Two hundred and seventy-two brand guides to musical instruments — the guitar, synth, drum, amp and band-instrument makers, and the specialists behind strings, reeds and hardware.

Instrument brands carry decades of artist history, and many now belong to larger groups. These guides set out who owns each name, with honest caveats where the record is thin.

Who owns the instrument brand

Yamaha owns Bösendorfer, Guild and Ampeg and holds a stake in Korg; Korg in turn owns Vox; Focusrite owns Sequential and Novation; inMusic owns Moog; Roland owns DW; Gibson owns Mesa/Boogie; and Conn-Selmer owns Ludwig, Vincent Bach and C.G. Conn. Tama and Ibanez share a parent, Hoshino Gakki, and Elixir strings come from W.L. Gore, the maker of Gore-Tex.

Family firms and splits

Martin has been run by six generations since 1833; Getzen by four; and Petrof and Blüthner are still family-owned, Blüthner having survived East German nationalisation. Sabian was founded in 1981 by Robert Zildjian after a family split, and Taylor is employee-owned. Gibson passed through a 2018 bankruptcy, and Premier’s UK drum factory closed in 2007.

How to use these guides

Each guide covers who owns the name today, where the products are made — by the maker’s own account and, where it differs, by other sources — and the brand’s visual identity. A company’s description of itself is attributed to the company, and where a business has closed we say so plainly. The table at the end gathers the essentials.

Instrument icons

Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, Martin, Moog, Roland and Steinway & Sons.

• Fender — Leo Fender’s 1946 origin, the Broadcaster/Telecaster saga, the Stratocaster, custom-colour finishes, and honest caveats.
• Gibson — Orville Gibson’s designs, the 1902 incorporation, the Les Paul and SG, the McCarty era, the 2018 bankruptcy, and honest caveats.
• Rickenbacker — The 1931 Ro-Pat-In origin, the ‘Frying Pan’ first commercial electric guitar, the 12-string jangle, and honest caveats.
• Martin — The 1833 founding, X-bracing, the Dreadnought named after a battleship, six generations, and honest caveats.
• Moog — Bob Moog (rhymes with ‘vogue’), the voltage-controlled synthesizer, the Minimoog, the ladder filter, inMusic ownership, and honest caveats.
• Roland — Ikutaro Kakehashi’s 1972 founding, the TR-808 flop-to-legend, MIDI, the Juno and Jupiter synths, and honest caveats.
• Steinway & Sons — The 1853 founding, 139 patents, the modern grand piano, the Model D, Spirio, Paulson ownership, and honest caveats.

Synthesizers

Korg, Sequential, Arturia, Nord, Elektron, Novation and Make Noise.

• Korg — The 1962 Katoh & Osanai founding, the Keio+organ name, the MS-20 and M1, the Yamaha stake, and honest caveats.
• Sequential — Dave Smith, the Prophet-5, the invention of MIDI, the Yamaha name return, Focusrite ownership, and honest caveats.
• Arturia — The 1999 Grenoble founding, the V Collection emulations, the MiniBrute and MicroFreak, Pigments, and honest caveats.
• Nord — Clavia’s 1983 founding, the signature red, the Nord Lead virtual-analog synth, the stage keyboards, and honest caveats.
• Elektron — The 1998 Gothenburg founding, the SidStation, the Digitakt and Octatrack, the parameter-lock workflow, and honest caveats.
• Novation — The 1992 Jannaway & Thompson founding, the Bass Station, the Launchpad, the Focusrite Group, and honest caveats.
• Make Noise — Tony Rolando’s 2008 Asheville founding, Maths, the 0-Coast, West-Coast synthesis, the graphic panels, and honest caveats.

Drums and cymbals

Ludwig, DW, Pearl, Zildjian, Tama, Sabian and Remo.

• Ludwig — The 1909 Chicago founding, the bass-drum pedal, the Ringo/Ed Sullivan boom, the Conn-Selmer ownership, and honest caveats.
• DW — The 1972 Don Lombardi teaching-studio origin, John Good’s timbre matching, the 5000 pedal, the Roland ownership, and honest caveats.
• Pearl — The 1946 Yanagisawa founding, the best-selling Export kit, the flute division, family ownership, and honest caveats.
• Zildjian — The 1623 Constantinople origin, the Armenian name, the B20 bronze, the move to America, the Sabian split, and honest caveats.
• Tama — The Hoshino Gakki maker (also Ibanez), the ‘jewel’ name, the Starclassic and Iron Cobra, the rock/metal association, and honest caveats.
• Sabian — The 1981 founding by Robert Zildjian, the family split, the SA-BI-AN name, the HH and AA lines, and honest caveats.
• Remo — Remo Belli’s 1957 founding, the Mylar Weather King drumhead, world percussion, HealthRHYTHMS, and honest caveats.

Guitars

Gretsch, PRS, Taylor, Ibanez, Guild, Epiphone and Danelectro.

• Gretsch — The 1883 Brooklyn founding, the 6120 and White Falcon, Filter’Tron pickups, the Fender partnership, and honest caveats.
• PRS — The 1985 Paul Reed Smith founding, the Custom 24, bird inlays, the Santana and McCarty connections, and honest caveats.
• Taylor — The 1974 Bob Taylor & Kurt Listug founding, the NT neck, the Crelicam ebony project, employee ownership, and honest caveats.
• Ibanez — The Hoshino Gakki maker (also Tama), the Salvador Ibáñez name, the lawsuit era, the JEM and RG, the Tube Screamer, and honest caveats.
• Guild — The 1952 Alfred Dronge founding, the 12-strings and Starfire, the Westerly era, the Yamaha ownership, and honest caveats.
• Epiphone — The Stathopoulo family origin, the ‘Epi + phone’ name, the archtop rivalry with Gibson, the Casino, the 1957 Gibson buy, and honest caveats.
• Danelectro — Nat Daniel’s 1947 founding, Masonite bodies, lipstick-tube pickups, the Silvertone connection, the revival, and honest caveats.

Keyboards and organs

Bösendorfer, Fazioli, Rhodes, Hammond, Wurlitzer, Hohner and Mellotron.

• Bösendorfer — The 1828 Vienna founding, the 97-key Imperial, the deep Viennese tone, Yamaha ownership, and honest caveats.
• Fazioli — The 1981 Paolo Fazioli founding, the F308, the fourth pedal, Val di Fiemme spruce, and honest caveats.
• Rhodes — Harold Rhodes’s WWII origin, the tine-based electric piano, the Fender Rhodes era, the modern revival, and honest caveats.
• Hammond — Laurens Hammond’s 1935 organ, the tonewheel and drawbars, the B-3, the separate Leslie speaker, and honest caveats.
• Wurlitzer — The 1853 Cincinnati founding, the jukeboxes, the reed-based electric piano, the Rhodes contrast, and honest caveats.
• Hohner — The 1857 Matthias Hohner founding, the Marine Band harmonica, the Clavinet, the Taiwanese ownership, and honest caveats.
• Mellotron — The tape-replay keyboard, the Chamberlin origin, Strawberry Fields, the prog-rock sound, and honest caveats.

Amps and effects

Boss, Mesa/Boogie, Vox, Orange, Electro-Harmonix, Dunlop and Ampeg.

• Boss — Roland’s effects brand, the color-coded compact pedal, the CE-1 first chorus, and honest caveats on palette and type.
• Mesa/Boogie — Randall Smith’s Petaluma hot-rod amps, the Dual Rectifier, hardwood cabinets, Gibson ownership, and honest caveats.
• Vox — Tom Jennings and Dick Denney, the AC30, the diamond grille, Korg ownership, and honest caveats on palette and type.
• Orange — Cliff Cooper’s 1968 London founding, the bright orange amps, the wordless pictogram controls, and honest caveats.
• Electro-Harmonix — Mike Matthews’ 1968 NYC founding, the Big Muff Pi, the big-box graphic-heavy art, the Russian-tube empire, and honest caveats.
• Dunlop — The 1965 Benicia founding, Tortex picks, the Cry Baby wah, the MXR revival, and honest caveats on palette and type.
• Ampeg — Everett Hull’s 1946 founding, the “amplified peg” name, the SVT and the fridge, Yamaha ownership, and honest caveats.

Brass and woodwind

Selmer, Vincent Bach, Buffet Crampon, C.G. Conn, Getzen, Yanagisawa and Jupiter.

• Selmer — The 1885 founding, the Mark VI saxophone, the Adolphe Sax legacy, PE ownership since 2018, and honest caveats.
• Vincent Bach — The engineer-virtuoso founder, the Stradivarius trumpet, the standardized mouthpiece numbering, Conn-Selmer ownership, and honest caveats.
• Buffet Crampon — The 1825 Paris founding, the R13 clarinet, the Boehm system, the wind-instrument group, and honest caveats.
• C.G. Conn — The split-lip mouthpiece origin, Elkhart the band-instrument capital, the 6M Naked Lady sax, Conn-Selmer ownership, and honest caveats.
• Getzen — The 1939 Elkhorn, Wisconsin founding, the Eterna trumpet, Edwards customs, four generations of family ownership, and honest caveats.
• Yanagisawa — The 1890s Tokyo repair-shop origin, saxophones only, the WO series, multi-material bodies, and honest caveats.
• Jupiter — The Taiwanese KHS parent, the student-band workhorse, the XO pro brass line, the Hohner cross-link, and honest caveats.

Strings

D’Addario, Ernie Ball, Elixir, Thomastik-Infeld, Pirastro, Rotosound and La Bella.

• D’Addario — The Salle, Italy string-making heritage, the 1973 modern company, XL/NYXL strings, the Evans/ProMark empire, and honest caveats.
• Ernie Ball — The light-gauge Slinky strings, the iconic pink pack, the Music Man / Leo Fender link, and honest caveats.
• Elixir — The coated-string category it defined, its W.L. Gore (Gore-Tex) parent, the Polyweb/Nanoweb coatings, and honest caveats.
• Thomastik-Infeld — The 1919 Vienna founding, the Dominant violin string, the steel-and-synthetic revolution, and honest caveats.
• Pirastro — The 1798 heritage, the Italian Pirazzi family, the Evah Pirazzi violin string, the gut-to-synthetic arc, and honest caveats.
• Rotosound — James How’s founding, the Swing Bass 66 roundwound bass string, the John Entwistle origin, Made in England, and honest caveats.
• La Bella — The E. & O. Mari heritage from Salle, Italy, flatwound bass strings, the James Jamerson connection, and honest caveats.

Specialist makers, part 1

Petrof, José Ramírez, Istanbul Agop, Pigini, Sonor, Antoine Courtois and Powell Flutes.

• Petrof — The Czech piano maker founded in Hradec Králové in 1864, still family-owned, building all its pianos at home after surviving nationalisation under communism.
• José Ramírez — The Spanish classical-guitar house founded in Madrid in 1882, still family-run, hand-building its concert guitars in Madrid and keeping even its study lines made in Europe.
• Istanbul Agop — The Turkish cymbal maker founded in Istanbul in 1980, hand-hammering its cymbals in the city that is the historic home of the craft.
• Pigini — The Italian accordion maker founded in Castelfidardo in 1946, still family-owned, hand-building concert accordions in the Italian town that is the home of the craft.
• Sonor — The German drum maker founded in 1875, one of the world’s oldest, whose flagship drums are made in Germany while its budget lines are made in China, now owned by Taiwan’s KHS group.
• Antoine Courtois Paris — The historic French brass house whose lineage is claimed from 1789, now a Buffet Crampon brand whose instruments are made in Markneukirchen, Germany.
• Powell Flutes — The American flute maker founded in Boston in 1927, hand-building its professional flutes in Massachusetts, now a Buffet Crampon brand with an overseas-bodied budget line.

Specialist makers, part 2

Strandberg, British Drum Company, Backun, NS Design, Adams, Erica Synths and PANArt.

