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Thread: Samick acoustic guitar

  1. #1

    Default Samick acoustic guitar

    I have recently acquired a samick model SF 35 HS it has rosewood sides and back, tre of life inlay on lower neck,fully bound body,neck and headstock, gold colored turner gears. no sign of serial # anywhere.SAMICK INLAYED IN HEADSTOCK using nice abalone or something similar , wanting to receive any info about manufacturing date value when new, how many years made,# made etc. thanks

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    Samick is a Korean manufacturer, and your guitar was certainly made in Korea, most likely in the 70s or 80s. They started out making instruments that were partially or completely made of laminate, but your model represents a time when they were trying to compete in the high end all solid wood market. So yours is indeed all solid woods. Properly set up I should think with that combination of wood it should sound great. Values are comparatively low because of the Korean manufacture. That does not mean low quality. In fact build quality of yours is probably quite high. It just isn't in demand by collectors. As to value, I have seen this exact model for around 500 dollars. Samick, in addition to making instruments under their own brand, also contracts to make instruments for other companies under different banners. Before building their own factories in China, Gibson used to contract with Samick to make some of their Epiphones. Hope all this is helpful. Since it is not valuable as a collectable, the best thing to do is just to play it and enjoy it.
    Don

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  3. #3

    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    Quote Originally Posted by multidon View Post
    Samick is a Korean manufacturer, and your guitar was certainly made in Korea, most likely in the 70s or 80s. They started out making instruments that were partially or completely made of laminate, but your model represents a time when they were trying to compete in the high end all solid wood market. So yours is indeed all solid woods. Properly set up I should think with that combination of wood it should sound great. Values are comparatively low because of the Korean manufacture. That does not mean low quality. In fact build quality of yours is probably quite high. It just isn't in demand by collectors. As to value, I have seen this exact model for around 500 dollars. Samick, in addition to making instruments under their own brand, also contracts to make instruments for other companies under different banners. Before building their own factories in China, Gibson used to contract with Samick to make some of their Epiphones. Hope all this is helpful. Since it is not valuable as a collectable, the best thing to do is just to play it and enjoy it.
    Thanks for your response, does anyone else have any information?

  4. #4

    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    DON:Thanks for your response, does anyone else have any information about a SAMICK SF 35 HS GUITAR?

  5. #5
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    Hmm... Samick HS 35 sold on eBay two years ago for $81; seller said it needed a neck re-set, though. This answers.com entry suggests the HS 35 "went for $5-600 when new."

    Samick's Korean factory was billed as the "world's largest" a few years ago, and it produced many varieties of instrument for many brands and distributors. The use of numerical designations like "HS 35" and "HS 28" suggest at least some influence from C F Martin models.

    Reading about Samick on the internet, there are many (conflicting) opinions as to whether their better instruments are all solid wood, have only solid tops, or are laminated. Without any direct experience, I'd go with Don's assessment of solid wood. What you may be dealing with is one of the several Martin copies that Asian manufacturers like Tama, Takamine, Yamaha etc. were turning out 30 years ago. Some of these were excellent instruments for their prices, others weren't.

    A pic would help, and you might also consider going on the Acoustic Guitar Forum and trying your inquiry there.
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  6. #6

    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    Thanks for your reply and suggestions, . I can take a picture and will post later, thanks

  7. #7

    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    Click image for larger version. 

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    notice the martin style arrow head carved @ neck/head location

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    I looked up Samick in the 2014 Vintage Guitar Guide (newest I have right now). If you are not familiar with this guide, it is a reference work giving current market price guidelines for collectable guitars, mandolins, ukes and even banjos. If you look up Fender, Gibson, Martin, or other brands that have gained collector interest, you will find numerous specific models with prices. In the case of Samick, they give only a brief history of the company, no specific model listings and no prices. They do this when there is no collectable interest in a brand. Samick would appear to fall into that category. So what is it worth? Difficult to say. The most honest answer would be "whatever someone is willing to pay". The guide does state at their height Samick produced 350 different models, everything from entry level beginners through intermediate and "professional" level.

    It is hard to tell from your photos, and an in hand examination would tell us more, but the homage to Martin is apparent as you point out (using the nicer term for "copy). To tell if you have solid wood on the top, look at the edge of the sound hole. The grain pattern should continue through the edge. If it does not, is painted, or you can discern layers, then it is laminate. On the back, pick out a feature in the wood that is unique and see if you are able to discern that same feature on the inside of the back. From the glimpse of the back wood we can see from the label photo, it looks like rosewood there too and could very well be all solid wood construction. If it has good wood and quality construction, it might be a good player's instrument, just not collectable or valuable. Fairly or unfairly, they were just too prolific and ubiquitous to garner much respect.
    Don

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  9. #9

    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    Some observations: There is a very small "cult" of fans who like made in Japan "Martin copies" mostly made in the 70's and would include brands such as Aria Pro II, Takamine, Yamaki, Alvarez, Sigma, and some others. Some, not all, of these are very nice guitars and have solid tops, most utilized laminated back and sides. Some were true to some of Martin's design features and had herringbone binding, snowflake inlays, and the arrow/diamond on the back of the peghead, which you mention. On occasion, one the the higher models will bring good money on eBay, usually a D-45 copy, once in a while going for $1500-1600, but that is extremely rare. The "next" one that sells might only bring $600.....and that is for the higher models. Most of these will sell in the $250-450 range and the buyer is getting a pretty good guitar for the money.

