Listen to this articleIn a new YouTube series, Farmingdale-based D’Addario and Co. is sharing the 400-year story behind the global, music-accessories firm.
“Jim’s Corner” features Jim D’Addario, the founder and director of innovation at D’Addario and Co. In the series, he delves back to the company’s beginnings in 17th century Italy. The company’s roots date back to a time when the family made strings from animal guts. In more recent times, the family would knot ukulele wire while sitting around the television.
Rather than create accessory lines for others, by 1972 Jim D’Addario went into business, and family members, including his wife Janet and brother John, joined the enterprise. Today, the company makes strings and accessories, including for guitar, percussion, orchestras, woodwinds and more.
In the series, D’Addario shares stories about the creation of strings that inspired riffs from such legends as John Entwistle, the bass player of The Who. He also looks back at milestones in the company’s growth.
Currently, there are four episodes of Jim’s Corner on YouTube. New episodes are expected to drop every month.