Luthier only strings?

[Guido]

Does or did Thomastik have a line of strings that were only sold to luthiers?

[baroquecello]

Maybe related: Here in germany I regularly see on cellos that are slightly older strings with a dark blue winding at both ends, and apparently a white synthetic core, that have a ball that looks exactly like the ones Thomastik uses. They are not bad strings and I'd like to know what they are.

[Jeffrey Holmes]

4 hours ago, Guido said:

Does or did Thomastik have a line of strings that were only sold to luthiers?

Rondos started out that way.  Didn't last long. Unsure if they've marketed other strings in the same manner. 

[The Violin Beautiful]

Rondo and TI were both marketed that way originally. As @Jeffrey Holmes pointed out, Rondos eventually went mainstream when the demand for them became so great that Thomastik decided to change course on their policy. 

[Brad Dorsey]

6 hours ago, Guido said:

Does or did Thomastik have a line of strings that were only sold to luthiers?

 

31 minutes ago, The Violin Beautiful said:

Rondo and TI were both marketed that way originally...

Why would a string company do that?  To test the market for them?

 

[FiddleDoug]

Luthiers often buy strings unpackaged, in bulk (in tubes). It's possible that you're seeing "new, old stock", or something like that.

[Jeffrey Holmes]

1 hour ago, Brad Dorsey said:

 

Why would a string company do that?  To test the market for them?

 

I believe they tested the heck out of both those strings brands before openly offering them to luthiers... I think I still have some of the T1s in unmarked packaging (never grew to love those). If their motive was as stated during development, I suspect that small shops weren't able to keep up with their production/sales projections for the strings. Guess I'll just have to be content with the free strings I received during testing....   

[The Violin Beautiful]

11 hours ago, Brad Dorsey said:

 

Why would a string company do that?  To test the market for them?

 

The reasoning was that shops and luthiers were being severely undercut by all the online sellers who sold strings and accessories. By producing exclusive sets of strings that players would love and could only buy from businesses that signed an agreement not to advertise the strings online, it gave the shops a chance to carry a unique product without being stuck price-matching sellers who had no overhead costs or who might not even be selling authentic products. This policy was in place for several years and  the strings were very popular with shops. Because they didn’t have all the marketing fanfare of the other sets, it took longer for the playing public to discover them. When they became popular, the demand increased suddenly and players began to complain that they couldn’t get the strings from the same mail-order businesses they used for their other strings. Thomastik had to decide whether to maintain their policy that benefited the shops or to give in to the pressure to sell to everyone. They chose the latter, and now the strings are available online. The cynical side of me suspects that the company realized that the public was willing to pay higher prices than the shops were charging their customers, as evidenced by the rapidly increasing prices of all the subsequent sets that have never been exclusive.

As I understand it, TI came out in Europe several years before being released in the US. I remember seeing a couple sets on violins that were brought into the country from Europe. No one had seen these orange strings that were clearly Thomastik but had never been announced. Eventually they were released in the states through the luthier-only program (were they used to launch it?). They were popular enough with shops that when Rondo came out, the latter were added to the program. But Rondo took off in popularity in a way that TI never did. 

[Guido]

Thanks for all the replies. Interesting to learn the details.

[Bo Pontoppidan]

Warchal did the same things with the Timbre when they came out. But also offered customers to buy one trial set on their Web page. Not sure if they still keep them as luthier only.

[Mr. Bean]

13 hours ago, Bo Pontoppidan said:

Warchal did the same things with the Timbre when they came out. But also offered customers to buy one trial set on their Web page. Not sure if they still keep them as luthier only.

They still do!