• Strandberg — The Swedish design house behind the headless, ergonomic Boden guitar, born in Sweden but built in Asia, founded by Ola Strandberg from a 2007 prototype.
• British Drum Company — The UK drum maker founded in 2015 that handcrafts its core drums in Stockport, with an entry line designed in the UK but made in China.
• Backun — The Canadian clarinet maker founded by Morrie Backun in 2000, building its clarinets in North America, part-owned by the US Eastman Music Company since 2017.
• NS Design — Ned Steinberger’s electric-string house founded in 1990, making headless, ergonomic electric violins, cellos and basses across several countries.
• Adams — The Dutch maker of concert percussion and brass founded by André Adams in 1970, still family-owned and made in-house in Ittervoort, Netherlands.
• Erica Synths — The Latvian synthesizer maker founded in 2014 by Ģirts Ozoliņš, designing and building its modular and standalone instruments in Riga.
• PANArt — The Swiss workshop of Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer that invented the Hang in 2000 and now hand-makes a family of successor sound sculptures in Bern.

Reeds, strings and hardware

Vandoren, Légère, Aquila, Larsen, Evans, Renner and Gotoh.

• Vandoren — The French family reed maker founded in Paris in 1905, still family-owned, making cane reeds in southern France from cane grown in the Var.
• Légère — The Canadian maker of synthetic woodwind reeds founded in 1998, made in Barrie, Ontario, now part of the Italian Music Center group.
• Aquila — The Italian string maker founded by Mimmo Peruffo in 1991, whose Nylgut synthetic material reinvented the gut string, made in Italy near Vicenza.
• Larsen Strings — The Danish string maker started by violinist Laurits Th. Larsen in a Sønderborg garage in 1990, making cello, violin and viola strings in Denmark.
• Evans — The American drumhead maker founded by Chick Evans in 1956, credited with the first plastic drumhead, made in Farmingdale, New York and owned by D’Addario.
• Renner — The German maker of piano actions and hammers founded in Stuttgart in 1882, the hidden component inside many pianos, now owned by Steinway & Sons.
• Gotoh — The Japanese maker of guitar tuning machines and hardware established in 1960, family-owned, made in Japan, that began in violin strings before turning to metal.

Heritage makers

Blüthner, F. Lorée, Premier, Schilke, Victoria, Takamine and Paiste.

• Blüthner — The German piano maker founded in Leipzig in 1853, still family-owned after surviving East German nationalisation, building its pianos near Leipzig.
• F. Lorée — The French oboe maker founded in Paris in 1881, still family-owned by the de Gourdon family, hand-making its oboes in Paris as a Living Heritage Enterprise.
• Premier — The British drum brand founded in London in 1922, whose UK factory closed in 2007 and which now trades as a brand of the retailer Gear4music.
• Schilke — The American brass maker founded near Chicago in 1956 by Renold Schilke, hand-making its trumpets and mouthpieces in the USA, sold out of the family in 2002.
• Victoria — The Italian accordion maker founded in Castelfidardo in 1919, hand-building its accordions in Italy and remembered as an early converter (free-bass) pioneer.
• Takamine — The Japanese acoustic-guitar maker founded in Gifu in 1959 and named Takamine in 1962, an independent house that pioneered the stage acoustic-electric.
• Paiste — The cymbal and gong maker founded in 1901, an Estonian family dynasty that migrated across Europe to Switzerland, still family-owned and made in Switzerland and Germany.

Accessories and components

Arcus, Bare Knuckle, Melos, Wincent, Theo Wanne, Röslau and G7th.

• Arcus — The German maker of carbon-fibre bows for strings, founded by Bernd Müsing in Würzburg, a modern engineered alternative to traditional pernambuco wood.
• Bare Knuckle — The British maker of hand-wound guitar pickups founded by Tim Mills in 2003, an independent, founder-led workshop building its pickups by hand in the UK.
• Melos — The Greek maker of handmade rosin founded by cellist Christos Sykiotis in Thessaloniki in 2003, made in Greece from natural Greek pine-tree resin.
• Wincent — The Swedish drumstick brand founded by Dan Nylén in 1992, shaping American hickory into drumsticks in Sweden under a “Born in Sweden” design identity.
• Theo Wanne — The American maker of precision CNC-machined saxophone mouthpieces founded by saxophonist Theo Wanne, made in Bellingham, Washington.
• Röslau — The German maker of piano and music wire founded in 1882, the precision steel wire that becomes the strings inside pianos, made in Röslau, Bavaria.
• G7th — The British capo maker founded by Nick Campling, whose Performance capo launched in 2004, a family-owned design company that designs its capos in the UK.

Makers around the world

Estonia Piano, Maton, P. Mauriat, APC, Weltmeister, Weril and Canopus.

• Estonia Piano — The Estonian maker of hand-built grand pianos in Tallinn, once a Soviet state factory, now owned by concert pianist Indrek Laul.
• Maton — The Australian guitar maker founded by Bill May in 1946, family-owned and building its acoustic guitars in Melbourne from Australian tonewoods.
• P. Mauriat — The Taiwanese saxophone maker founded in 2003, hand-finishing its horns in Taichung under a name that pays tribute to French orchestra leader Paul Mauriat.
• APC Instruments — The Portuguese instrument maker founded by António Pinto Carvalho in 1976, hand-building the guitarra portuguesa and other Portuguese instruments in Braga.
• Weltmeister — The historic German accordion brand from Klingenthal, once made by the East German state, now a heritage name working through repeated insolvency.
• Weril — The Brazilian maker of brass and wind instruments founded in 1909, building trumpets, trombones and tubas in São Paulo for Brazil’s band tradition.
• Canopus — The Japanese boutique drum maker established in 1981, building vintage-voiced drums and snares in its own Tokyo workshop.

Electric guitar makers

Schecter, ESP, Jackson, Charvel, Kiesel, Mayones and Cort.

• Schecter — The guitar company David Schecter started as a Van Nuys repair and parts shop in 1976, which passed to Texas investors and then to ESP founder Hisatake Shibuya, builds its Diamond Series in Asia and its USA guitars in a Los Angeles custom shop, and marks 50 years in 2026.
• ESP — The Tokyo company that began in 1975 as Electric Sound Products, a parts and custom-guitar shop, became a favourite of thrash and Japanese rock guitarists, builds ESP and E-II guitars in Japan, LTD models in Asia and an ESP USA line in North Hollywood.
• Jackson — The guitar brand Grover Jackson started in 1980 inside Charvel’s Guitar Repair, with the Concorde designed for Randy Rhoads; the Soloist, King V and Dinky; sold to IMC in 1989 and owned by Fender since 2002, with guitars made in Corona, Ensenada and Japan.
• Charvel — Wayne Charvel’s Southern California guitar repair and parts shop, which sold Eddie Van Halen the body for his Frankenstein, was bought by Grover Jackson in 1978, made the “San Dimas” superstrats, and has been owned by Fender since 2002.
• Kiesel — The California maker that took over Carvin’s guitar and bass business in 2015, run by Mark Kiesel and his son Jeff, tracing its roots to Lowell Kiesel’s 1946 pickup company and selling custom-ordered instruments direct to players.
• Mayones — The Gdańsk guitar and bass maker founded in 1982, which began in a home garage under martial law, became the Dziewulski family business and today builds custom-specified instruments it says are 100% hand-crafted in Poland.
• Cort — The Seoul guitar maker that grew from a 1960 piano importer, built guitars for other brands before launching its own name in 1982, makes its instruments in Indonesia and China, and settled a 13-year Korean labour dispute in 2019.

Guitar pickup makers

Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, EMG, Lollar, Fishman, TV Jones and Lindy Fralin.

• Seymour Duncan — The pickup maker founded in Santa Barbara in 1976 by Seymour W. Duncan and Cathy Carter Duncan, known for the JB humbucker, privately run as a family business, marking its 50th anniversary in 2026, with US-made and Santa Barbara-assembled lines.
• DiMarzio — The Staten Island pickup maker founded by Larry DiMarzio, whose early-1970s Super Distortion helped create the replacement-pickup market, whose trademarked double-cream bobbins Gibson moved to cancel in 2023, and which says all its pickups are made in the US.
• EMG — The active-pickup maker Rob Turner licensed as Dirtywork Studios in 1976, renamed Overlend in 1978 and EMG, Inc. in 1983, which broke through on Steinberger instruments, became a heavy-metal standard with the EMG 81, and says its pickups are made in California.
• Lollar — The Washington pickup maker of luthier Jason Lollar and Stephanie Lollar, whose self-published winding book made his name, which moved from Vashon Island to Tacoma and says every pickup is built from scratch there, from P-90s and humbuckers to steel-guitar pickups.
• Fishman — The Andover, Massachusetts, maker of acoustic pickups, Loudbox amplifiers and the Fluence electric pickup, founded by Larry Fishman (Wikipedia gives 1981), whose first idea was a pickup for the upright bass; privately held, still led by its founder.
• TV Jones — The pickup maker founded in 1993 by luthier Thomas Vincent Jones in Whittier, California, now in Poulsbo, Washington, whose Filter’Tron-style pickups won Brian Setzer’s 1998 blind test for Gretsch; it says every pickup is made by hand in the USA.
• Lindy Fralin Pickups — The Richmond, Virginia, maker that says Lindy Fralin began rewinding pickups in 1989 on a home-built winder, known for the Vintage Hot, Split Blade and Fralin’Tron, which says it still winds every pickup by hand from US-made parts.

Guitar effects pedal makers

MXR, Wampler, Fulltone, Xotic, Catalinbread, Death By Audio and ZVEX.

• MXR — The effects maker founded in Rochester, New York, in the early 1970s by Keith Barr and Terry Sherwood, whose orange Phase 90 and red Dyna Comp helped define the stompbox, which stopped making pedals in 1984 and has been a Dunlop brand since 1987.
• Wampler — The boutique pedal company Brian Wampler built from a garage in Martinsville, Indiana, in the mid-2000s, known for signature drives with Brad Paisley and Brent Mason, by 2019 part of the Boutique Amps Distribution group, with pedals it says are assembled in the USA.
• Fulltone — The pedal company Michael Fuller founded in California in 1991, known for the Full-Drive and the OCD, which closed its Culver City shop in 2022 and returned in 2024 as Fulltone USA, licensed to Jackson Audio’s Brad Jackson.
• Xotic — The Southern California brand that, by its own account, began in a San Fernando Valley garage in 1996, has been owned since 2000 by Prosound Communications Inc., moved to Van Nuys in 2009 and is known for the AC Booster, RC Booster, EP Booster and SP Compressor.
• Catalinbread — The pedal maker that says it was born in 2003 on Nic Harris’s kitchen table, grew out of a 2002 custom service called Catalin Audio, moved to Portland, Oregon, in 2006 and is known for the Belle Epoch, Echorec and Dirty Little Secret.
• Death By Audio — The effects maker founded in 2002 by A Place to Bury Strangers’ Oliver Ackermann, whose Williamsburg warehouse was also a venue until it closed in November 2014, and which says it now makes pedals by hand in Queens, New York.
• ZVEX — The Minneapolis pedal company Zachary Vex says he started in 1995, maker of the five-knob Fuzz Factory, known for boxes painted by hand because screen printing was too expensive, with a cheaper printed Vexter line that Guitar World says is assembled in Taiwan.

Bass guitar makers

Fodera, Sadowsky, Lakland, Spector, Dingwall, Ken Smith and Alembic.

