's shed some of the external coating does not mean that the useful string life is done. Unsightly, yes, but dead - not so much.

The Polyweb set that I have handy has packaging from about two redesigns ago, so they've been here in the string box for a while.


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