Greg Bennett / Samick guitars
Mike Alpha
http://www.smcmusic.com/website_gregbennett/index.html
Any good, or just mass-produced junk?
I'm looking at the F-style mandolin.
http://www.smcmusic.com/website_gregbennett/mf2.html
Mike
Mark Bedingfield
IMHO Samick is one of the best Asian manufacturers. I have a 15 year old
Korean Samick SG-90 that is frickin awesome. As usual it had crappy
electronics/pups, but that's easily fixed. They also make/made Squiers
for Fender and Epiphones for Gibson. My 1990 MIK Squier Stratocaster is
a Samick made model and as good as any US Fender I ever played. They
also did a stint making Valley Arts super Strats. They were some nice
axes. I've still got a hankering for one of those;-) Greg Bennett
tho.... I don't know.
If their new gear is as good as their old gear it'll be top notch.
Here's my SG;
http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~startreks/gitar/SG90.JPG
MIK 62 style SG-90 (lawsuit?), mahogany, set neck and now sports GFS fat
Alnico Pafs. It looks and plays better than the Epiphone SG's I've ever
seen. Competes well with Gibson SG's too. Its finish is better than some
Gibsons. It was actually sitting next to a US Gibson when I bought it,
no contest and $1000 difference. I figure that Samick aren't too fussed
with models that don't sport their own name;-)
Mark
Dr. Zontar
wrote:
> What do we know about Greg Bennett and his guitars?
I know absolutely nothing about Bennett himself, but his Samick
guitars are pretty nice. I've tried several of them, and they all had
nice necks, good fretwork, and looked well-made. When I was shopping
for an SG, I almost bought a Samick, but I went with the Epiphone
G-310 instead because it has a bolt-on neck (I don't trust set necks).
If you don't share my fanatical distrust of glue joints, a Samick
should be fine for you.
> Any good, or just mass-produced junk?
As good as any Epiphone or Squire, since Samick makes those brands, or
at least did at one time.
> I'm looking at the F-style mandolin.http://www.smcmusic.com/website_gregbennett/mf2.html
That looks sweet.
- Rich
Derek
http://www.gregbennettguitars.com/about.html
My experience has been that the Samick guitars with his name on them
are the higher end models Samick makes. They are also still very
affordable, and very nice.
dv...@altavista.com
wrote:
I've been lusting after this one for a long time:
jthread
"Derek" <de...@ycoaoffice.com> wrote in message
news:1194458412.0...@50g2000hsm.googlegroups.com...
never played one.
Steve
I spent some time looking at the Greg Bennett line at a music store in
So Calif about 5 years ago. Very nice stuff - it seemed to be well made
and finished. The acoustics sounded and played well, and all models
were reasonably priced. I didn't try any of the electrics plugged in,
but unplugged they had good action & feel.
--Steve
Jim
> On Nov 7, 6:06 am, "Mike Alpha" <mike_alph...@NOSPAMhotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>>What do we know about Greg Bennett and his guitars?
>
>
> I know absolutely nothing about Bennett himself, but his Samick
> guitars are pretty nice. I've tried several of them, and they all had
> nice necks, good fretwork, and looked well-made. When I was shopping
> for an SG, I almost bought a Samick, but I went with the Epiphone
> G-310 instead because it has a bolt-on neck (I don't trust set necks).
> If you don't share my fanatical distrust of glue joints, a Samick
> should be fine for you.
>
>
>>Any good, or just mass-produced junk?
>
>
> As good as any Epiphone or Squire, since Samick makes those brands, or
> at least did at one time.
Samick stopped making anything for Epiphone a few years back. They made
the MIK models with serial numbers starting in an "S." Even then, not
all MIK Epiphones were Samicks. The better Korean guitars (including
the limited edition Ephiphones) were made by two separate S. Korean
plants, with serial numbers starting in an "I" or "U." I also read that
Samick is no longer in Korea, moved to China.
As far as Squire goes, they've been made all over the place over the
years. Even in the U.S.! I think they are pretty much Chinese now, but
I've seen Indonesian.
Jim
Okay, I'm sounding like a broken record today, but...
I'm betting that when you played them, you played Korean Samicks. I'm
told that they moved to China. Impact on quality needs to be judged by
the player, on an individual guitar basis. But it bears noting the change.
Mike Alpha
This site shows Samick's global operations and it looks like the majority of
their production is in China. http://www.samick.co.kr/eu/about/global.php
I'll make sure I try before I buy.
Mike
Derek
Yeah I am pretty sure the Samicks I have played were made in Korea. I
know Samick has gone to China as Mike notes above, but what about
their Greg Bennett line? Last time I saw a new one (4 months?) it was
still MIK.
That is the thing that scares me a bit about Squires, they seem to
have a nomadic manufacturing process. :-) I have played both good
and bad Squires. There is a thinline tele at the music store I hang,
currently.
I plugged it in a couple of weeks ago and thought i was going to slice
my hand on those frets. Others have been just fine. At that price
point, I want to play whatever the brand is first before I buy.
Jim
> Jim,
>
> Yeah I am pretty sure the Samicks I have played were made in Korea. I
> know Samick has gone to China as Mike notes above, but what about
> their Greg Bennett line? Last time I saw a new one (4 months?) it was
> still MIK.
Hmmm. Either my source was wrong, or it's old stock, or it's not built
in the old shops.
I've also been seeing MIK Limited Edition Epiphones "on the shelf."
With fairly current serial numbers, as I recall. It remains to be seen
whether high end Epiphone will stay in Korea, or get moved to China like
the standard line. But these were either the I or U serial numbers, not
the Samick made MIK Epiphone.
Who knows? Samick could've bought the two smaller Korean shops!
