Ernie Ball, Inc.
San Luis Obispo string maker producing Slinky electric guitar strings, acoustic strings, bass strings, and guitar accessories for retail and wholesale dealers in 120 countries.
Ernie Ball, Inc. is an American manufacturer of guitar strings and accessories headquartered in San Luis Obispo, California, USA. Founded in 1962 by Ernie Ball, the company pioneered the retail sale of individual guitar strings and the thin-gauge "Slinky" electric guitar string sets that became an industry standard for electric guitarists. Today Ernie Ball manufactures the full Slinky family of nickel-wound, cobalt, M-Steel, and stainless steel electric guitar strings; Earthwood acoustic guitar string sets; Ernie Ball bass strings; banjo, mandolin, and ukulele strings; as well as accessories including capos, slides, tuners, straps, picks, and cables. The company also manufactures Music Man instruments -- professional electric guitars and bass guitars under the Sterling, Majesty, St. Vincent, and JP series designed in collaboration with signature artists. Strings are manufactured at the San Luis Obispo facility using steel wire drawn and wound on-site. Ernie Ball distributes through authorised dealers in approximately 120 countries, with wholesale programs for music retailers, regional distributors, and online authorised sellers.
- Type
- brand seeking distribution
- Location
- San Luis Obispo, United States
- Founded
- 1962
- Website
- ernieball.com
- Categories
- Musical Instruments
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Italy
Verified facts
- debarment-clear (green), checked 2026-08-08 OpenSanctions
- lei-lapsed (amber), checked 2026-08-08 GLEIF
- sanctions-clear (green), checked 2026-08-08 OpenSanctions
- corporate-mail-on-domain (green), checked 2026-08-08 Mail server of the company domain
- domain-registered (green), checked 2026-08-08 Domain registry record
- web-presence-since (green), checked 2026-08-03 Internet Archive (Wayback)
- facility-registered (green), checked 2026-08-07 US EPA Facility Registry Service (national combined file)
Import rules for these goods
- Consumer goods sold in the EU fall under the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR, applies since 13 Dec 2024): a responsible person in the EU is mandatory. EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR)