Samick is the name of a Korea-based musical instrument manufacturer, one of the largest in the world.
The name refers to the entire Samick Musical Instruments, which owns several manufacturers of pianos, guitars, and other instruments. The company started as 'Samick Pianos' in 1958, manufacturing pianos sold under the Samick name.
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In 1992, Samick built its P.T. Samick factory in Cileungsi, near Bogor, Indonesia. This factory produces the majority of instruments that Samick makes.
With factories in various Asian countries, Samick manufactures a large share of all electric guitars on today's market, mostly for other brands.
Samick & Greg Bennett Guitars
JTR Design Guitars
North American operations are performed from its newly constructed (completed July 2007) North American Corporate Headquarters, located in Gallatin, TN. This 214,000 sq ft (19,900 m2) facility is responsible for all administrative activities for the North American market, as well as acting a distribution center for both its guitars and acoustic/digital pianos. The facility recently began the manufacture of a small number of acoustic pianos, which will be sold under the Knabe brand.
Samick Musical Instruments have always made a wide range of guitars, from starter models to professional instruments. The Samick Artist series, for example, are known as high-quality guitars; they were made under the Samick name from the mid-1980s till the late-'90s. Since 1999 the electric guitars made by Samick no longer carry the Samick name; they are now called Greg Bennett Guitars. Some other Samick-built guitars are sold under Epiphone, Squier, Washburn Hohner and many other brands. Recently have signed their first signature to Michael Graham of East Coast Ambitions with a signature Samick F100.
Recently Samick introduced the JTR Design Guitars. These instruments are the result of the arrival of the famous guitar maker J.T. Riboloff at Samick Indonesia. J.T. Riboloff made his reputation as head of the Gibson Custom, Art, and Historic division for more than twenty years. The custom Les Paul guitars he made for Slash are among his most celebrated design.[1]
Samick also has a wide range of pianos. Its acoustic piano brands include Samick, Pramberger, Wm. Knabe & Co., Kohler & Campbell, and Gebrüder Schulze; and it has digital piano brands of Kohler, Samick Digital, Symphonia. Samick recently announced the discontinuation of the Sohmer & Co. brand.
In 2004, Samick gained controlling interest in competitor Young Chang, but an anti-trust rulings in the U.S. and Korea ended the merger a year later.[2] Samick also sells pianos to the German C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik who is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Major shareholders are Karl Schulze and Samick (19,5%) of South Korea. [3]
In addition, Bechstein and Samick have a joint venture factory in Shanghai, China. In October 2008, Samick announced its purchase of Seiler, another German piano company, that is generally agreed to compete with Bechstein at both price point and overall quality. The announcement raises questions about continued viability of relationship between Samick and Bechstein.
In late 2009, Samick acquired a 16.5% share of Steinway Musical Instruments. By November, 2010, Samick's share in Steinway Musical Instruments increased to 32%.[4]