• Fodera — The Brooklyn bass maker founded in 1983 by luthier Vinny Fodera and bassist Joey Lauricella, who met in Ken Smith’s shop, built Anthony Jackson’s contrabass guitars and Victor Wooten’s basses, and still makes its instruments in Industry City.
• Sadowsky — The New York maker Roger Sadowsky founded as a Manhattan repair shop in 1979, whose active preamp shaped session bass, whose NYC Custom Shop is in Long Island City, and whose MetroLine and MetroExpress basses Warwick has built under licence since 2020.
• Lakland — The Chicago bass maker founded in 1994 by bassist Dan Lakin and repairman Hugh McFarland, named by joining their surnames, which built US basses in Chicago, added the overseas-made Skyline line in 2001 and was bought by Hanson Musical Instruments in 2010.
• Spector — The bass maker founded in Brooklyn in 1976 by Stuart Spector and Alan Charney, whose curved NS body was designed by Ned Steinberger in 1977, which passed through Kramer, lost and regained its name, and was bought by Korg USA in 2019.
• Dingwall — The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan bass maker founded by Sheldon Dingwall (the company says 1987), which built its basses on Ralph Novak’s fanned-fret system from 1993 and lists models as made in Canada or in China and Indonesia with final work in Canada.
• Ken Smith — The Perkasie, Pennsylvania maker founded by bassist Ken Smith in 1978 or 1979 (it gives both), which says it pioneered wide-neck six-string and low-B basses and makes every bass by hand in Perkasie; a licensed KSD line was made by Brooklyn Gear.
• Alembic — The California maker that grew out of the Grateful Dead’s sound crew in 1969, put active electronics into basses, built Jack Casady’s first Alembic in 1972, and says it is still run by the Wickersham family, now in Rohnert Park, Sonoma County.

Boutique pedal makers, part 2

Analogman, Source Audio, Meris, Red Panda, Old Blood Noise Endeavors, Fairfield Circuitry and Origin Effects.

• Analogman — The Bethel, Connecticut pedal company of Mike Piera, who used the Analog Man name from 1993 and went full-time in 2000, best known for the King of Tone overdrive made with Jim Weider and its years-long waiting list, and still building pedals to order in the USA.
• Source Audio — The Woburn, Massachusetts effects maker formed in 2005 by former Analog Devices, Kurzweil and Thomas H. Lee Partners people, which launched the Hot Hand motion controller in 2006, built pedals around its Neuro app, and joined Ernie Ball in July 2026.
• Meris — The Californian maker of digital pedals and 500-series modules started in 2013 by Terry Burton with Angelo Mazzocco and Jinna Kim, maker of the Mercury7, Enzo and LVX, which says its products are “Designed and Built in California.”
• Red Panda — The metro Detroit maker of digital pedals started in 2009 by the software engineer Curt Malouin, whose 2011 Particle it calls the first granular delay pedal, and which says every pedal is assembled and tested in its own workshop.
• Old Blood Noise Endeavors — The effects-pedal maker Brady Smith and Seth McCarroll started in a shed in Norman, Oklahoma, in 2014, now based in Oklahoma City and known for the Black Fountain delay, the Dark Star reverb and pedals made with CHVRCHES and Emily Hopkins.
• Fairfield Circuitry — The effects-pedal maker Guillaume Fairfield launched in July 2008 in Gatineau, Québec, which says all its manufacturing is done in Hull, across the river from Ottawa, and is known for the Barbershop overdrive, the Accountant compressor and Shallow Water.
• Origin Effects — The English pedal maker Simon Keats says he founded in 2012, known for the Urei 1176-inspired Cali76 and SlideRIG compressors and later amp-recreation pedals, which it says it hand-builds in Buckingham; Companies House lists Keats as its controlling shareholder.

Chinese and budget guitar gear

Mooer, NUX, Hotone, Joyo, Valeton, Harley Benton and Donner.

• Mooer — Shenzhen Mooer Audio, which says four friends started it in 2010 with micro-sized pedals, lost a 2019 software-copyright case to Electro-Harmonix in China, worked with Devin Townsend on the Ocean Machine, and now makes multi-effects, amps and guitars.
• NUX — A brand of Cherub Technology, the Shenzhen company founded in 1997, which says NUX debuted in 2006 and is pronounced “new X”; known for MG multi-effects modellers, Mighty practice amps, wireless systems and pedals that name their references openly.
• Hotone — The Chinese effects maker that dates its Changsha company to November 2012, made its name with the matchbox-sized Skyline pedals and the app-loaded Xtomp, and moved into amp modelling with the Ampero range, unveiled at NAMM in 2019.
• Joyo — Joyo Technology of Shenzhen, the Chinese maker of low-priced effects pedals, mini valve heads and practice amps, whose early pedals reviewers described as modelled on famous circuits and whose R Series added a glowing ambience light.
• Valeton — The Chinese guitar-effects brand online by 2014–15, whose Coral and Dapper pedals gave way to the GP-100, GP-200 and NAM-loading GP-5, made in Changsha, Hunan, by the company behind Hotone, per its own websites and EU declarations.
• Harley Benton — The guitar house brand that Hans Thomann of Musikhaus Thomann in Treppendorf, Bavaria, launched in 1998, built by contract factories in Asia and sold worldwide, now with signature models, a large left-handed range and a 2026 dispute with Fender.
• Donner — The instrument brand of Guangzhou Rantion Technology, which says it began in 2012, started with mini guitar pedals sold on Amazon, built the Triple Threat pedal for Jack White’s Third Man Hardware, and has Red Dot awards for its drums, pianos and guitars.

American electric guitar brands

Music Man, G&L, Reverend, Heritage, Kramer, Dean and B.C. Rich.

• Music Man — The California brand begun in 1971 as Tri-Sonix by ex-Fender men Forrest White and Tom Walker with Leo Fender as a silent partner, named Music Man in 1974, maker of the StingRay bass, and owned since 1984 by Ernie Ball, which builds its instruments in San Luis Obispo.
• G&L — “George & Leo,” the Fullerton guitar company founded at the end of the 1970s by Leo Fender, George Fullerton and Dale Hyatt, later owned by the McLaren family’s BBE Sound, which fell silent in 2025 when its parent company ended its corporate status.
• Reverend — The guitar maker Joe Naylor started in East Detroit (now Eastpointe), Michigan, in 1997 with a no-paint phenolic body, which moved production to Mirr Music in South Korea in 2006, has been run by Ken and Penny Haas since 2010 and is based in the Toledo area of Ohio.
• Heritage Guitars — The Kalamazoo maker founded in 1985 by ex-Gibson workers Jim Deurloo, Marv Lamb and J.P. Moats in Gibson’s old Parsons Street factory, sold in 2016 to the building’s owners, tied to BandLab, with Kalamazoo-built Custom Shop guitars and a made-in-China Ascent line.
• Kramer — The guitar brand started by Gary Kramer and Dennis Berardi, whose first aluminium-necked guitars came from Neptune, New Jersey, in 1976, which sold the Baretta and the Floyd Rose tremolo in the 1980s, collapsed in 1990–91, and has belonged to Gibson since 1997.
• Dean Guitars — The brand Dean Zelinsky started in 1976 (the company says 1977) with the ML, V and Z, played by Dimebag Darrell, revived from 1997 by Armadillo Enterprises in Tampa, and involved in a trademark case with Gibson before Armadillo filed for Chapter 11 in June 2026.
• B.C. Rich — The guitar brand that grew from Bernardo Chavez Rico’s family shop in Los Angeles, launched the Seagull in 1974, the Mockingbird in 1975 and the Warlock in 1981, passed through Class Axe and Hanser Music Group, and now gives an address in Orlando, Florida.

Guitar string makers

DR Strings, GHS, Dean Markley, Curt Mangan, Stringjoy and Savarez.

• DR Strings — The New Jersey string maker named for founders Mark Dronge, son of Guild Guitars founder Alfred Dronge, and Dr. Benzion Rapoport, which began production in 1989 with hand-wound round-core Hi-Beam bass strings and says it still makes its strings by hand in the USA.
• GHS — The Battle Creek, Michigan string maker named for founders Gould, Holcomb and Solko, founded in 1964 and bought in 1975 by Robert McFee, whose family still runs it; known for Boomers strings, the Brightness Bar tone scale and, since 2000, ownership of Rocktron.
• Dean Markley — The string brand a Santa Clara, California music-store owner started in 1972, known for cryogenically treated Blue Steel strings, the Voice Box talk box and 1980s Signature Series amps, now trading as Dean Markley USA from Glendale, Arizona.
• Curt Mangan — The string company founded in 2004 by a former Ernie Ball sales and marketing director, started in Paso Robles, California, moved to Cortez, Colorado, and known for FusionMatched strings wound from US-made wire in small batches.
• Stringjoy — The Nashville string company led by founder Scott Marquart, which launched online in 2014 selling custom-gauge sets made by a supplier, later wound on the West Coast, and now says it makes its strings in its own Nashville facility.
• Savarez — The classical-guitar string maker of Caluire-et-Cuire, on the edge of Lyon, which dates itself to an Italian family who settled in Paris in 1770, makes Alliance and Cantiga sets and the Argentine strings linked to Django Reinhardt, and says its strings are handmade in France.

Boutique electric guitar makers

Suhr, Tom Anderson, James Tyler, Knaggs, Nash, Fano and Vigier.

• Suhr — The Lake Elsinore, California guitar and amplifier maker that John Suhr, a former Fender Custom Shop senior master builder, founded with Steve Smith as JS Technologies in 1997, and whose headstocks swapped “Made In U.S.A.” for “Lake Elsinore, California” in 2023.
• Tom Anderson — The Newbury Park, California maker Tom Anderson started in his garage in 1984 after seven years at Schecter, which supplied bodies and necks to other builders, adopted CNC machining and UV-cured finishes, and now names Markus Spohn as co-owner and successor.
• James Tyler — The Los Angeles shop James Tyler grew from 1970s repair work into the Studio Elite for session players, known for its paddle headstock and its Psychedelic Vomit, Burning Water and Shmear finishes, now based in San Fernando with Japanese-made and Chinese-made lines.
• Knaggs — The Maryland company founded in 2009 by Joe Knaggs, former research and development director at PRS, and Peter Wolf, former PRS sales and marketing director, unveiled at Musikmesse 2010 and known for Chesapeake and Influence guitars named after North American rivers.
• Nash Guitars — Bill Nash’s maker of aged, nitro-finished electric guitars and basses in Olympia, Washington, started in 2001, sold only through dealers, and played by Billy Duffy, Gerry Beckley and Guy Pratt, according to Vintage Guitar.
• Fano — The distressed Alt de Facto guitars Dennis Fano began in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, sold in 2009 to the Premier Builders Guild, then to Desert Son Musical Instruments, and merged in 2025 with his later brand Novo under the British-based Psonic Design Lab, Guitar.com reported.
• Vigier — The French guitar and bass maker founded in 1980 by Patrice Vigier at Grigny, in the Essonne, known for carbon-reinforced 90/10 necks, metal-fingerboard fretless guitars and the Excalibur, whose workshop closed after his retirement was announced in November 2024.

European and Japanese guitar makers

Framus, Hagstrom, Ruokangas, LAG, Tokai, Fernandes and Aria.

• Framus — The maker Fred Wilfer founded in Erlangen in 1946 for violin makers expelled from Schönbach, which moved to Bubenreuth in 1954, made instruments for Bill Wyman and John Lennon, went bankrupt in the 1970s and was revived in 1995 by his son under Warwick in Markneukirchen.
• Hagstrom — The Älvdalen accordion firm Albin Hagström registered in 1925, which made its first electric guitars in 1958, launched the H8 eight-string bass, saw Elvis Presley play its Viking in 1968, closed its Swedish factory in 1983 and returned in the 2000s as a licensed brand made abroad.
• Ruokangas — The Finnish electric-guitar maker founded by Juha Ruokangas in Hyvinkää in 1995, now based at Harviala Manor in Janakkala, known for Spanish cedar, Arctic birch and thermally treated woods, and the first winner of the Taito-Finlandia craft prize in 2012.
• LAG — Lâg, the guitar brand Michel Chavarria started in Toulouse (workshop 1978, first guitars 1981), built up in Bédarieux from 1992 and sold to the French distributor Algam in 2002; the company now says its guitars are made in its own factory in Tianjin, China.
• Tokai — The Hamamatsu instrument maker founded in 1947 as a piano and harmonica research institute, which made the Pianica, built Martin-linked acoustics, sold the Love Rock and Springy Sound copies and the aluminium Talbo, and has been owned by GRACE since 2021.
• Fernandes — The Japanese guitar company founded in Tokyo in 1969 as Saito Gakki, which had its guitars built by contract makers, launched the Burny brand, the ZO-3 and the Sustainer, stopped trading in 2024 and entered bankruptcy proceedings in July 2025.
• Aria — The guitar brand of Arai and Co., founded in Nagoya in 1956 by the classical guitarist Shiro Arai, whose instruments were built by Matsumoku in Matsumoto until 1987, then largely in Korea; today the company says its Platinum Collection is made in Japan.