    I would consider the Korean made guitars a step down in collectability, even though some are just a nice as the made in Japan guitars, and they bring less money. In the case of Sigma, which is endorsed by Martin and supposedly made from actual Martin blueprints (as opposed to being a copy made from taking apart a Martin and measuring everything). Even though an accurate copy, some models have cheaper tuners, etc, as a cost cutting feature. Sigma was both made in Japan and then transitioned to Korean manufacture, but as a rule, the Korean models bring less money than the Japan models. That being said, I would rank a Samick a notch below a Sigma in desirability, IMHO. You can get a pretty nice Korean Sigma for $250, sometimes less.

    I own a few guitars from this era and while great guitars to play and enjoy, basically there is no resale on them, so I keep them.
    Last edited by Jeff Mando; Aug-04-2015 at 10:54am.

  10. #10

    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    Thanks Don, yes it is a very playable guitar , and I agree with the resale value statement,I just can`t find this model listed and wondered if someone was familiar with this guitar and had any idea what it sold for new, when made etc. thanks to all that responded.

  11. #11

    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    Thanks for your info and comments, It looks like a solid top and back, I am not planning to sell ,just interested getting info,comments,etc, thanks to all ..

  12. #12

    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

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    better pictures

  13. #13
    Registered User John Soper's Avatar
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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    I would play that sucker and enjoy it! Put some dings on it.

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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    Quote Originally Posted by Ben Better View Post
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    better pictures
    Bring back the dead.


    Iv got this same guitar. It has a thick solid top with decent sound but nothing outstanding. In like new condition I'd say 200 bucks tops.

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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Mando View Post
    Some observations: There is a very small "cult" of fans who like made in Japan "Martin copies" mostly made in the 70's and would include brands such as Aria Pro II, Takamine, Yamaki, Alvarez, Sigma, and some others.
    The music store that I used to go to quite often back in the late-70's and early-80's always had a steady stock of the Takamine acoustics with the Martin-style logo on the headstock, and the owner of the store used to push them quite hard, (which was quite funny, because she used to absolutely lambaste Fender for their foreign made guitars). The Tak's went for about $200 . . . who would have thought that they would hold or see some increase their value?

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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    I thought Samick was one of the companies contracted to make instruments that wear a brand name of the Importers.
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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    Quote Originally Posted by mandroid View Post
    I thought Samick was one of the companies contracted to make instruments that wear a brand name of the Importers.
    As I understand it, Samick made instruments under a variety of labels, for different distributors, and also sold some under its own nameplate.

    It is a huge factory, and Samick has subsidiaries and/or branches in several countries, including Germany and Nashville USA.
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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    I never knew they were in Nashville. It appears that's primarily a piano assembly operation as well as a warehouse for their other products. I'm assuming the pianos are marked Made in the USA.
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    Still Picking and Sawing Jack Roberts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    My first mandolin was a Samick laminate oval A. It sounded and played "good enough."
    Many years ago I sat next to the President of Samick on a flight from Seoul to Narita. (I'd been upgraded to first class...) He was on his way to buy Alaskan Sitka Spruce in the U.S. The wood was for piano sound boards.
    A few years after that, but still quite a while back, I saw a mandolin with the name SAMICK on the headstock and remembered the flight sitting next to Mr. Lee. I thought about what a nice instrument the mandolin must be: so compact, tuned to 5ths like a violin, and probably not that hard to play. (Well, I got two out of three right...) So I bought the mandolin and there you have it.
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  21. #20

    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    I have a few Samick guitars, they play beautifully, they were one of the worlds largest guitar maker of imported guitars commissioned by numerous companies at one time. I've had my eye on a SF35 for some time, and only at $250. Most people under rate their quality.
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    Registered User esintong's Avatar
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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    is correct. I'll add that Samick makes very high quality "low-end" instruments - for example they make the Epiphone line for Gibson. I worked at a music store in the late 1980s that carried Samick pianos and guitars and I can attest they were very well built, as is my current beater Epi that was built in their Indonesian factory. They did not sell very well because the name is not very recognizable to those outside of the industry, however.

    Samick built/builds so many guitars that it would be very difficult to give you any specific info on your instrument

  23. #22

    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    I bought one of these brand new in 1991. It was on of three we ever got at the music store where I worked. Suggested retail was about 500. Solid spruce top and somle nice, but laminated rosewood back and sides. I still have it and it's got some signs of wear and tear but it still sounds beautiful and plays wonderfully. I just put my wife to sleep to the sweet guitar sounds it makes.

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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    Only last week I picked up a Yamaha FG-200 for £60 in a charity shop. I spent another £10 getting the action and saddle tweaked and it's quite a good little guitar. Loud, good tone, plays easily, nice size (not too big).

    For many years I played a Yamaha FG-180 (as I suspect did several others here). It did me very well. I got into playing in lots of different tunings and generally played the s**t out of it for years, so I was happy to get something quite similar again.
    Last edited by Dagger Gordon; Mar-05-2020 at 3:53am.
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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    FG180? Bought mine circa.1970. Cost £37-10s. Sold it for £65 some years later. Wish I still had it. The mate I sold it to propped it against the wall in a folk club, somebody tripped over it and snapped the neck.

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    Default Re: Samick acoustic guitar

    Quote Originally Posted by Ray(T) View Post
    FG180? Bought mine circa.1970. Cost £37-10s. Sold it for £65 some years later. Wish I still had it. The mate I sold it to propped it against the wall in a folk club, somebody tripped over it and snapped the neck.
    They were great. Here's a video of Irish guitarists Arty McGlynn and Paul Brady playing a couple of Yamaha FG 180s.

    David A. Gordon

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