I got rid of two guitars I wasn't playing anymore and replaced those with...

[jvin248]

Please stop praising Samick ... You will raise prices on the used market ... Thanks ... PS : They made guitars for Martin and Gibson and others ... can't be all that bad ...

Samick makes 80% of all the import guitars for many brands at many price points for years. They are globally probably the largest guitar company in both units shipped and sales -- and most people never heard of them. Cort makes nearly all of the remaining 20% ...

I have the Washburn/Oscar Schmidt (Samick) version of that guitar, in black too.

.

 

[brookdalebill]

Groovy!

 

[Obelisk]

View attachment 626466
A 1990 Samick 335 copy, which no matter how you slice it comes from the same factory which made those fabled Epiphones that everybody is so enthusiastic about. This one even has the lawsuit Öpen book" headstock.

View attachment 626467
It is missing its pickguard but to be honest, I don't have any issue with that.

It's a black 335, it's just so Roy Orbison.

As a long term 335 player, you really need to invest in a cable with a right angle plug. If this guitar falls over with a straight plug, the area around the jack is susceptible to breakage. It's a major bummer to fix. If you play Gibson or Guild electric guitars with a top mount jack, then having at least one longer cable with a right angle plug is a must. Cool looking guitar.

I don't know why you are referring to it being a lawsuit guitar though. Those are really about 70's MIJ copies that Gibson, Guild and Martin threatened lawsuits. This headstock doesn't have a keystone inlay or a Gibson style logo, so I fail to see how this could have been subject of any lawsuit. I have never heard of Korean made guitars being a part of the lawsuits, but I am not an expert. I think of the Takamine guitars that look exactly like a Martin D-18 or D-28 being prime examples of a lawsuit guitar, or the Ibanez copies of a Flying V or Explorer. Those lawsuits were long settled by 1990. By that point the US manufacturers had been using the Japanese and later the Korean factories to build their export instruments for a decade. In fact the CNC machines that were developed by Hoshino and Matsumoku revolutionized the way guitars were made.

 

[ReaL Madras]

View attachment 626466
A 1990 Samick 335 copy, which no matter how you slice it comes from the same factory which made those fabled Epiphones that everybody is so enthusiastic about. This one even has the lawsuit Öpen book" headstock.

View attachment 626467
It is missing its pickguard but to be honest, I don't have any issue with that.

It's a black 335, it's just so Roy Orbison.

I have a black Epi Casino that came from one of those fabled Korean factories, if my memory serves me right. On the right on this photo.

 

[teleplayr]

Some f holes are near impossible to thread a pot through, a real pita if you want to repair or upgrade the harness. Slightly larger makes things a lot easier.

Just go through the bridge pickup route.

 

[Chunkocaster]

Just go through the bridge pickup route.

The centre of the body is usually solid wood on a 335 style with the outside wings being hollow hence the term semi hollow body.

 

[Blazer]

Well having owned it for a couple of days I can report that it likes my Marshall better than it likes my Fender Deluxe reverb, it sounds really woofie through the latter.

But it plays like a dream and it's a really useful tool for recording.

 

[Crawldaddy]

Sweet guitar!

A while back I traded away a Gibson SG Classic and a Fender American Std Strat for a Gibson Les Paul Standard.

Eventually sold that Standard, and used a fraction of the cash to buy an Eastman T386.

Here it is in action: https://www.instagram.com/p/B0TEcNaHboC/

 

[swampyankee]

I had a '90's Samick-built Epi Dot with a beautiful tobacco sunburst. Nice, solid feel, great player. I kept it for about 10 years but ultimately couldn't warm up to humbuckers.

Going to look at a Korean-made Guild Starfire V tonight. I'm hoping it's the same solid, high quality build.

 

[Blazer]

A little update.

Those are Gretsch Broadtron pickups, which I had lying around, the fact that it has such large F-holes sure came in handy with installing them, certainly when I also had to replace the neck pickup's volume pot.

I also replaced the bridge in favor of a roller bridge singe those are easier on the strings and I like the way it doesn't dig into the palm of my hand, plus since I have every intention of fitting a Bigsby it keeps the guitar in tune better.

I did some research and found out that my SARC-302 was made in 1989 which was the only year where they were made with the open book Gibson headstock and the pearl logo inlay because in 1988 the model had a silk screened logo and in 1990 it got the Deluxe headstock shape. Which was by all purposes the Hondo II headstock as the 302 was the H-395 model continued in production even after Hondo went out of business.

From what I learned the 302 model was also built sporting the Antoria, Vantage, Marathon and of course Epiphone brands.

 

[Zepfan]

I recommend the Duesenberg Les Trem II. It costs less, takes up less room, doesn't require holes to be drilled and threaded to mount it and works just as good if not better than the Bigsby.

 

[Blazer]

View attachment 629142 I recommend the Duesenberg Les Trem II. It costs less, takes up less room, doesn't require holes to be drilled and threaded to mount it and works just as good if not better than the Bigsby.

Thanks I will keep that in mind.

It reminds me a lot of a Bowen handle that I still have lying around. Tried to attach that one to a guitar but found it useless.

 

[tintag27]

I agree with blazer on the merits of Samick, and zepfan on the Duesenberg. This is my Greg Bennett-designed Samick Royale with a Les Trem II - well worth considering. (I have actually just taken mine off - but only because I have it tuned to DADGAD, and have not settled on string gauges yet)

 

[Blazer]

View attachment 629176
I agree with blazer on the merits of Samick, and zepfan on the Duesenberg. This is my Greg Bennett-designed Samick Royale with a Les Trem II - well worth considering. (I have actually just taken mine off - but only because I have it tuned to DADGAD, and have not settled on string gauges yet)

That's a cool guitar, when I was in college I used to frequent the City of Utrecht being there on a weekly basis. There was a HUGE music store called Staffhorst, who were Samick dealers.

Sadly bad management and poor sales led to the bankruptcy of the store, watching this clip reminds me of how it was and how much I miss it.

 

[tintag27]

That's a cool guitar, when I was in college I used to frequent the City of Utrecht being there on a weekly basis. There was a HUGE music store called Staffhorst, who were Samick dealers.

Sadly bad management and poor sales led to the bankruptcy of the store, watching this clip reminds me of how it was and how much I miss it.

I sympathise - Manchester lost at least 3 old-school music stores which I used to love visiting... I got my Samick in Forsythes - a long-established multistory music store in central Manchester. It mostly catered for the classical and orchestral market, but still a wonderful place to wander around - I think it is still there.
It was the first Samick I had ever seen that had a Samick name on it - although you can only see it by looking through the soundhole!...