MIDI controller makers

Akai Professional, M-Audio, Nektar, Keith McMillen Instruments, ROLI, Expressive E and Studiologic.

• Akai Professional — The music division Akai Electric set up in 1984, whose MPC60 sampler, designed with Roger Linn, appeared in 1988; spun off in 1999 and bought by Jack O’Donnell in the mid-2000s, it is now an inMusic brand based in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
• M-Audio — The US company Tim Ryan founded in 1988 as Midiman, which made MIDI sync boxes and interfaces, Delta soundcards and the Oxygen8 controller, was bought by Avid in 2004 and sold to inMusic in 2012.
• Nektar — Nektar Technology, Inc, the Los Angeles-area controller maker it says was founded in 2009, which launched the Panorama P4 for Reason in 2012, then the budget Impact line, the PACER footswitch and the Panorama CS12, all sold on deep integration with music software.
• Keith McMillen Instruments — The Berkeley, California company founded in 2005 by Keith McMillen, the Zeta Music founder, which made the SoftStep, QuNeo, QuNexus, BopPad and K-Board Pro 4 sensor controllers and was renamed Muse Kinetics in 2024.
• ROLI — The London maker founded by Roland Lamb in 2009, whose silicone Seaboard won a Designs of the Year award, whose first company went into administration in 2021, and whose successor, Luminary ROLI, turned to light-up pianos, Airwave hand tracking and a DixonBaxi rebrand.
• Expressive E — The French company founded by engineers Eric Simon, Victor Grimaldi and Alexandre Bellot, which began in a Montreuil business nursery with the wooden Touché controller, built the Osmose keyboard with Haken Audio, moved to Marseille and now assembles the Osmose in Poland.
• Studiologic — The keyboard brand of Fatar, the keybed maker Lino Ragni founded in Recanati, in Italy’s Marche, in 1956: the Studio 88 master keyboard, the Numa pianos, the Waldorf-powered yellow Sledge synth, and what Fatar says about its factories in Italy and Tunisia.

Sampler and digital synth pioneers

Kurzweil, Ensoniq, E-mu, Fairlight, Synclavier, PPG and Alesis.

• Kurzweil — The company Ray Kurzweil set up in 1982 after a conversation with Stevie Wonder, which showed the K250 in 1983, made the K2000 and V.A.S.T., and was bought by the Korean piano maker Young Chang in 1990.
• Ensoniq — The Malvern, Pennsylvania maker formed by former Commodore 64 engineers including Bob Yannes, which made the Mirage sampler, the ESQ-1 and the ASR-10, designed its own sound chips, and was bought by Creative Technology in 1998 and merged into E-mu.
• E-mu — The California maker started by Dave Rossum and Scott Wedge, whose Emulator brought sampling below the price of a Fairlight, whose SP-1200 shaped hip hop, and which Singapore’s Creative Technology bought in 1993.
• Fairlight — The Sydney company Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie set up in 1975, named after a harbour ferry, whose 1979 CMI, light pen and Page R sequencer defined 1980s pop, which turned to audio post-production, and which Blackmagic Design bought in 2016.
• Synclavier — The digital synthesizer and sampling system that Sydney Alonso and Cameron Jones developed at Dartmouth with Jon Appleton, built by New England Digital of Norwich, Vermont, from 1976 until its closure in 1992–93, and revived by Jones as software and the Regen.
• PPG — Palm Products GmbH, the Hamburg synthesizer maker Wolfgang Palm ran from the mid-1970s until its liquidation in 1987, which pioneered wavetable synthesis with the blue Wave series; Palm’s later PPG software passed to Brainworx and Plugin Alliance in 2020.
• Alesis — The company Keith Barr, co-founder of MXR, formed in Hollywood (1984 by Mix’s account, 1980 by its own), maker of the MIDIverb, HR-16 and the 1991 ADAT recorder, bought by Jack O’Donnell in 2001 and now part of inMusic Brands in Rhode Island.

Pedalboard and pedal power makers

Pedaltrain, Temple Audio, Voodoo Lab, Truetone, CIOKS, RockBoard and Decibel Eleven.

• Pedaltrain — The Nashville pedalboard maker that says it began in 1999 as a one-man start-up, built on John Chandler’s patent for a slotted aluminum frame that lets cables run underneath, run by Pro Stage Gear LLC and selling boards it says are hand cut, welded and finished.
• Temple Audio — Temple Audio Design of Warman, Saskatchewan, the Canadian pedalboard maker founded by Ryan Dyck, whose perforated aluminum Templeboards, Quick Release pedal plates and swappable MODs it says are made in Canada, sold in Gunmetal Gray, Vintage White and Temple Red.
• Voodoo Lab — The brand of Digital Music Corporation, which says it has made electronics for musicians since 1986, moved from Agoura Hills to Petaluma and then Santa Rosa, California, and is known for its Pedal Power isolated supplies, Ground Control switching and Dingbat pedalboards.
• Truetone — The Spring Hill, Tennessee company Bob Weil started as Visual Sound around the turn of 1995 with an LED volume pedal, which made the Jekyll and Hyde and the daisy-chain 1 SPOT supply, renamed itself Truetone in March 2015 and says it is still family-owned.
• CIOKS — The Danish maker of effects-pedal power supplies that Poul Ciok says he founded in Copenhagen in 1991, now based in Køge, which builds its linear and switch-mode supplies through a Polish sister company and connects pedals with RCA-jack Flex cables.
• RockBoard — The pedalboard brand of Warwick in Markneukirchen, Germany, built around one-piece cold-rolled aluminium boards with a slot grid, QuickMount pedal plates, MOD patchbays and power supplies, and traceable in the Internet Archive to 2015.
• Decibel Eleven — The DB-11 pedalboard power and switching brand, a division of the Southern California electronics maker MYE, launched in 2012 with the Hot Stone isolated power supplies and known for the Pedal Palette and Switch Dr. switchers; based today in Valencia, California.

Guitar accessory makers

Levy’s, Kyser, Shubb, Paige, Peterson, Snark and Gravity Picks.

• Levy’s — The guitar-strap maker Dennis Levy began in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, in 1973, which grew to factories in Antigonish and Winnipeg, was bought by Gator Cases of Tampa in 2018 and rebranded with new colours and marks in 2019.
• Kyser — The Kaufman, Texas, maker of the Quick-Change capo, developed from 1975 by the retired machinist Milton Kyser, incorporated in 1980, run since 2012 by his great-niece Meredith McClung-Attebery, and hand-made in Texas from domestic components, the company says.
• Shubb — The California capo maker founded in 1974 by banjo player Rick Shubb and auto mechanic Dave Coontz, whose over-centre lever capo reached the market in 1979, which moved most production to its own shop in Qingdao, China, and is now run by Rick Shubb from Sonoma County.
• Paige Capos — The family capo maker that Bryan Paige and his father Ralph began in a tool-and-die shop in Litchfield, Michigan, in 1988, which grew from McKinney-style capos to the patented PaigePro, and moved its shop to the Appalachian mountains in 2024.
• Peterson — The tuner division of Peterson Electro-Musical Products of Alsip, Illinois, which dates its story to Richard H. Peterson’s organ work in 1948, introduced its first strobe tuner in the late 1960s and says it is still entirely owned by the Peterson family.
• Snark — The clip-on tuner brand launched in 2010, whose warranty service in 2013 ran through the Evets Corporation of California, the company behind the revived Danelectro brand, and whose range now runs from Originals to rechargeable high-precision models.
• Gravity Picks — The California maker of hand-finished acrylic guitar picks, which says it began in early 2011 on a $4,000 investment, ships from Ripon in the Central Valley, codes its picks by thickness with colour, and makes logo picks for JHS Pedals and a Rob Chapman signature pick.

Instrument case and gig-bag makers

Gator, SKB, Hiscox, Hardcase, Reunion Blues, Gruv Gear and Protection Racket.

• Gator Cases — The Tampa case maker founded in 2000 by Jerry Freed and his daughter Crystal Morris, which grew from molded guitar cases into bags, flight cases, Frameworks stands and furniture, bought Protechtor, Viking Cases and Levy’s Leathers, and runs a plant in Columbia City, Indiana.
• SKB Cases — The Orange, California, case maker founded in 1977 by college rowers Dave Sanderson and Steve Kottman, which won an early Fender order, grew into iSeries waterproof and military cases, took private-equity investment from MPE Partners in 2025 and bought NANUK in 2026.
• Hiscox Cases — The British instrument-case maker that says it was founded in 1985 by the guitar maker Brynn Hiscox, long based in Cannock, Staffordshire, known for its Liteflite ABS-and-polyurethane cases, its aluminium rim and a logo moved to the handle in 2015.
• Hardcase — The Chesterfield, Derbyshire maker of moulded polyethylene drum and percussion cases, which says it was established in 1992, offers over 150 case specifications, built its look on black shells with yellow webbing, and has been family-run since a 2017 change of ownership.
• Reunion Blues — The gig-bag maker founded in 1976, a San Francisco company in 2004 and now a brand of Petaluma’s Ace Products Group, known for leather bags, the RB Continental case and the padded frame it calls the Flexoskeleton.
• Gruv Gear — The California brand bassist Jay Baldemor started in 2007 to build a cart for his amplifier, which grew from the V-Cart into Krane carts, GigBlade and Kapsule gig bags, SoloStrap straps and FretWraps string muters.
• Protection Racket — The Cornish maker of padded drum and percussion cases, “getting you there since 1994,” which says it began with surfboard bags, names its Racketex and Propile materials, and is privately owned through a holding company of its two directors.

Instrument stand and hardware makers

Hercules, On-Stage, König & Meyer, Ultimate Support, Quik Lok, Gibraltar and String Swing.

• Hercules Stands — The instrument-stand brand launched in 2002 by Taiwan’s KHS Musical Instruments, built at the group’s Tianjin factory around the patented Auto Grip System guitar stand, sold as “Stands You Can Trust” and marked by yellow accents.
• On-Stage — The stand and accessory line of The Music People! Inc. of Berlin, Connecticut, a pro-audio distributor dating from about 1980, which joined Montreal’s JAM Industries in 2020 and says it supplies more than 700 accessories in nine categories.
• König & Meyer — The family firm Karl König and Erich Meyer founded in Wertheim am Main in 1949, with roots in Zella-Mehlis, Thuringia, which made the 210/2 microphone stand a studio standard, won a red dot award for its Elegance stand and says it still makes almost all its parts in-house.
• Ultimate Support — The American stand maker that traces its roots to a 1977 aluminium speaker stand built from hang-glider parts by Darrell Schoenig, grew up in Loveland, Colorado, won a patent case over its guitar stand, and has belonged to ACT Entertainment since 2022.
• Quiklok — Quik Lok, the keyboard-stand and accessory brand from Recanati in Italy’s Marche, which Tam S.r.l. traced to a late-1970s locking mechanism and the company now dates to 1983, part of the Eko group by 2012 and of Algam Eko since 2020.
• Gibraltar Hardware — The drum-hardware name that began on Kaman Music’s CB700 line, launched as its own “Rock Solid” brand in 1988, passed with Kaman Music to Fender in 2008 and to Drum Workshop in 2015, and is known for racks, stands and thrones.
• String Swing — The guitar-hanger maker of Ontario, Wisconsin, which says Paul Thieman and Anne Tainter founded it in 1987 after he built a hanger from spare farm parts, and which says its whole range, from the CC01K Guitar Keeper to store displays, is made in Wisconsin.

