Cheap, Korean, $100 samick guitars...

[Nollykin]

Hey guys.

 

I dont know if you guys get these things. Samick guitars. I'm not talking about the ones that are at www.samickmusicusa.com. I'm talking about the cheap ones that go for about 240 - 300 australian dollars (Half that price for american price).

 

These things are sold in nearly every cheap guitar center, mainly the SA 11 and the SA 31 - theyre strat and fat strat clones respectively.

 

My mate has had one since before I played guitar. The action is way too high, the neck is bad - feels too slippery, the frets stick out along the bottom of the neck so that your fingers get little cuts in them when you play... and the ouput jack itself falls off sometimes and needs to be screwed back on. and I am guessing theyre made of plywood.

 

I dont like the guitar, needles to say. Recently however, I had to talk another friend out of buying one (FOR GODS SAKE! Get a yamha! or something! ), and another friend came to school saying "Hey Nolly! I got a new guitar!"

 

"Yeah? Cool matt. What is it? What model?"

"Its a samick. I dunno the model. Its basically exactly the same as davids but blue"

 

I nearly fell over. Davids guitar is one of those Yamaha EG's. The ones you can get in a pack with an amp for 350 dollars. Not the best guitar, but theyre better than a samick.

 

I looked around on the net with him and discovered that it was an SA 31. I mean - okay. You could do worse... but its definately no yamaha.

 

The sad thing is he's so proud of it... ignorant... but I guess, that is a good thing, you have to be proud of your guitar.

 

I guess I'm just rambling on about cheap guitars, and merchants who peddle them. BUT, I will contradict myself and say that We need cheap ones, or else the "decent" ones would become our cheap ones. then if we got rid of those, saying they were too cheap, all we'd have left are thousand dollar guitars

 

*sigh*

 

Just annoyed, thats all. Comments? Flame away. Is samick really that bad? Have you got similar stories? Want to tell me I'm wrong? Go ahead. Make my bacon

 

Nolly

[Dave da Dude]

I've had cheap guitars too. Everyone starts out with one unless he's made out of money, or his parents are. I had a cheap acoustic that actually pulled the bridge away from the body! After a couple more I finally bought a Martin D-18 Dreadnought. Now I've got an Ovation Legend 12 string too.

 

I bought a cheap copy kat electric when I first wanted to try out electric. At least I bought a Roland Jazz Chorus 55w amp, not too bad. I finally bought an Ibanez, RG270 I think, used in the late 80's. When it was stolen I didn't know if I wanted to get back into electric, or even acoustic guitars again.

 

I found a way to find out. I bought a Raven I know, a what? It's Korean made, dynamite looks (quited maple, purple w/ gold hadwe. It even plays pretty well. A friend at work tried it out today (he has an American Strat) and he said "..the action is awesome." This guitar was "only" $350, not much for a HSH with Floyd Rose locking tremolo.

 

It's not the best guitar in the world, but it's adequate. It's gotten me started back in guitar again. I couldn't just start in playing my Martin or Ovation, I've got no calluses left.

 

Every guitar has a purpose. If just one out of ten people who buys a $50 guitar learns to play and goes on to buy a better one, the cheap guitar has served its purpose.

 

So much for my philosophizing (sp.). Don't let me get going.

 

Let's just "Rock ON"

[Nollykin]

Very valid points. Very.

 

I was saying also - but forgot to mention this point though. Im not disagreeing with you. I forgot to say that you can often get a guitar that is twice as good - but only half the price - and thats exactly what I was on about - that raven you were talking about. A decent guitar for the money.

 

But yes - I guess, if the cheap guitar gets someone into guitar, then it HAS served its purpose. It is just, so so sad to see 350 dollars being spent on a peice of crap samick, or raven guitar, when you could add 100 more and get a yamaha, ibanez, cort etc. It just seems like such a waste. *cries* "IF YOU'RE GONNA WASTE THAT MONEY! PUT IT TO A GOOD USE! GIVE IT TO ME!" hehe

 

=)

 

Nolly

[Chip McDonald]

Thing is, Samick makes more guitars than anyone else on the planet. They make guitars for *all* the big names, and a lot of the pseudo "boutique" names that would prefer you not know it. They make a LOT of guitars - as in *millions*; they have a production facilitys that are something like 4 football fields in size.

 

The point being - they've got a LOT of people there making guitars all day long. Brian Moore sells a $1,000 model made there; they farm production out to Samick, then basically perform a QC control on the results... They're really good guitars, and it's probably impossible to make some that good these days that cheap any way else.

 

Their own line used to be pretty iffy. I don't know what they're doing now... but the stuff they're making for Ibanez and Fender are amazing for the price - and they're actually stepping on toes in different price categories with their quality.

 

It's pretty funny how all of the push to send manufacturing offshore - so profit margins can increase - is probably going to end up biting everyone in the rear if they're not careful. Name brands meant something "back in the day", but don't mean as much today - for good reason.

[Wewus432]

Ever look at the cheap Kramers at Music Yo ?

