Rotosound kicks off 60th anniversary year at NAMM 2018

PRESS RELEASE

BASS LEGENDS HELP ICONIC BRITISH BRAND
CELEBRATE 60TH ANNIVERSARY

SEVENOAKS, KENT, 10TH JANUARY 2018: British string manufacturer Rotosound, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and has reached the landmark while undergoing a significant period of expansion to its distribution business. 

Formed in 1958 by James How as a UK-based, family-owned and operated company, the firm has become an icon of the British music industry and continues to manufacture its high-quality range of strings in the UK.

The brand was championed early on by music icons like Jimi Hendrix, John Entwistle and Geddy Lee and Rotosound strings are synonymous with the British Tone. Rotosound is the home of legendary products such as Swing Bass 66 strings, created in collaboration with Who bassist, Entwistle.

Now run by James’ son Jason, the brand is sold in more than eighty countries across the globe, and used by some of the best artists in the business including Duff McKagan (Guns n’ Roses/Velvet Revolver), Billy Sheehan (Mr Big), Noel Redding (Jimi Hendrix), Guthrie Govan, Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) and Roger Waters (Pink Floyd). Rotosound is also the choice of strings for many of the world’s most successful contemporary bands such as Oasis, Franz Ferdinand and Nothing But Thieves.

Rotosound is appearing at this year’s NAMM show on booth number 4602 and will be hosting appearances by bass legends Billy Sheehan and Doug Wimbish at 1pm and 2pm respectively on Saturday January 27th of the show.

“I’m so proud that the company my dad started way back in 1958 is not only still recognised and loved by musicians all over the world, and still manufacturing and innovating in the UK to his same exacting standards, but is also entering an exciting new chapter which will see us grow the business in new directions, finding yet more ways to excite musicians everywhere,” said Rotosound chairman, Jason How. 

As well as success as a manufacturer, Rotosound has greatly expanded its distribution business over the last 12 months, taking on UK distribution for Dutch music distribution giant, The Music Alliance (TMA), with access to its full range of instruments and accessories, totalling more than 17,000 products.

Central to the offering is the online Parts Doctor which is a dealer-friendly way to order multiple parts for electric, bass, acoustic and classical guitars. Simply click on the area of the guitar you want the part for and the site will generate a list of thousands of Boston brand guitar accessories to select from.

TMA boasts a central warehouse of 110,000 square feet situated in The Netherlands and reaches 4,500 stores. The range covers 29 exclusive brands with over 60 additional brand names available. New products are continually added to the line-up.

The new website enables UK customers to order online have access to prices, special offers and stock information. As well as all the TMA products, Rotosound strings and accessories are also online, making the website a ‘one stop shop for dealers’

The range includes Richwood Guitars; Hayman drums and percussion; Mayson Guitars, Boston Guitar Parts, Orla Italian electronic keyboards, Wilkinson replacement parts and Salvador Cortez classical guitars among others..

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About Rotosound

Rotosound has been creating, designing and making strings for 60 years. By helping music icons like Jimi Hendrix, John Entwistle and Geddy Lee to create their amazing sounds, Rotosound strings have become synonymous with the British Tone. Renowned throughout the world, Rotosound is the home of legendary products such as Swing Bass 66 and Roto strings and is justifiably proud to be part of rock history. 

Founded in 1958 by James How as a small, UK based, family-owned and operated company, Rotosound core values are little changed today. More sophisticated machines, designed and built by the late founder’s son, Jason How, still produce high quality instrument strings using only the best materials and a great team of people who really love what they do. Each string is physically and visually inspected at every stage of the manufacturing process to get maximum consistency, ensuring each one is unrivalled in tone, tuning stability and durability.

James was and Jason is a musician and engineer with vision and passion whose leadership helped Rotosound becoming one of the foremost string manufacturers in the world. Rotosound products combine musical knowledge, heritage and state of the art production methods to produce strings that bring music to life. Jason, following in his father’s footsteps, works relentlessly to invent new machines, reinvent strings and rediscover products like the Vintage Fuzz Pedal. Rotosound, whilst staying faithful to the originals, improves on them by the use of contemporary up to date technology and components such as new foil packaging, which ensures strings reach customers as fresh as the day they leave the factory. 

Now sold in more than 80 countries across the globe, Rotosound strings are not only used by some of the greatest guitarists and bassists, but continue to attract the best of the current and up and coming musicians. For over fifty years now their strings have changed the sound of rock and have been used on some of the most amazing albums recorded by some of the best artists in the business including Duff McKagan (Guns ‘n’ Roses / Velvet Revolver), Billy Sheehan (Mr Big), Noel Reading (Jimi Hendrix), Guthrie Govan, Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) and Roger Waters (Pink Floyd). Rotosound are also the choice of strings for many of the world’s most contemporary successful bands such as The 1975, Rival Sons and Florence & The Machine.

Rotosound strings have played a large part in the history of rock music and the company plans to continue drawing on this rich legacy to continue being a major influence for decades to come. 

About TMA

The Music Alliance is a cooperation between independent distributors in musical instruments from all over Europe, sharing purchase and sales power. The organisation is run from the head office of the Benelux branch of The Alliance.

TMA members are joining together to increase the competitiveness of their independently-owned businesses. By pooling buying power they are able to lower the operating costs (e.g personnel, warehouse, purchase, sales and marketing), better respond to competition, and improve our overall businesses performance.