Cheers for the links, Buck62, I'd heard that the Chinese are taking over in the cheapo guitar manufacturing sector, presumably their labour costs are even lower than those in Korea. I've also seen websites for other Korean guitar manufacturers, but I don't know how to ascertain whether or not they're actually just a subsidiary of Samick. One thing that puzzles me about those websites is that they rarely specify which companies they make guitars for, you would think they would be proud to name them, or do those companies not want their brand associated with them?
notCardio said:
is you can't say that it's great because it was built by Samick or it sucks because it was built by Samick. They build them to the specs and quality (or lack thereof) specified by the company hiring Samick to build them.
That makes sense, though it would be interesting to know how that translates into the decisions they make at the factory, for instance, what batches of timber get used for which guitar, is it a case of 'Oh this wood's crap, don't use it for the xxxxx's, save it for the xxxxx's', which may have to do with which company has the most clout with them in terms of volume of business etc.
Most of the actual Samicks (Samick brand) I've seen, while not particularly high end guitars, have been very well made and extremely good values. Better than most of the ones that they build for other companies (no middle man).
That figures too, I suppose, that they might try a little harder with their own brand stuff so that if they can build up the reputation and sales of the Samick brand they can, as you say, cut out the middleman, presumably they make more profit on them too.