Guitar pick makers

ChickenPicks, V-Picks, BlueChip, Wegen, Red Bear, Pickboy and Dava.

• ChickenPicks — The Dutch maker of thick, bevelled thermoset guitar picks that guitarist Eppo Franken began selling in 2010 from a design he says dates to the mid-1980s, which says its picks are machine made in Germany and Belgium and hand finished in the Netherlands.
• V-Picks — The family-owned maker of handmade acrylic guitar and mandolin picks that guitarist Vinni Smith first made in 1980 and began selling with his wife Nancy in California in 2006, named by his friend John Dean, and now based in Tennessee.
• BlueChip Picks — The Tennessee pick maker that grew out of a machine shop, Blue Chip Machining, launched by Matthew Goins around 2008 and makes CNC-milled, hand-beveled picks from a brown composite it keeps proprietary, sold at $35 a pick.
• Wegen Picks — The Dutch pick maker run by model-maker Michel Wegen, whose thick, grooved, hand-beveled Gypsyjazzpick was on sale online by 2001 and grew into a range of Trimus, Twins, Fatone, bluegrass and mandolin picks sold through dealers worldwide.
• Red Bear Trading — The guitar-pick maker founded by Dave Skowron, which says it has made hand-bevelled picks since 2003 from Galalith, a casein “milk stone” plastic sold as a turtle-shell substitute, and now works as a two-person shop in Cedar City, Utah.
• Pickboy — The guitar-pick and conducting-baton brand of Nakano, the Tokyo company founded in 1967 amid Japan’s guitar boom, which began with genuine tortoiseshell picks, kept an office above the Whisky a Go Go in the early 1990s and says its picks are made in Japan.
• Dava — The guitar-pick company Dave Storey says he started in 1996, whose Dava Control pick has a flexible centre so one pick plays light or heavy; based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as Dava Music Company, LLC, and saying its picks are made in the USA.

Hand percussion and drumhead makers

LP, Schlagwerk, Rhythm Tech, Cooperman, Black Swamp, Tycoon and Aquarian.

• Latin Percussion — LP, founded in 1964 by the Bronx engineer Martin Cohen after the Cuba embargo made good bongos scarce, maker of the Vibra-Slap and the Classic conga, owned since 2015 by Drum Workshop and, through DW, by Roland since 2022.
• Schlagwerk — The cajón and percussion maker of Gingen an der Fils, begun in 1982 by the carpentry apprentices Gerhard Priel and Bengt Schumacher, known for the La Perù and 2inOne cajóns, which says its wooden instruments are made only in Germany and its cymbals in Turkey.
• Rhythm Tech — The percussion maker started by New York session drummer Richard Taninbaum, whose crescent-shaped tambourine (design patent filed 1978, granted 1981) put the hand at the centre, followed by the Drum Set Tambourine and Hat Trick; acquired by Montreal’s JAM Industries in 2016.
• Cooperman — The fife and drum maker started by Patrick H. Cooperman in Mount Vernon, New York, incorporated in Centerbrook, Connecticut in 1975 and based since 2006 at a former Maplecraft mill in Bellows Falls, Vermont, known for rope-tension drums, fifes and frame drums.
• Black Swamp Percussion — The concert-percussion maker founded in Bowling Green, Ohio, in the mid-1990s by percussionist Eric Sooy and named after the Great Black Swamp, now in Zeeland, Michigan, known for SoundArt tambourines and the Multisonic snare drum.
• Tycoon Percussion — The Thai hand-percussion maker whose parent, Tycoon Music, was founded in Bangkok in 1983 by Hong Kong-born Stephen Yu, began making instruments for other brands, and now sells congas, cajóns and world percussion made in its own factory near Bangkok.
• Aquarian Drumheads — The Anaheim, California maker founded in 1980 as Aquarian Accessories by the jazz drummer Roy Burns and the engineer Ron Marquez, which began with a cymbal spring and graphite sticks, made its first drumheads in 1987 and is known for the Super-Kick.

Guitar hardware makers

Grover, Schaller, Hipshot, Sperzel, Kluson, Floyd Rose and Graph Tech.

• Grover — The Cleveland tuning-machine maker that grew from Albert Deane Grover’s Boston accessory firm, was bought by the Grossman family’s music business in 1952, developed the sealed Rotomatic and now sits in the Grover/Trophy group.
• Schaller — The German guitar-hardware maker founded by Helmut Schaller in Feucht in 1945, which built pickups for Framus, launched the enclosed M6 tuner in 1966, patented its Security Locks and has made its parts at Postbauer-Heng since 1968, owned since 2009 by Lars Bünning.
• Hipshot — The bass and guitar hardware maker Dave Borisoff started in California in 1982 (some accounts say 1983), named after a hip-operated string bender, moved to Interlaken, New York, in 1994, and known for the Xtender drop tuner, bridges and tuning machines.
• Sperzel — The Cleveland, Ohio, maker of machined aluminium guitar tuning keys founded by Bob Sperzel, which says it has made tuners since 1977, introduced the Trim-Lok locking tuner in 1983, and makes its parts in its own Cleveland factory.
• Kluson — The tuning-machine maker founded as a machine shop in Chicago in 1925 by John Kluson, which supplied Gibson, Fender, Martin and Rickenbacker, closed in the early 1980s, and was revived by Larry Davis of WD Music Products of Florida in 1993 or 1994.
• Floyd Rose — The double-locking tremolo Floyd D. Rose began making in 1976, patented in 1979 and licensed through Kramer, now a division of AP International Music Supply of Fort Myers, Florida, which moved Original production from Germany to its own US factory in 2025.
• Graph Tech — Graph Tech Guitar Labs, founded in Vancouver in 1983 by guitarist Dave Dunwoodie around a self-lubricating nut, maker of TUSQ “man-made ivory” nuts and saddles, String Saver saddles, GHOST pickups and Ratio machine heads, launched in 2013.

Boutique guitar amp makers

Dr. Z, Victory, Hiwatt, Revv, Bad Cat, Fryette and Carr.

• Dr. Z Amplification — The Cleveland, Ohio amp maker founded in 1988 by Mike Zaite, a former GE medical-electronics technician, whose first amp, the Carmen Ghia, grew from a Hammond organ reverb unit, and whose Z Wreck was developed for Brad Paisley.
• Victory Amplification — The English valve-amp maker launched in 2013 with chief designer Martin Kidd, formerly of Cornford, owned by a partnership of nine that includes Andertons’ Lee Anderton, and known for the Duchess, the Kraken and a braille control panel.
• Hiwatt — The British amplifier brand of Dave Reeves, who built Sound City amps through his company Hylight before launching the DR103 Custom 100 for the Who, Pink Floyd and others; the name passed to new owners after his death in 1981 and is now sold by Britampco of Doncaster.
• Revv — The Manitoba amplifier maker founded in Winnipeg in 2014, known for the four-channel Generator 120, the G3 pedal and the D20, which Premier Guitar reported was the first amp with Two Notes cabinet emulation built in, and which says it builds in Canada.
• Bad Cat — The Southern California valve-amp maker founded by James and Debbie Heidrich around 1999–2000 with designs by Mark Sampson of Matchless, bought by John Thompson in 2011, and now in Costa Mesa, where Sampson’s last design, the Era 30, is hand-wired.
• Fryette — The Los Angeles valve-amp maker founded as VHT Amplification by Steven Fryette in Studio City in January 1989, renamed Steven Fryette Design in 2009 while the VHT name passed to a separate company, and known for the Pittbull, Deliverance, Power Station and Aether.
• Carr Amplifiers — The Pittsboro, North Carolina tube-amp maker Steve Carr began in 1998, which builds point-to-point amps such as the Rambler and Mercury V in a former chicken hatchery and makes its own art-deco-inspired cabinets in twenty coverings.

Orchestral string accessory makers

Kun, Bon Musica, CodaBow, Jargar, Hidersine, Warchal and Wittner.

• Kun — The Ottawa company that has made violin and viola shoulder rests since 1972, when the Czech-born luthier and bow maker Joseph Kun’s design became the Kun Original, later built with Marina Kun into a family firm making the Super, Collapsible, Bravo, Solo and Kun Seven.
• Bon Musica — Bonmusica OHG of Vettweiß in North Rhine-Westphalia, the German maker of bendable shoulder rests in plastic-coated aluminium for violin and viola, with a hand-shaped shoulder hook, angled feet, special viola sizes and replaceable parts.
• CodaBow — The carbon-fibre bow maker of Winona, Minnesota, formed in 1993 as Coda Composites by the composites scientist Stan Prosen and the engineer Jeff Van Fossen, maker of the Marquise, Diamond and Prodigy bows, which says its bows are American-made.
• Jargar — The Danish string maker founded in 1956 by Jarl Hansen, a cellist in the Royal Danish Orchestra, known for powerful steel-core strings for violin, viola and cello, based for decades in and around Copenhagen and now part of the Thomastik-Infeld group of Vienna.
• Hidersine — The British rosin begun by the chemist and double bassist Francis Hider in London in 1890, sold to the Hirt family in 1932 and to Barnes and Mullins in 1987, and still hand-mixed and hand-poured in England, the company says.
• Warchal — The Slovak string maker founded in 2003 by the violinist Bohdan Warchal Jr., son of the founder of the Slovak Chamber Orchestra, which named its first strings Ametyst, Karneol and Nefrit and now makes Brilliant, Amber, Timbre and The Beast.
• Wittner — The metronome, fine-tuner, tailpiece and chinrest maker of Isny im Allgäu, which says Gustav Wittner founded it in 1895, labels its Taktell and Maelzel-system metronomes Made in Germany, and has been part of GEWA music since 2024.

Brass and woodwind accessory makers

Denis Wick, Humes & Berg, Marca, Rovner, BG France, Otto Link and JodyJazz.

• Denis Wick — The brass mute and mouthpiece maker started in 1968 by the London Symphony Orchestra’s principal trombonist, made today in Poole, Dorset, and controlled since August 2025 by Music Center of Trento, Italy, according to Companies House.
• Humes & Berg — The American maker of Stonelined brass mutes and drum cases, which dates itself to 1935 and Willie Berg, a Chicago musician who says Glenn Miller urged him to make mutes, and which moved to East Chicago, Indiana, in 1948.
• Marca — The clarinet and saxophone reed maker founded in 1957 by Franco Guccini at Ollioules in the Var, run by his grandsons, which cuts wild Provence cane in winter, exports most of its output and launched its fibre-reinforced UNIC reeds in 2024.
• Rovner — The Timonium, Maryland maker of fabric clarinet and saxophone ligatures, founded in 1974 by the saxophonist and engineer Phil Rovner, sold to George and Lynn Reeder in 2014 and, the company says, acquired in 2024 by Italy’s Music Center.
• BG France — The family accessory maker of Chaponost, near Lyon, created in 1985 by Franck Bichon on an idea of his father Serge, a Lyon conservatoire saxophone professor and Marcel Mule pupil, which says its fabric and metal ligatures and straps are made by hand in France.
• Otto Link — The saxophone mouthpiece name behind the Super Tone Master and Tone Edge, owned since 1977 by the JJ Babbitt Company of Elkhart, Indiana, which the Rorie family bought in 2021 and which now finishes Links in a split-manufacturing partnership with Theo Wanne.
• JodyJazz — The saxophone and clarinet mouthpiece maker founded in New York by the saxophonist Jody Espina, which says it began in 2000 with help from Santy Runyon, makes its DV, HR*, JET and GIANT models in Savannah, Georgia, and bought Chedeville and Rousseau.

German guitar and instrument makers

Höfner, Marleaux, Lakewood, Hanika, Hoyer, Teuffel and GEWA music.

