It was a fairly nondescript – some might even say dull – early spring day and Hub and I were pretty excited because we were off to worship at one of the great citadels of music. We had scheduled a visit to the factory that makes the iconic British Rotosound strings for musical instruments.
I was wound up (a joke you’ll get as you continue reading) because of my music magazine/record company background and Hub because he’s a guitarist who actually uses these iconic strings.
First, a little history because it’s pretty fascinating…
Rotosound’s roots in the music business were planted back in 1952 when James How happened to watch a film called The Third Man. The soundtrack included the Harry Lime Theme played by Anton Karas, a virtuoso of the 32-stringed zither. James wasn’t the only person taken with the instrument. In fact, the zither became synonymous with that film and the actual instrument Karas used now resides in the Third Man Museum in Vienna. Yep, that’s how much of an impact the film and the sound of the zither had on the public back in 1949.
Nevertheless, the majority of the film-going public simply thought “That’s a nice-sounding instrument” before moving on, but not James How. Already a violin and viola player, James fell in love with the zither. And as Meatloaf told us, we’d do anything for love. In James’ case, ‘anything’ took the form of obtaining a zither and teaching himself to play the thing.
For those who are unfamiliar (and before my Rotosound visit, that included me) the zither is based on the piano so it uses a LOT of strings. Strings break. Initially, James solved his string-breakage problem by tracking down more zithers just to rob them of their strings. This was never going to be a long-term answer, however, and when the family was forced to move house to gain additional rooms to store the naked zithers, he realised he needed a better solution. (OK, so I made that last bit up for comic effect, but you get the picture).
In one of those twists of fate, it happened that James also had a diploma in engineering so, combining his musical and engineering design knowledge, he did what anyone in his position would do. He designed and built a winding machine to make his own zither strings.
At this point I could fall back on “…and the rest is history,” but it’s that history that’s so compelling and the reason we’re so thrilled to be entering the hallowed walls of Rotosound’s Kent factory.
That first zither string led James to design strings for all kinds of instruments. This involved first designing and building the machines to make the various strings. For those who are unfamiliar, instrument strings aren’t always just a piece of wire – well, some are, but many consist of wire as a central core with more wire wound tightly around it. There also has to be some kind of device at each end that enables attachment of the wire to its intended instrument, This could be a ball end or a silk winding. The ends are different colours so it’s easy to tell the strings apart.
You can imagine the number of variables involved and the potential for things to go wrong. Plus, there are any number of different strings even for a single instrument, let alone the myriad string instruments in existence. James was making strings for everything from piano to guitar. And they all had specific requirements. The core wire had to be right, the outer string wound at the correct tension, the ends, whether ball-end or silk wound, had to fit the instrument, and the end product had to remain consistent. The key was always in the string manufacturing machines James designed and made.
Before long, bands including the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the Shadows were using the strings now being made and marketed by James and his brother, Ron, through their business based in Blackfen, Kent. But it wasn’t just pop and rock artists who were enthralled by the strings made by the How brothers. They also counted celebrated classical ensembles including the London Symphony and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras among their fans.
A further breakthrough came in 1966 when The Who’s John Entwistle’s search for the perfect sound led him to Kent. He just couldn’t quite achieve exactly what he wanted, despite having tested strings by every manufacturer. Even Rotosound, as they had by now been named, didn’t quite have it but he felt they were almost there so he contacted James to see what could be done. James invited Entwistle to the factory where, together, they experimented and found that the problem wasn’t with the winding but with the size of the string’s core. Once this was altered, the string’s vibration – and hence its sound – changed. Entwistle was happy to endorse what became the iconic RS66 Swing Bass set, still popular today.
Rotosound’s reputation for producing strings with just the right tone continued to attract rock and pop royalty and does to the present day. A visionary Marketing Manager, Alan Marcuson, came on board in the mid 1960s and ensured the firm made the most of its growing reputation. The more famous its happy clients, the more famous Rotosound became as their fabulous-sounding strings contributed to the musical works we all know and love. A match made in heaven.
Through the years, in addition to The Who, clients have included Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding members of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Curved Air, Hookfoot, Elton John’s band, Slade, Yes, Queen, Dr Feelgood, The Damned, Eddie & the Hot Rods, The Jam, Thin Lizzy, The Slits, The Stranglers, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Police, Duran Duran, Genesis, U2, ABC, Rush, Van Halen, Guns’n’Roses, Nirvana, Oasis, Supergrass, Pulp, The Cure, Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian, Carcass, Skindred, Cradle of Filth, Babyshambles, The Vaccines, Florence and the Machine. I’ve by no means listed them all but you get the idea. In his office, Jack holds a treasury of scrapbooks of promotional material and press received through the years as well as cards detailing individuals’ preferences of string grades.
The factory today still contains some of the first machines used in making those early strings and we were privileged to see some in operation as Rotosound’s Marketing Manager, Jack Dunwoody, showed us round. It’s apparent, from the number of band t-shirts we see being worn, that many of Rotosound’s employees are music fans and it’s not surprising to find that quite a few of them are also musicians. Jack is no exception. His band is called Jouis (see the link below). I’m certain that being involved in making music adds an extra level of interest for those involved in the manufacturing process.
The company’s founder, James How, is no longer with us but his legacy in manufacturing both the strings and the manufacturing machines remains in good hands. James’ son, Jason How, is now Chairman of the company. Not only that, but he heeded his father’s advice to learn to make the machines so he would never have to rely on anybody else to do so in the future.
Growing up immersed in music and engineering, it’s natural that Jason is both a musician (more on that next week) and an engineer who continues his father’s work in designing and making new machines as well as carrying out any necessary repairs to the originals. For the last several years, Jason has focused on streamlining the string-manufacturing process, looking at where improvements can be made to ensure consistently hight quality as well as identifying and eliminating bottle-necks in the system. Like his father, Jason is a multi-faceted and multi-talented individual as well as an astute business man. It’s rare to find all these qualities in one individual but while these go a long way toward Rotosound’s continuing success, the fact that Jason has attracted dedicated and capable individuals to his team is surely another reason.
As we walk around the factory floor, we’re introduced to several key members of the Rotosound crew, many of whom have been part of the firm’s story for many years. We meet Ewelina, responsible for the very first stage in the process, organising the wire stock for making the strings. She’s been with the firm for 16 years. The packaging section is led by Dana, who’s also in her 16th year as part of Rotosound. Dana leads a team responsible for coiling individual strings and packing them into their foil wrappers to make up sets. It’s here that Hub learns a neat trick. The guitar strings are coiled in such a way that merely holding one by its ball end and flipping opens it out cleanly. No more fiddling about to uncoil new strings. Give it a try, it’s a neat trick.
In 2014, the company went greener, introducing foil packaging that stops rust, is lighter in weight and creates less waste. It’s seemingly small tweaks like this that make a huge difference when multiplied by the hundreds of thousands of strings produced each day and despatched to over 50 countries.
The guys working the string-winding machines are obviously extremely important and very skilled. Although the machines can be set to produce at the correct tension, cut off at the right length, etc, it’s up to the operators to ensure they’re provided with the right materials, fed in and removed at the right time. Although speed isn’t the most important consideration in the process, Jack introduced us to Ty, who they’ve recognised on their social media for the greatest output in a given period of time.
The process has been automated as much as possible for the strings wound with round wire, but the flat-wound strings still have to be wound by hand. As a result, each of those strings takes about 8 minutes to create so the hand-wounds are, obviously, more costly. It can take several years before someone is sufficiently skilled to work on these. Mark and Paul Lovell are brothers who’ve both progressed to this exalted position as they’ve been with Rotosound for over 15 years, as has head of the department, Yaya. On hand-wound strings, the flat overlay must be just tight enough – not overlapping but with no gaps. The guys making these have to hold their hands and bodies tense for extended periods so, to counter any ill effects, the company regularly brings in a masseuse to make sure their muscles don’t seize up. I guess it’s called taking care of your assets but it also shows how Rotosound values its staff and explains why so many of them have remained with the company for years.
We progressed to the despatch department where orders are sent directly to stores, stockists worldwide and some of their famous clients. Here, Hub is like a kid in a sweetshop as shelf upon shelf of packages of strings of all kinds are stored. He plays Rotosound Reds, but there are yellows, pinks, bronzes and packs emblazoned with the photos and names of famous players who’ve influenced their design, such as the Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) bass string set. There are also strings for other instruments – we spot violin and banjo, mandolin, double bass and even bouzouki but, sadly, no zither strings.
I remarked that this is clearly a finely-tuned operation from start to finish with stock levels needing to be perfectly maintained from the raw materials through to the end packaging. Consideration has to be given to which strings stocks need to be topped up each day, what large orders are anticipated, and staff absences and machine maintenance catered for. My head spins just thinking about it. That’s when Jack reveals they have a secret weapon in the form of Kathy. Kathy joined Rotosound in 1995, initially coiling strings in the packing department then moving through the ranks such that she truly understands every step in the process. Now, Kathy is Production Manager and, along the way, Jason decided she was a keeper so he persuaded her to marry him. Rotosound truly is a family business (and Jason is clearly a good salesman!).
Over coffee in Jason’s office, I ask what he considers his proudest moment. I’m expecting to hear a story of how he met his musical heroes or similar – he has already mentioned some stories of this ilk but I’m going to keep these back for my next article about Jason and his band, The Next Agenda (but of course Jason’s a musician!). Thinking briefly, Jason tells us that his greatest achievement is producing the machines without which, of course, there would be no strings.
Talented in both engineering and music, he truly is his father’s son.
