are samick guitars worth a damn?

the local music store here had a epiphone sherdon and i played it for a good long while. it was a real good looking guitar...just didn't play and sound all that good and wouldn't stay in tune. It seems hard to believe that epiphone put sorry keys on their guitar (since they are in the high end of the "cheap" guitar price range)
 
i did a search on google

ok well i did a search on google and found that you can still buy Tokai LoveRock
guitars although just digging through all i found was in the UK. still they look very nice! through and through. see what i found here
 
samick used to make epiphones, and epiphone was going to buy the samick factory, but instead decided to open a new, dedicated manufacturing plant in china. i have a samick production epiphone les paul, its beautiful... besides some cheap parts that have needed to be replaced, its pretty damn solid. i also own a samick acoustic-electric, and i have no complaints.
 
beaverbiscuit said:
Buck62, that second Tokai Strat, the all black one, is truly a beauty. Even if I can't bid, it's a pleasure to view.
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I own a black Tokai Silver Star strat and have had it for sale recently. I took it out of the case and have been playing it bit and now I've changed my mind....there is no way I could get anything like it for the $350 I paid a few years ago.
 
jimistone said:
Buck62,
I don't think time is running out. The same seller has sold a couple of tokia firebirds already(uses the same picture). they are going for 500 or so. He must have a line on where to get the new tokia firebirds. They are set neck and pretty close to gibson (didn't use the banjo tuners on the tokias)
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You've gotta watch those ebay Tokai guitars. The ones made now are largely from Korea, and with decals now available, it's not hard to turn a mij Squire into a Tokai and make a few bucks.

Those guys were real craftsmen, I don't know why they lost the bid to make mij Fenders, they're in the same town as Yamaha instruments.
 
Yo Trak and Griffinator. Though Epiphone may have some U.S. production facilities, your Epi Les Paul Custom was indeed made by Samick. I can tell you, mine rocks, and is one of the better Les Pauls I've played. Just put better pickups on it, and it's good to go.-Richie
 
philboyd studge said:
You've gotta watch those ebay Tokai guitars. The ones made now are largely from Korea, and with decals now available, it's not hard to turn a mij Squire into a Tokai and make a few bucks.

Those guys were real craftsmen, I don't know why they lost the bid to make mij Fenders, they're in the same town as Yamaha instruments.
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Man, thats an old thread. I didn't buy one of the guys firebirds. I found a used SG for $250 and bought it instead....it was a white SG special ( a '95, before they came out with the "faded SG" bullshit) It had an ebony fretboard too...beautiful guitar! I sold it for $250 because it had a fat neck profile and I hated the balance of that guitar..well all sg's in general (they tend to tilt away from you, like the guitar is going to do a forward summersault. If you don't have straplock forget it) Now I fully understand why half the SG's out there have had the headstock broken off.
 
I was given a Samick by a friend who was leaving the country, it looks like a LP but the cutaway is slightly different, I have no idea what model it is, however it plays well and I replaced the pickups with Bill Lawrence L450's and it improved a million, I still prefer my Strat but thats me rather than a reflection on the guitar, I prefer that Strat to everything.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Over nine years. Pretty good but not the record.
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Yep, it's a wicked old resurrected thread. But what the hell? It's been 10 years, and sometimes it's worth revisiting. That Samick/Epiphone Les Paul I've got, with the Classic 57 pickups still rocks! Damned perfect intonation! I think a prior owner had a "gnat's ass" fret job done on it. Nice rounded ones, for chords, not the flattened ones that lead guys like for sustain. Mine sounds great playing fingerstyle acoustic music. If you're looking for a solid body that can impersonate an acoustic, it's hard to beat. In the end, guitars are made, mostly, by human hands, out of mostly wood. It isn't uniform, so there are guitars of all brands that suck, and ones that rock, and everything in between. The pricey guys make more rock, and less suck, that's all. Samick has built some pretty good guitars over the years, and some that suck. I've met several of the Samicks at archery trade shows. They build some of the finest Olympic recurve bows in the world, including many used by the almost unbeatable South Korean men's and women's archery teams. Just like Yamaha, the tech part is wood and/or metal under stress by strings. Pianos, bows, and guitars.
 
Richard Monroe said:
Yep, it's a wicked old resurrected thread. But what the hell? It's been 10 years, and sometimes it's worth revisiting. That Samick/Epiphone Les Paul I've got, with the Classic 57 pickups still rocks! Damned perfect intonation! I think a prior owner had a "gnat's ass" fret job done on it. Nice rounded ones, for chords, not the flattened ones that lead guys like for sustain. Mine sounds great playing fingerstyle acoustic music. If you're looking for a solid body that can impersonate an acoustic, it's hard to beat. In the end, guitars are made, mostly, by human hands, out of mostly wood. It isn't uniform, so there are guitars of all brands that suck, and ones that rock, and everything in between. The pricey guys make more rock, and less suck, that's all. Samick has built some pretty good guitars over the years, and some that suck. I've met several of the Samicks at archery trade shows. They build some of the finest Olympic recurve bows in the world, including many used by the almost unbeatable South Korean men's and women's archery teams. Just like Yamaha, the tech part is wood and/or metal under stress by strings. Pianos, bows, and guitars.
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:confused:
 
My main axe for gigging is a Samick SAT650. Basically it's 335 copy and a damned good one. I think it's as good as the real thing.
 
I'm quite certain my Samick/Epi Les Paul is a better guitar than my 1974 Les Paul Custom, which I sold a long time ago. And they build a really good short horse bow, as well as some functional cheap student bows. Several of my students use them.
 
Richard Monroe said:
I'm quite certain my Samick/Epi Les Paul is a better guitar than my 1974 Les Paul Custom, which I sold a long time ago. And they build a really good short horse bow, as well as some functional cheap student bows. Several of my students use them.
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Thats all good but what about these flat frets for lead players that has something to do with "sustain"?
 
muttley600 said:
Thats all good but what about these flat frets for lead players that has something to do with "sustain"?
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No big deal. If you play that style, you have the setup done with a flatter profile. Look at the frets on an SG Supreme sometime, and you'll see what I mean. It has tons of sustain, but you can't play The Who on it. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I've always been a rhythm and fingerstyle player. Lead guitarists call those flat frets "perfect". I hate 'em.
 
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