are samick guitars worth a damn?

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.

In thirty years of setting up guitars and building them professionally I have never had anyone ask me for flat frets. Also there is absolutely no possible way that is would improve sustain if they did. I'm intrigued. Could you please explain this to me? What is a flatter profile? A fret is either crowned right so it has a single point of contact or it doesn't period. Anything else is asking for buzzing or intonation problems..
 
In thirty years of setting up guitars and building them professionally I have never had anyone ask me for flat frets. Also there is absolutely no possible way that is would improve sustain if they did. I'm intrigued. Could you please explain this to me? What is a flatter profile? A fret is either crowned right so it has a single point of contact or it doesn't period. Anything else is asking for buzzing or intonation problems..

I always agreed with the above, until I played an SG Supreme. I wonder if the Gibson people were experimenting with crown profile.
 
Muttley, I wonder if Richard is talking about the neck profile and not the frets themselves. Not that that would make a difference in sustain or playing chords or lead, as far as I know. Anyways, I think he needs to re-read your post and re-write his reply.
 
I don't like the gold hardware on these for sure. That's my only complaint.
 

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I have a Samick dreadnought sized acoustic. It really sucks.

My second electric guitar was a Les Paul Custom - the "fretless wonder" it was called, I think - the frets were really flat and wide. My fingers slid all over the place and I couldn't really play it. I think it had pretty good sustain. These days I mostly play a SG Supreme. The frets are sort of flat I guess? I'll look closer. It sustains for days.
 
Muttley, I wonder if Richard is talking about the neck profile and not the frets themselves. Not that that would make a difference in sustain or playing chords or lead, as far as I know. Anyways, I think he needs to re-read your post and re-write his reply.

Oh no, I understand him just fine, and what he says makes perfect sense, but in the real world. the frets on an SG Supreme (and I think the Les Paul Supreme as well) were almost squared off. I'm presuming that the crowns had enough curvature to have a single contact point, so there shouldn't be a huge difference, but- there is. I owned one, and could never find a way to set it up where I could play what I wanted to on it. In the end, I traded it for that Epi Les Paul, a Highway One telecaster, and a tex-mex strat, all of which are useful to me. I have no real clue why they dressed the frets that way.
 
Muttley, I wonder if Richard is talking about the neck profile and not the frets themselves. Not that that would make a difference in sustain or playing chords or lead, as far as I know. Anyways, I think he needs to re-read your post and re-write his reply.

He's talking rubbish. If ever you see a flat fret it is done to a bad setup, period. Gibson use a fatter fret wire on many instruments that is all. That wire can be harder to maintain intonation on but that is down to the amount of tension in the string not the crown of the fret.
 
Although I have played Gibsons & Fenders for years (and still do), I picked up a brand new Samick Greg Bennett TR1 Torino (SG clone) about 5-7 years ago for around $300.00. My idea was to use it as a "lay-around" guitar, one I could leave sitting out of the case, pick it up anytime and play, and not having to worry about dings or putting it in or out of the case ever time I played it. I was more than pleasantly surprised at this guitar. Mahogany body & neck; Duncan Designed pups; and great sound and playability. I've used it to gig with a number of times, and have been so happy with it that I started actively seeking out other Samick guitars to purchase. I now have 5 Samicks, including a Samick Formula (a Telecaster clone,which I purchased from a well known musician in Nashville), and my latest acquisition, a gorgeous quilted model that I have not yet been able to identify. The body style is identical to a Samick Ultramatic 4, but it has beautiful vine and tulip mother of pearl and abalone inlay all the way up the neck, and abalone inlay alongside the cream binding on the front of the guitar. It has a mother of pearl inlaid "S" on the headstock, but that's it. No "Greg Bennett Designed", and no model name on the truss rod cover. It was made in Korea, and has Gotoh tuners; Duncan Designed pups; a stop tailpiece; and adjustable bridge (gold hardware). If anyone has an idea regarding the model, please contact me. I picked it up at a pawn shop in Topeka, Kansas. They had $400.00, no case or gig bag on it. I walked out with the guitar; a hardshell case; a cord; and a nice strap for $300.00!!

Although I still primarily use my Gibsons and Fenders, it's getting to the point where I am using those and my Samicks about 50/50. I'd advise anyone who can get their hands on a nice, higher grade Samick at a reasonable price to jump on it. Pawn shops are often a good bet, and Reverb.com has a couple hundred of them listed.
 
I made a quick search for a couple models earlier today - along with looking for a Kramer bargain
 
There is nothing wrong with samick guitars, as samick makes a large percentage of all the cheap to mid-grade guitars with big names on them. However, samick branded guitars are not worth any money.

Btw, this thread is 15 years old.
 
For what it's worth......The guitarist I worked with when I was young worked for Samick in the late 90's and early 2000's. Dave is a virtuoso rock guitarist who stood tall among Eddie and Randy here in the San Gabriel Valley which is slightly east of lala land.... before they made it.
His job was QC and fine tuning of the guitars as they came in. He spoke very highly of the company and the quality of the guitars and owns several. Again not being a guitar player I'm clueless but his endorsement says a lot.
 
Like I said, they were the oem for all the bigger names. Any guitar that was made in Korea with any manufacturers name on it was built in the Samick factory.
 
For what it's worth......The guitarist I worked with when I was young worked for Samick in the late 90's and early 2000's. Dave is a virtuoso rock guitarist who stood tall among Eddie and Randy here in the San Gabriel Valley which is slightly east of lala land.... before they made it.
His job was QC and fine tuning of the guitars as they came in. He spoke very highly of the company and the quality of the guitars and owns several. Again not being a guitar player I'm clueless but his endorsement says a lot.

Ya, and if people think they have to have Fender and Gibson, then knowledgeable people can find the same thing in a quality import for cheap. I'm not knocking USA product through the '70s, or anything, but imports were dam good back then, also. In the stock market of the '80 we could see people really loose sight of being able to evaluate worth and that has followed through into guitars
 
I was visiting friends for a couple days up in Michigan and within walking distance of the hotel was a music store. I had some free time so I walked down there and took a look. I picked up probably 10 acoustic guitars and played them all. I kept going back to one because the sound to me was just incredible. It was a "Greg Bennett Design" guitar. I told the guy I was hooked and wanted to buy it and he was like "you sure you don't want to look at better guitars?" and he tried to persuade me in another direction. I had no clue who Greg Bennett was and no clue they were made by Samick until I was ready to walk out the door. I didn't care, it was the best sounding guitar they had. It sounded much better and played better than the Flame-top maple Fender I had at the time too. In short, a name is just a name, quality and your ears should be the judge.
 
I totally agree bruth
Like those old cheap assed Yamaha acoustics of the 1970s.
They blew away guitars costing 3 or 4 times as much.
 
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