• Höfner — The string-instrument maker founded by Karl Höfner in Schönbach, Bohemia, in 1887, rebuilt in Bubenreuth after 1945, whose 500/1 violin bass became Paul McCartney’s “Beatle bass,” and which GEWA music took over out of insolvency in April 2026.
• Marleaux — The bass workshop Gerald Marleaux founded in 1990 and runs with Heike Marleaux in Clausthal-Zellerfeld in the Harz, maker of the Consat, which won the German Musical Instrument Prize in 2017, the Votan and the linen-topped Spock, built from regional “Regio Tone Wood.”
• Lakewood — The steel-string acoustic guitar maker founded by Martin Seeliger near Gießen in 1986, named after Lakewood on Lake Erie, built in Buseck in Hesse, and known for its 3D custom-shop configurator and its Natural, Deluxe and Premium lines.
• Hanika — The classical-guitar workshop in Baiersdorf, Franconia, founded in 1953 by Helmut Hanika, a violin-maker’s grandson from the Egerland, run since 1993 by his son Armin, and known for its pierced headstock, lattice tops and tropical-wood-free Nativ guitars.
• Hoyer — The guitar name that dates itself to 1874 in Schönbach, Bohemia, was rebuilt in Tennenlohe near Erlangen by Arnold Hoyer in 1945, made the “Herr im Frack” archtop and the Foldaxe, stopped production in 1987, and is now a trademark of Ritter Pte Ltd, Singapore.
• Teuffel — The one-man guitar workshop Ulrich Teuffel founded in 1988, based in Neu-Ulm, whose modular, headless aluminium-and-wood Birdfish appeared at the Frankfurt Musikmesse in 1995 and was played by Billy Gibbons and Kirk Hammett, followed by the Coco, the Tesla and the Niwa.
• GEWA music — The Adorf instrument and accessory company founded in 1925 by Georg Walther, which spent five decades in Mittenwald, returned to the Vogtland after reunification, bought Ovation and Wittner, and in 2026 took over Höfner’s business alongside Thomann.

Eurorack modular synth makers

Befaco, Instruō, Pittsburgh Modular, Verbos Electronics, Qu-Bit, Endorphin.es and ALM Busy Circuits.

• Befaco — The Barcelona open-hardware platform and Eurorack maker created in February 2010, which releases its designs under Creative Commons, sells modules as kits or assembled, runs building workshops across Europe, and makes the Noise Plethora and Oneiroi.
• Instruo — The Glasgow Eurorack maker, incorporated as Instruo Limited in 2016 with Jason Lim as director, known for the arbhar granular processor, the Lúbadh looper, Gaelic module names and the plant-sensing SCÍON and Pocket SCÍON.
• Pittsburgh Modular — The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania synthesizer maker founded by Richard Nicol, selling Eurorack modules by 2010 though it gives 2012 as its founding year, known for the Lifeforms SV-1, the Microvolt 3900, the Voltage Research Laboratory and Taiga, and still run from Pittsburgh.
• Verbos Electronics — The Eurorack maker started in 2014 by techno performer and Buchla technician Mark Verbos with Sonya Verbos, in New York before a move to Berlin, known for its Complex and Harmonic Oscillators and modules it says are assembled in its own Berlin shop.
• Qu-Bit — The digital Eurorack maker Andrew Ikenberry founded in 2013 as a Berklee student in Boston, now in San Clemente, California, known for Nebulae, Data Bender, Aurora and Stardust, built on the Daisy platform he also founded.
• Endorphin.es — The Eurorack and effects maker Andreas Zhukovsky founded in Kyiv in 2010, joined by Julia Bondar in 2013 and based in Barcelona since 2016, known for the Furthrrrr Generator, Shuttle System, Queen of Pentacles, GHOST with Andrew Huang and the pink Evil Pet.
• ALM Busy Circuits — The British Eurorack maker started in 2012 by Matthew Allum with the Pamela’s Workout clock module, which made the MUM M8 filter with Mumdance and has grown to more than 50 modules, a standalone effects pedal and software.

Heritage and boutique drum makers

Rogers, Slingerland, Leedy, Craviotto, C&C, Noble & Cooley and Sakae.

• Rogers Drums — The drumhead business the company dates to 1849, the Covington, Ohio factory of the Grossman years that made the Dyna-Sonic snare and Swiv-o-Matic hardware, owners from CBS to Yamaha, and the Taiwanese-owned revival that returned in 2017.
• Slingerland — The Chicago company H.H. Slingerland founded in 1912 around ukuleles and banjos, which turned to drums in the late 1920s, made the one-ply maple Radio King snare played by Gene Krupa, passed through Gretsch and Gibson, and was revived by DW in Oxnard in 2025.
• Leedy — The Indianapolis drum maker started by theatre drummer Ulysses G. Leedy in the 1890s, which introduced the vibraphone, built the Purdue Big Bass Drum, was sold to C. G. Conn in 1929 and to Slingerland in 1955, and whose name Gretsch has held since 1986.
• Craviotto — The solid-shell drum maker named after Johnny Craviotto, the Santa Cruz session drummer who played in the Ducks with Neil Young, built DW Craviotto snares from 1993, started his own company in Watsonville and died in 2016; it now builds in Nashville.
• C&C Drums — The custom drum maker of Gladstone, Missouri, started by the vintage-drum restorer Bill Cardwell, which says it began building drums in 1989 with a kit for Carl Palmer, has made its own shells since 2010, and is known for the Player Date kit and its Deco lug.
• Noble & Cooley — The drum company of Granville, Massachusetts, founded in 1854 by Silas Noble and James P. Cooley, which made toy and Civil War drums, turned to professional steam-bent solid-shell snares in the 1980s, and is still building drums in its original factory.
• Sakae — The Osaka drum maker established in 1925 that built Yamaha’s high-end drums for four decades, launched its own brand in 2009, suspended business in 2018 and returned as Sakae Osaka Heritage after Korg bought the trademark.

At a glance: founding, owner and signature

Taken from each guide’s fact panel, as of October 2026. Ownership and production change; follow the link for sources and detail.