I've played some decent Greg Bennett guitars also, but I'm sure they
were Korean (because it's been a few years back). I can remember not
being thrilled about the pickups, but I'm fairly certain they pre-dated
the "Duncan Designed" option. The Duncan Designed are probably better
than what I played. I think I remember my luthier telling me that
Hyundai made the pickups for Korean Epiphones. It wouldn't surprise me,
because they do more than cars. I'm looking at a Hyundai LCD monitor
right now!
>
> That is the thing that scares me a bit about Squires, they seem to
> have a nomadic manufacturing process. :-) I have played both good
> and bad Squires. There is a thinline tele at the music store I hang,
> currently.
>
> I plugged it in a couple of weeks ago and thought i was going to slice
> my hand on those frets. Others have been just fine. At that price
> point, I want to play whatever the brand is first before I buy.
Yeah, exposed sharp fret ends are not uncommon in Asian built guitars.
The fret board shrinks, but the frets don't! Some say it's just the
fact that asia has a higher average humidity, compared to U.S. homes.
Others say it's that AND the fact that their woods are not properly aged
and dried before manufacture (cost cutting).
I have an Indonesian Washburn/Oscar Schmidt 335 type that didn't have
the sharp fret ends at all, but had popped frets. I live in Seattle,
and we're lucky to have much lower swings in humidity compared to most
places. No need for a humidifier in Seattle! Who knows, maybe the fret
ends would pop out a bit if they went through a Minneapolis winter with
inside humidity of 10%, and static arcs of 2 inches to the door knobs!
But in Seattle, the guitar plays GREAT after attention from a local
luthier. It's currently disemboweled, with a pickup job half done. The
Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB are installed, the push/pull pots came in from
China yesterday, but I'm waiting for tone caps that I only ordered on
Monday.
Jim
Interesting link. It shows "operations." I'm still wondering whether
they ceased building guitars in Korea, as my source said. It notes
"operations" in the U.S., but I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut that it
ain't production!
Mark Bedingfield
> Derek wrote:
>
>> Jim,
>>
>> Yeah I am pretty sure the Samicks I have played were made in Korea. I
>> know Samick has gone to China as Mike notes above, but what about
>> their Greg Bennett line? Last time I saw a new one (4 months?) it was
>> still MIK.
>
> Hmmm. Either my source was wrong, or it's old stock, or it's not built
> in the old shops.
>
> I've also been seeing MIK Limited Edition Epiphones "on the shelf." With
> fairly current serial numbers, as I recall. It remains to be seen
> whether high end Epiphone will stay in Korea, or get moved to China like
> the standard line. But these were either the I or U serial numbers, not
> the Samick made MIK Epiphone.
>
> Who knows? Samick could've bought the two smaller Korean shops!
>
> I've played some decent Greg Bennett guitars also, but I'm sure they
> were Korean (because it's been a few years back). I can remember not
> being thrilled about the pickups, but I'm fairly certain they pre-dated
> the "Duncan Designed" option. The Duncan Designed are probably better
> than what I played. I think I remember my luthier telling me that
> Hyundai made the pickups for Korean Epiphones. It wouldn't surprise me,
> because they do more than cars. I'm looking at a Hyundai LCD monitor
> right now!
You know I'd go say far as to say the average Korean Squier was as good
as Japanese Squiers. Obviously barring the odd lemon. My MIK Samick
SG-90 has no failings in its finish, tho its about a 1993 model.
>
>>
>> That is the thing that scares me a bit about Squires, they seem to
>> have a nomadic manufacturing process. :-) I have played both good
>> and bad Squires. There is a thinline tele at the music store I hang,
>> currently.
>>
>> I plugged it in a couple of weeks ago and thought i was going to slice
>> my hand on those frets. Others have been just fine. At that price
>> point, I want to play whatever the brand is first before I buy.
>
> Yeah, exposed sharp fret ends are not uncommon in Asian built guitars.
> The fret board shrinks, but the frets don't! Some say it's just the
> fact that asia has a higher average humidity, compared to U.S. homes.
> Others say it's that AND the fact that their woods are not properly aged
> and dried before manufacture (cost cutting).
>
> I have an Indonesian Washburn/Oscar Schmidt 335 type that didn't have
> the sharp fret ends at all, but had popped frets. I live in Seattle,
> and we're lucky to have much lower swings in humidity compared to most
> places. No need for a humidifier in Seattle! Who knows, maybe the fret
> ends would pop out a bit if they went through a Minneapolis winter with
> inside humidity of 10%, and static arcs of 2 inches to the door knobs!
> But in Seattle, the guitar plays GREAT after attention from a local
> luthier. It's currently disemboweled, with a pickup job half done. The
> Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB are installed, the push/pull pots came in from
> China yesterday, but I'm waiting for tone caps that I only ordered on
> Monday.
Its odd, I've only ever seen dodgy frets on the REALLY low end Squiers.
Even the Affinities I've played have needed minimal fret work. My BSB
Squier Tele needed none at all. It had a sweet fret job. I wonder if
Aussies humidity has anything to do with it? Australia in the South East
(where I live, and most other Aussies) has pretty low humidity. Far
north can get pretty sticky tho.
Mark
Steve Johnson
>>
>> This site shows Samick's global operations and it looks like the majority
>> of their production is in China.
>> http://www.samick.co.kr/eu/about/global.php
>>
>
> Interesting link. It shows "operations." I'm still wondering whether
> they ceased building guitars in Korea, as my source said. It notes
> "operations" in the U.S., but I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut that it
> ain't production!
It isn't. I went to the Samick office in Gallatin, TN (just outside
Nashville) to service a copy machine. All offices, and no production to be
seen anywhere. I think they just took orders and planned shipments from
Korea, but I COULD be wrong. It's happened before.
-Steve