[freddynl]

Indeed, ever looked at a crafter???

I recently bought a TC035 ($ 410)

(acoustic with one cutaway and shadow pickups)

It sounds as good as a $1500,-- martin!

and plays better!

And very well finished , excellent on tune, not one mistake I could trace, and their are no perfect guitars normally...

 

I am very curious about their es 335 clones..

Not one available yet, but should arrive in june,

Anyway it is Korean as well (maybe same samick factory? )

[TurboDog]

Samick does, in fact, make more guitars than anybody. Electric and acoustic.

 

Ihave played a ton of them at a guitar shop a friend worked at. We actually found some real sleepers. He actually bought a Tele. It had a orange flamed maple top (no plywood), and played really nice. The guitar was built well and the pickups were very respectable sounding. All from a $250 guitar.

 

I also remember a PRS type Samick. It was blue-translucent flamed maple arch top with inlays on the fretboard, binding and 2 buckers witha Wilkinson style tremolo. I demo-ed dozens of amps with that guitar. Really nice little axe. I think I could have bought it for around $550.

 

Of course, I also found some nasty Samicks as well. I never saw any of the real cheapo ones. But hey, if you buy a new guitar for $100, you really can't expect anything but for it to work.

[Zweite Version]

Even though I owned top guitars by Ibanez and Gibson, I still play my black Yamaha RGX, the first guitar I ever had. I bought it second-hand and dirt-cheap in Vienna. It's still my favourite. It had several repairs and a refretting throughout the years, but I would never ever give it away!

[whitefang]

Well, back in MY day (he said, pounding his cane on the floor), there were all kinds of cheap-o's as well. The Sears Silvertone, the Monkey Ward's Airline, all manner of Stella's and the most famous cheapie of all, the incomparable Teisco DelRey! I myself had a Kalamazoo Melodymaker. Kalamazoo was Gibson's budget line, and I'm not really sure if the Kalamazoo was even BUILT in Kalamazoo!

 

This axe had an SG shaped body, a Fender styled headstock, bolt-on neck, was baby blue with covered pick-ups that weren't really worth a shit!

But it was a gift, and it was MINE! The action wasn't all that great, but super slinky's helped a bit.

 

I don't know much about Samick. I've seen some kinda high priced in some shops, and other models selling at places like Service Merchandise and Media Play (these aren't music stores). I've seen a pair bid for on the Price Is Right with leather-sack "cases" and an amp the size of a table radio that Bob Barker said retailed for $650! I suppose, like many other corporations, they try to capture a wide market with a wide variety.

 

When you've got one when you're young, a cheapie can be a major frustration. But when you reach my age (50), you look back with a chuckle and wouldn't trade the experience. Yes, cheap guitars DO serve a purpose! I wish I knew what became of that Kalamazoo, and had it back. Just so we could talk over old times!

Whitefang

[Gabriel E.]

Cheapo guitars definitely serve a purpose. The older ones are often really offbeat and cool.

 

Strange budget guitars from the 60s and 70s often make fantastic slide guitars. And you don't have to raise the action!!

 

I have an old Airline (Montgomery Ward) archtop acoustic from the 50s or 60s that sucks for regular playing but sounds great for slide. Cost me $50.

[goodsgtr]

I've bought and sold more guitars than I care to remember but my first accoustic a "Citation" (anyone remember them?) I've held onto. I bought it in the 70's, don't remember what I paid for it but it wasn't much. The poor thing been through me learning to play, a house fire... I still pick it up from time to time for old time sake. It still sounds pretty good. Is Citation even still around?

[cincinnatirock]

Samicks are good guitars for the money. The thing is, they need to be set up properly. Let's face it, when a guitar comes by boat from Korea to the US, it is going to be exposed to the elements and will most likely need adjustment. It is just a matter of finding a reputable shop that will set it up before you walk out the door with it.

 

Also, I own a Valley Arts USA guitar (owned by Samick)and I must say that it is the best guitar that I have ever owned.

[Tedster]

Rod Serling has transplanted you back to the late 60s.

 

Substitute the word "Korean" with "Japanese".

 

Nowadays, the Japanese are making some seriously good stuff. Thing is, that the Koreans are serious about offering competition. Learning the technology, mastering it, and eventually mastering others who have similar technology. So, what these days is considered a "cheap Korean guitar"...in 15 years or so, they'll be offering up more "sought-after, high-quality Korean guitars". Or so I would guess.

[whitefang]

Originally posted by Tedster:

Rod Serling has transplanted you back to the late 60s.

 

Substitute the word "Korean" with "Japanese".

 

Nowadays, the Japanese are making some seriously good stuff. Thing is, that the Koreans are serious about offering competition. Learning the technology, mastering it, and eventually mastering others who have similar technology. So, what these days is considered a "cheap Korean guitar"...in 15 years or so, they'll be offering up more "sought-after, high-quality Korean guitars". Or so I would guess.

Might take less time than that, Tedster. I predict in about five years, we'll be treated to the "Viet Namese" models that will make the Korean makes look hand-made by Rivera!

whitefang