Brand	Founded	Owner	Signature
Adams	1970 (Ittervoort, NL)	See guide	Percussion & brass
Akai Professional	Japan, as a division of Akai Electric (1984)	See guide	MPC samplers, S-series samplers, MPK controllers
Alembic	Novato, California (1969)	See guide	Active electronics, Series I and II basses, Stanley Clarke Signature
Alesis	Hollywood, Los Angeles (1984 (Mix); 1980 (company))	See guide	XT reverb, MIDIverb, HR-16, ADAT
ALM Busy Circuits	United Kingdom (2012)	See guide	Pamela’s Workout, Akemie’s Castle, Squid Salmple, MFX
Ampeg	1946 (New York)	Yamaha (2018)	SVT
Analogman	Connecticut, USA (1993 (name); full-time 2000)	See guide	King of Tone, Sun Face, CompROSSor, Bi-Chorus
Antoine Courtois Paris	c. 1789 (Paris heritage)	See guide	Trombones & brass
APC Instruments	1976 (Braga, Portugal)	See guide	Portuguese guitars
Aquarian Drumheads	Orange County, California (1980 (as Aquarian Accessories))	See guide	Super-Kick, Hi-Energy, Modern Vintage, Cymbal Spring
Aquila	1991 (Caldogno, Italy)	See guide	Nylgut strings
Arcus	1999 (Würzburg, Germany)	See guide	Carbon-fibre bows
Aria	Nagoya, Japan (1956 (as Arai & Co.))	See guide	Aria Pro II PE-1500, SB-1000 bass
Arturia	1999 (Grenoble, FR)	See guide	See guide
B.C. Rich	Los Angeles, California (1974 first production model; the company counts from 1969)	See guide	Seagull, Mockingbird, Bich, Warlock
Backun	2000 (Burnaby, Canada)	See guide	Clarinets & barrels
Bad Cat	Corona, California, USA (1999 (company today); 2000 (its earlier website))	See guide	Hot Cat, Black Cat, Cub, Era 30
Bare Knuckle	2003 (UK)	See guide	Guitar pickups
Befaco	Barcelona, Spain (February 2010)	See guide	Noise Plethora, Oneiroi, Muxlicer, Kickall
BG France	Chaponost, near Lyon, France (1985)	See guide	Fabric and metal ligatures, straps, swabs
Black Swamp Percussion	Bowling Green, Ohio (1995 (site); 1994 (2001 site))	See guide	SoundArt tambourines, Multisonic snare drum
BlueChip Picks	Knoxville area, Tennessee, USA (c. 2008 (launch))	See guide	Brown composite flatpicks, thumb picks
Blüthner	1853 (Leipzig, Germany)	See guide	Grand & upright pianos
Bon Musica	See guide	See guide	See guide
Boss	See guide	Roland	Compact pedal
British Drum Company	2015 (Stockport, UK)	See guide	Drum kits & snares
Buffet Crampon	1825 (Paris)	See guide	R13 clarinet
Bösendorfer	1828 (Vienna)	Yamaha	97-key Imperial
C&C Drums	Gladstone, Missouri (1989 (drum building, company says))	See guide	Player Date, Gladstone shells, Deco lug
C.G. Conn	c.1875 (Elkhart, IN)	Conn-Selmer	6M Naked Lady
Canopus	1981 (Tokyo, Japan)	See guide	Boutique drums
Carr Amplifiers	Chapel Hill, North Carolina (1998 (first sales))	See guide	Rambler, Mercury V, Sportsman, Slant 6V
Catalinbread	Pacific Northwest (Seattle area, per company) (2003 (company); Catalin Audio online by 2002)	See guide	Belle Epoch, Echorec, Dirty Little Secret, Galileo
Charvel	Azusa, California (company’s account) (mid-1970s (Wikipedia: 1974))	See guide	San Dimas, So-Cal, Pro-Mod DK
ChickenPicks	Dordrecht, the Netherlands (2010 (as a business))	See guide	Thick thermoset picks: Regular 2.6, Badazz III, Bermuda III
CIOKS	Copenhagen, Denmark (1991, the company says)	See guide	DC7, SOL, CIOKOLATE, Flex cables
CodaBow	Winona, Minnesota, USA (1993 (as Coda Composites))	See guide	Marquise, Diamond, Escent and Prodigy bows; Xebony frogs
Cooperman	Mount Vernon, New York (1950s; incorporated 1975 (Centerbrook, CT))	See guide	Rope-tension drums, fifes, frame drums
Cort	Seoul, South Korea (1960 (as Soo Doh Piano); guitars from 1973)	See guide	Contract guitar making; KX series; MBC-1
Craviotto	Watsonville, California (2004 (company’s date))	See guide	One-ply, steam-bent solid-shell snare drums
Curt Mangan	Paso Robles, California (2004 (as Curt Mangan Inc.))	See guide	FusionMatched strings, round-core and Monel sets
Danelectro	1947 (Red Bank, NJ)	See guide	lipstick pickups
Dava	Dava Company (1996)	See guide	Dava Control, Master Control, Grip Tips, Click Pick
Dean Guitars	Chicago area, USA (1976 (the company says 1977))	See guide	ML, V, Z, Cadillac; Dimebag Darrell
Dean Markley	Santa Clara, California (1972)	See guide	Blue Steel strings, the Voice Box
Death By Audio	Virginia and Brooklyn, per company (2002)	See guide	Fuzz War, Supersonic Fuzz Gun, Echo Dream 2, Total Sonic Annihilation
Decibel Eleven	Stevenson Ranch, California (April 2012 (first products))	MYE, Inc.	Hot Stone, Pedal Palette, Switch Dr.
Denis Wick	London, England (1968 (company says))	See guide	Brass mutes and mouthpieces
DiMarzio	Staten Island, New York (Early 1970s; incorporated 1975)	See guide	Super Distortion, FS-1, PAF, double-cream bobbins
Dingwall	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (1987 (company claim))	See guide	Fanned-fret basses: Z, Prima Artist, Combustion
Donner	See guide	Guangzhou Rantion Technology Co., Ltd.	Mini pedals, HUSH headless guitars, OURA pianos
DR Strings	New Jersey, United States (1989 (production began))	See guide	Hi-Beam, Neon, Pure Blues, Dragon Skin+
Dr. Z Amplification	Cleveland, Ohio, USA (1988)	See guide	Carmen Ghia, MAZ 18, MAZ 38, Z Wreck, Z-28
Dunlop	1965 (Benicia, CA)	See guide	Cry Baby wah
DW	1972 (as a studio)	Roland	See guide
D’Addario	See guide	See guide	XL / NYXL strings
E-mu	Santa Clara, California (1972 (name coined 1971))	See guide	Emulator, Drumulator, SP-1200, Proteus
Electro-Harmonix	1968 (New York City)	See guide	Big Muff Pi
Elektron	1998 (Gothenburg)	See guide	p-locks
Elixir	1997	W.L. Gore	Coated strings
EMG	California, USA (1976 (licensed as Dirtywork Studios))	See guide	EMG 81, 85, 60, SA, active preamps
Endorphin.es	Kyiv, Ukraine (2010)	See guide	Furthrrrr Generator, Shuttle System, Queen of Pentacles, GHOST, Evil Pet
Ensoniq	Malvern, Pennsylvania, USA (1982–83 (as Peripheral Visions))	See guide	Mirage, ESQ-1, EPS, VFX, ASR-10
Epiphone	See guide	Gibson (1957)	Casino
Erica Synths	2014 (Riga, Latvia)	See guide	Modular synths
Ernie Ball	late 1950s (California)	See guide	Slinky strings
ESP	Tokyo, Japan (1975 (as Electric Sound Products))	See guide	Custom and signature guitars; LTD, E-II
Estonia Piano	c. 1950 (Tallinn, Estonia)	See guide	Grand pianos
Evans	1956 (Farmingdale, USA)	See guide	Drumheads
Expressive E	Paris region, France (2013 (company says); registered 2015)	See guide	Touché, Osmose, Osmose CE
F. Lorée	1881 (Paris, France)	See guide	Oboes
Fairfield Circuitry	Gatineau, Québec (July 2008)	See guide	Barbershop, The Accountant, Meet Maude, Shallow Water
Fairlight	Sydney, Australia (December 1975)	See guide	Fairlight CMI, Page R, MFX, Xynergi
Fano	Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, USA (2001 (the company says))	See guide	Alt de Facto JM6, SP6, RB6, TC6 and GF6
Fazioli	1981 (Sacile, Italy)	See guide	F308
Fender	1946 (Fullerton, CA)	See guide	Telecaster · Strat
Fernandes	Tokyo, Japan (1969 (as Saito Gakki))	See guide	Burny, the ZO-3, the Sustainer
Fishman	Massachusetts, USA (1981 (Wikipedia’s date))	See guide	Acoustic pickups, Loudbox, Fluence, TriplePlay
Floyd Rose	See guide	See guide	Double-locking tremolo: Original, Special, 1000 Series, FRX
Fodera	Brooklyn, New York (1983)	See guide	Anthony Jackson contrabass, Monarch, Emperor, Imperial
Framus	Erlangen, Bavaria (1 January 1946)	See guide	Star Bass, Hootenanny, Zenith (for Boosey & Hawkes)
Fryette	Studio City, Los Angeles, USA (January 1989 (as VHT Amplification))	See guide	Pittbull, Deliverance, Sig: X, Power Station, Aether
Fulltone	California (1991 (company date))	See guide	Full-Drive, OCD, Clyde wah
G&L	Fullerton, California (1979–1980 (accounts differ))	See guide	ASAT, Legacy, L-2000 bass
G7th	2004 (Peterborough, UK)	See guide	Guitar capos
Gator Cases	Tampa, Florida (2000)	See guide	Molded guitar cases, gig bags, Frameworks stands
Getzen	1939 (Elkhorn, WI)	Family (4th gen)	Eterna trumpet
GEWA music	Adorf, Saxony (1925)	See guide	Cases, string instruments, Ovation, Wittner
GHS	Battle Creek, Michigan (1964)	McFee family (company says)	Boomers strings, the Brightness Bar
Gibraltar Hardware	Kaman Music, Bloomfield, Connecticut (CB700 line, by 1980)	See guide	Drum racks, 9000-series stands, thrones, pedals
Gibson	See guide	KKR group	Les Paul · SG
Gotoh	1960 (Gunma, Japan)	See guide	Tuning machines
Graph Tech	Vancouver, Canada (1983)	See guide	TUSQ, String Saver, Ratio tuners
Gravity Picks	California, USA (2011 (company’s date))	See guide	Hand-finished acrylic picks, Gold Series
Gretsch	1883 (Brooklyn)	Gretsch family	6120 · White Falcon
Grover	Cleveland, Ohio (1922 (Grossman Brothers); Grover name 1952)	See guide	Rotomatic, Sta-Tite and Imperial tuners
Gruv Gear	California (2007)	See guide	V-Cart Solo, Krane carts, FretWraps, GigBlade
Guild	1952 (New York)	Yamaha (2023)	12-strings
Hagstrom	Älvdalen, Dalarna, Sweden (1925 (company registered))	See guide	Viking, H8 eight-string bass, Swede, Super Swede
Hammond	1935 (Chicago)	See guide	B-3
Hanika	Baiersdorf, Franconia, Germany (1953)	See guide	Classical concert guitars, pierced headstock, Nativ series
Hardcase	UK (1992 (company claim); limited company 2002)	See guide	Moulded polyethylene drum and percussion cases
Harley Benton	Treppendorf, Bavaria, Germany (1998)	See guide	ST, TE, SC and Fusion guitars; DNAfx processors
Hercules Stands	By KHS Musical Instruments, Taiwan (2002)	KHS (Kung Hsue She), founded 1930	Auto Grip System guitar stands, TravLite, EZ-Glide
Heritage Guitars	Kalamazoo, Michigan (1985)	See guide	H-150, H-535, H-575, archtops
Hidersine	Forest Gate, London (1890 first rosin; company 1897)	See guide	1V, 3V and 6V rosins; AB and Hill rosins
Hipshot	California, USA (1982 (company); 1983 in one press account)	See guide	String Bender, Xtender drop tuner, bridges, tuners
Hiscox Cases	UK (1985 (company claim); limited company 1995)	See guide	Liteflite hard cases; Standard, Pro II and Artist ranges
Hiwatt	New Malden, Surrey, England (1968 (Hylight, 1966))	See guide	DR103 Custom 100, DR504, DR201
Hohner	1857 (Trossingen)	See guide	Marine Band
Hotone	See guide	See guide	Skyline mini pedals, Xtomp, Ampero, Pulze
Hoyer	See guide	See guide	Herr im Frack and Solist archtops, Foldaxe
Humes & Berg	Chicago, Illinois (1935 (company says))	See guide	Stonelined mutes, drum cases and bags
Höfner	Schönbach, Bohemia (now Luby, Czech Republic) (1887)	See guide	500/1 violin bass, Club and President guitars
Ibanez	See guide	See guide	JEM · RG
Instruo	See guide	See guide	arbhar, Lúbadh, Cš-L, SCÍON
Istanbul Agop	1980 (Istanbul, Turkey)	See guide	Cymbals
Jackson	Southern California (1980 (Jackson name))	See guide	Rhoads, Soloist, King V, Kelly, Dinky
James Tyler	Los Angeles, California (1972 (repair work, per the company))	See guide	Studio Elite, Ultimate Weapon, Shmear finishes
Jargar	Copenhagen, Denmark (1956)	See guide	Superior, Classic, Evoke and Eccentric strings
JodyJazz	New York, USA (2000 (company says))	See guide	DV, HR*, JET and GIANT saxophone mouthpieces
José Ramírez	1882 (Madrid, Spain)	See guide	Classical guitars
Joyo	See guide	See guide	Budget pedals, R Series, BanTamP heads
Jupiter	See guide	KHS	Student band horns
Keith McMillen Instruments	Berkeley, California (2005)	See guide	SoftStep, QuNeo, QuNexus, BopPad, K-Board Pro 4
Ken Smith	United States (workshop in Perkasie, Pennsylvania) (1978 or 1979 (company gives both))	See guide	Multi-string basses: BT, BSR, Black Tiger
Kiesel	See guide	See guide	See guide
Kluson	Chicago, Illinois (1925)	See guide	Kluson Deluxe stamped-steel tuners, Waffleback tuners, #9 tailpiece
Knaggs	Maryland, USA (2009)	See guide	Chesapeake and Influence lines, Creation Series
Korg	1962 (Tokyo)	See guide	MS-20 · M1
Kramer	Neptune, New Jersey, USA (1976 (first guitars))	See guide	Aluminium necks, Baretta, Pacer, Floyd Rose tremolo
Kun	Ottawa, Canada (1972 (Kun Original))	See guide	Original, Super, Collapsible, Bravo, Solo, Kun Seven
Kurzweil	United States (1982)	Young Chang (South Korea) from 1990	K250, K2000, V.A.S.T., PC-series stage pianos
Kyser	Texas, USA (1980 (incorporated))	See guide	Quick-Change capo, Low-Tension and Fender x Kyser capos
König & Meyer	Wertheim am Main, Germany (1949)	See guide	210/2 microphone stand, 210/9 boom, music stands
