Another major brand in musical accessories is repurposing part of its operation to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic.,
Best known for manufacturing guitar and bass strings, D'Addario will begin producing face shields for healthcare workers out of materials used to make drumheads.
D'Addario said in a statement that the changeover is meant to address a dire shortage of personal protective gear (PPE) on the front lines of the COVID-19 response within New York's healthcare system.
The company's CEO, John D'Addario III, says a team of engineers developed the first prototype in just three days. After receiving FDA approval, the Dynatomy brand will begin mass-producing face shields out of the clear film normally used to make Evans G2 drumheads.
The project will not only provide life-saving equipment for the medical community, it will also preserve jobs allowing D'Addario facilities to remain open as an essential business.
"It's our intention to manufacture these shields as long as they're needed in New York or anywhere around the globe," D'Addario said in a statement. "We've watched the incredible efforts of our healthcare and essential services workers all across the world with great admiration. While we cannot match the immeasurable efforts of these selfless heroes, we feel an immense responsibility to do our part in overcoming the COVID-19 crisis."
D'Addario's U.S. headquarters is based in Nassau County, one of the counties most deeply affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak with over 24,000 confirmed cases and over 900 deaths due to COVID-19 as of Tuesday morning.
New York State had more than 195,000 confirmed cases and over 10,000 COVID-19 deaths reported by early Tuesday.
D'Addario will begin production of the face shields by April 27. Learn more about the project here.
Last week, guitar string maker Ernie Ball announced that it was dedicating part of its guitar strap department to making face masks for the local community in the Coachella Valley.
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