La Bella	See guide	See guide	Flatwound bass
LAG	Toulouse, France (1981 (workshop 1978))	See guide	Tramontane, Roxane, Occitania
Lakewood	Near Gießen, Hesse, Germany (1986)	See guide	Steel-string acoustic guitars, 3D custom-shop designer
Lakland	Chicago, Illinois (1994)	See guide	44-94, 55-94, Skyline Series, 44-60 and 44-64
Larsen Strings	1990 (Sønderborg, DK)	See guide	Cello strings
Latin Percussion	New York area, USA (1964)	See guide	Vibra-Slap, Afuche/Cabasa, Classic congas
Leedy	Indianapolis, Indiana (1897 (as Leedy-Cooley))	See guide	Vibraphone, Purdue Big Bass Drum, Leedy Drum Topics
Levy’s	Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada (1973)	See guide	Leather and suede guitar straps, Right Height straps
Lindy Fralin Pickups	Richmond, Virginia (1989 (company’s date))	See guide	Vintage Hot, Split Blade, P-92, Fralin’Tron
Lollar	Vashon Island, Washington (1987 per NAMM; dates vary)	See guide	Imperial humbucker, P-90s, steel-guitar pickups
Ludwig	1909 (Chicago)	Conn-Selmer	See guide
Légère	1998 (Barrie, Canada)	See guide	Synthetic reeds
M-Audio	United States (Arcadia, California, by 2002) (1988 (as Midiman))	See guide	Midisport, Delta soundcards, Oxygen and Keystation controllers
Make Noise	2008 (Asheville, NC)	See guide	Maths
Marca	Ollioules, Var, France (1957)	See guide	Clarinet and saxophone reeds from wild Provence cane
Marleaux	Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany (1990)	See guide	Consat, Votan and Spock basses; Regio Tone Wood
Martin	1833 (Nazareth, PA)	Martin family	Dreadnought
Maton	1946 (Melbourne, Australia)	See guide	Acoustic guitars
Mayones	Gdańsk, Poland (1982)	See guide	Regius, Duvell, Jabba, Caledonius
Mellotron	See guide	See guide	Strawberry Fields
Melos	2003 (Thessaloniki, GR)	See guide	Rosin
Meris	California, U.S. (2013 (first product January 2014))	See guide	Mercury7, Enzo, LVX, 500-series modules
Mesa/Boogie	c.1969 (Petaluma, CA)	Gibson (2021)	Dual Rectifier
Mooer	Shenzhen, China (2010 (company says))	See guide	Micro pedals, Ocean Machine, GE multi-effects
Moog	See guide	See guide	Minimoog
Music Man	Fullerton, California (1971 as Tri-Sonix; Music Man from 1974)	See guide	StingRay bass, Silhouette, Axis, Majesty
MXR	Rochester, New York (1972 (incorporated 1974))	See guide	Phase 90, Dyna Comp, Distortion +, Blue Box
Nash Guitars	Olympia, Washington, USA (2001)	See guide	Aged T, S and E models; PB and JB basses
Nektar	California, USA (2009 (company’s date))	See guide	Nektar DAW integration
Noble & Cooley	Granville, Massachusetts (1854)	See guide	SS Classic solid-shell snare; toy drums
Nord	See guide	See guide	Nord Lead
Novation	1992 (UK)	See guide	Launchpad
NS Design	1990 (USA)	See guide	Electric strings
NUX	See guide	Cherub Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen	MG modellers, Mighty amps, wireless systems
Old Blood Noise Endeavors	Norman, Oklahoma (2014)	See guide	Black Fountain, Dark Star, Screen Violence, Parting
On-Stage	See guide	See guide	Mic, keyboard, guitar and speaker stands
Orange	1968 (London)	Independent	Pictogram controls
Origin Effects	England (2012 (company’s date))	See guide	Cali76 and SlideRIG compressors; amp-recreation pedals
Otto Link	See guide	See guide	Super Tone Master, Tone Edge, Florida, New York
P. Mauriat	2003 (Taichung, Taiwan)	See guide	Saxophones
Paige Capos	Litchfield, Michigan, USA (1988)	See guide	Original, Clik and PaigePro capos
Paiste	1901 (Nottwil, Switzerland)	See guide	Cymbals & gongs
PANArt	2000 (Bern, Switzerland)	See guide	The Hang & successors
Pearl	1946 (Tokyo)	Yanagisawa family	Export kit
Pedaltrain	Nashville, Tennessee, USA (1999 (company’s date))	See guide	Slotted aluminum pedalboards: Nano, Metro, Classic, Novo, XD, Terra
Peterson	Chicago area, Illinois (1948 (company dating))	See guide	Strobe tuners, AutoStrobe, StroboClip, StroboStomp
Petrof	1864 (Hradec Králové, CZ)	See guide	Grand & upright pianos
Pickboy	Japan (1967)	Nakano Co., Ltd, Tokyo	Celluloid and Celtex picks, custom-printed picks, conducting batons
Pigini	1946 (Castelfidardo, IT)	See guide	Concert accordions
Pirastro	1798 (Offenbach, DE)	See guide	Evah Pirazzi
Pittsburgh Modular	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2012, the company says; selling modules by 2010)	See guide	Lifeforms SV-1, Microvolt 3900, Voltage Research Laboratory, Taiga
Powell Flutes	1927 (Maynard, MA, USA)	See guide	Handmade flutes
PPG	Hamburg, Germany (c.1975 (Palm Products GmbH))	See guide	Wave 2, 2.2, 2.3; Waveterm
Premier	1922 (London, UK)	See guide	Drums & percussion
Protection Racket	Cornwall, England (1994 (company’s date))	See guide	Proline, Nutcases and AAA drum cases
PRS	1985 (Maryland)	See guide	bird inlays
Qu-Bit	Boston, Massachusetts, US (2013)	See guide	Nebulae, Data Bender, Aurora, Stardust, Bloom
Quiklok	Recanati, Marche, Italy (Company says 1983)	See guide	X-frame keyboard stands, WS/550 “chameleon”, QL/691 guitar stand
Red Bear Trading	United States (online) (2003 (company says))	See guide	Hand-bevelled Galalith (casein) flat picks, Tuff-Tone, Guthrie Govan pick
Red Panda	Detroit area, Michigan (2009)	See guide	Particle, Tensor, Context, Radius
Remo	1957 (Los Angeles)	See guide	See guide
Renner	1882 (Germany)	See guide	Piano actions
Reunion Blues	1976	Ace Products Group	Leather gig bags, RB Continental, RBX, Expedition
Reverend	East Detroit (now Eastpointe), Michigan (1997)	See guide	Slingshot, Charger, Double Agent, signature models
Revv	Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (2014)	See guide	Generator 120, D20, G3 pedal
Rhodes	See guide	See guide	See guide
Rhythm Tech	Westchester County, New York (about 1981 (company’s count))	See guide	Crescent tambourine, DST, Hat Trick, Studio Shaker
Rickenbacker	1931 (as Ro-Pat-In)	See guide	330 · 4001
RockBoard	See guide	Warwick GmbH & Co. Music Equipment KG	DUO, TRES, QUAD, CINQUE boards; QuickMount; MOD patchbays
Rogers Drums	Brewster’s Station, New York (1849 (drumheads, company dating))	See guide	Dyna-Sonic snare, Swiv-o-Matic, Memriloc
Roland	1972 (Osaka, Japan)	See guide	TR-808 · MIDI
ROLI	London, England (2009)	See guide	Seaboard, BLOCKS, LUMI, ROLI Piano, Airwave
Rotosound	c.1958 (Kent, England)	See guide	Swing Bass 66
Rovner	Baltimore area, Maryland, USA (1974)	See guide	Fabric ligatures: Dark, Versa, Platinum, LGX
Ruokangas	Hyvinkää, Finland (1995)	See guide	Duke, VSOP, Mojo, Unicorn; Spanish cedar, Arctic birch
Röslau	1882 (Röslau, Germany)	See guide	Piano & music wire
Sabian	1981 (Robert Zildjian)	See guide	See guide
Sadowsky	Manhattan, New York (1979 (repair shop))	See guide	NYC Custom basses, onboard preamp, MetroLine, MetroExpress
Sakae	Osaka, Japan (1925)	See guide	Building Yamaha’s high-end drums; Almighty, Celestial, Evolved
Savarez	Paris, France (company account) (1770)	See guide	Alliance, Cantiga, Corum and Argentine strings
Schaller	Feucht, near Nuremberg, Germany (1945)	See guide	M6 tuners, Security Locks and S-Locks
Schecter	Van Nuys, California (1976 (as a repair and parts shop))	See guide	Replacement parts; Diamond Series; C-1, Avenger, Hellraiser
Schilke	1956 (Chicago area, USA)	See guide	Trumpets & mouthpieces
Schlagwerk	Swabia, Germany (1982 (by its account))	See guide	La Perù and 2inOne cajóns, slit drums
Selmer	1885 (Paris)	Argos Wityu (2018)	Mark VI sax
Sequential	1974 (by Dave Smith)	See guide	Prophet-5
Seymour Duncan	Santa Barbara, California (1976)	See guide	SH-4 JB, ’59 Model, Antiquities, Blackouts
Shubb	California, USA (1974)	See guide	Lever-action guitar capo, fifth-string banjo capo, Deluxe, Capo Noir
SKB Cases	Southern California (1977)	See guide	Molded guitar cases, rack cases, iSeries waterproof cases
Slingerland	Chicago, Illinois (1912)	See guide	Radio King, Rolling Bomber, Zoomatic, TDR
Snark	United States (2010)	See guide	Clip-on tuners: SN-1, Super Tight, Silver, HPT
Sonor	1875 (Bad Berleburg, DE)	See guide	Drum kits
Source Audio	Woburn, Massachusetts, USA (2005 (first product 2006))	See guide	Hot Hand, Soundblox, Neuro app, Collider
Spector	Brooklyn, New York (1976)	See guide	NS-1, NS-2, NS body by Ned Steinberger
Sperzel	Cleveland, Ohio, USA (Tuning keys since 1977 (company))	See guide	Trim-Lok locking tuners (1983), staggered posts
Steinway & Sons	1853 (New York)	See guide	Model D grand
Strandberg	2012 (Sweden)	See guide	Headless guitars
String Swing	Wisconsin, USA (1987 (company’s account))	See guide	CC01 and CC01K guitar hangers, slatwall displays
Stringjoy	Nashville, Tennessee (Website live by late 2014)	See guide	Custom-gauge sets, Signatures and Naturals lines
Studiologic	See guide	See guide	Numa pianos, SL controllers, Sledge synth
Suhr	California (October 1997 (as JS Technologies, Inc.))	See guide	Classic S, Classic T, Modern, Badger amps, Riot pedal
Synclavier	Norwich, Vermont (1976 (New England Digital))	See guide	Synclavier II, VPK, Tapeless Studio
Takamine	1959 / 1962 (Gifu, Japan)	See guide	Stage acoustic-electrics
Tama	See guide	See guide	Starclassic
Taylor	1974 (El Cajon, CA)	employees	NT neck
Temple Audio	Warman, Saskatchewan, Canada (First board 2009 (company’s account))	See guide	Templeboards (SOLO, DUO, TRIO), Quick Release plates, MODs
Teuffel	Germany, by Ulrich Teuffel (1 June 1988)	See guide	Birdfish, Coco, Tesla, Niwa
Theo Wanne	2007 (Bellingham, USA)	See guide	Sax mouthpieces
Thomastik-Infeld	1919 (Vienna)	See guide	Dominant strings
Tokai	Hamamatsu, Shizuoka (1947)	GRACE Co., Ltd. (since 2021)	Pianica, Love Rock, Springy Sound, Talbo
Tom Anderson	California (1984 (in Tom Anderson’s garage))	See guide	S, T, Angel, Cobra, Bobcat, Crowdster
Truetone	as Visual Sound, end of 1994 / early 1995 (company’s dates)	See guide	See guide
TV Jones	Whittier, California (November 1993 (company’s date))	See guide	TV Classic, Power’Tron, Super’Tron, Magna’Tron
Tycoon Percussion	Bangkok, Thailand (1983 (as Tycoon Music))	See guide	Congas, bongos, cajóns, world percussion
Ultimate Support	See guide	See guide	Apex and Deltex keyboard stands, TS-100B, Pro Series mic stands
V-Picks	Central Valley, California, US (2006 (picks first made 1980))	See guide	Handmade acrylic picks: Tradition, Screamer, Insanity, Ruby Red
Valeton	See guide	See guide	GP-100, GP-200, GP-5, Coral and Dapper pedals
Vandoren	1905 (Paris, France)	See guide	Cane reeds
Verbos Electronics	New York, USA (2014)	See guide	Complex Oscillator, Harmonic Oscillator, Voltage Multistage
Victoria	1919 (Castelfidardo, IT)	See guide	Concert accordions
Victory Amplification	England, UK (2013)	Partnership of nine, incl. Lee Anderton	V40 Duchess, VX Kraken, V4 preamps, braille panels
Vigier	Grigny, Essonne, France (1980)	See guide	Excalibur, Surfreter fretless, 90/10 carbon-reinforced neck
Vincent Bach	1918 (New York)	Conn-Selmer	Stradivarius trumpet
Voodoo Lab	See guide	See guide	Pedal Power, Ground Control, GCX, Dingbat
Vox	1950s (Dartford, England)	Korg	AC30
Wampler	Martinsville, Indiana (2007 (company has said c.2006))	See guide	Paisley Drive, Pinnacle, Tumnus, Euphoria
Warchal	Slovakia (2003)	See guide	Brilliant, Amber, Timbre, The Beast
Wegen Picks	Eastern Netherlands (by 2001 (online))	See guide	Gypsyjazzpick, Trimus, Twins, Fatone
Weltmeister	c. 1852 (Klingenthal, DE)	See guide	Accordions
Weril	1909 (São Paulo, Brazil)	See guide	Brass & winds
Wincent	1992 (Gränna, Sweden)	See guide	Drumsticks
Wittner	Germany (1895 (company says))	See guide	Taktell and Maelzel-system metronomes, Ultra tailpieces, fine tuners, chinrests
Wurlitzer	1853 (Cincinnati)	See guide	jukebox · Wurly
Xotic	See guide	Prosound Communications Inc.	AC, RC and EP Boosters, SP Compressor
Yanagisawa	1890s (Tokyo)	See guide	WO sax series
Zildjian	1623 (by tradition)	See guide	See guide
ZVEX	Minneapolis, Minnesota (1995 (company’s date))	See guide	Fuzz Factory, Woolly Mammoth, Box of Rock, Probe pedals

Frequently asked questions

Who owns Moog?

inMusic, according to our guide.

Are Tama and Ibanez the same company?

Both belong to Hoshino Gakki, according to our guides.

See also our piano, keyboard and reed, drum and band and string instrument brand guidelines.

Part of our Audio & Music brand guidelines. See also all collections.