Yesterday was a sad day for me. I had to sell my Strat Plus deluxe. I bought that guitar brand new in 1991. But in the ups and down of life, sometimes you have to make some sacrifices.

I had this feeling that since I sold it, I needed to get at least something with some of the cash. I'm a guitar freak, that's just a given. It didn't have to be much, just something. I hit a few Pawn Shops, and ran across this thing.



I picked it up, checked it out, and was pretty impressed. Frets like new, straight neck, needed some tweaking, but overall in great condition. As I was driving home, all I could think about was what Hums and pickguard I would put on it. But I had to stay true to my belief that you should always try it out stock before modifying.

I plugged it in, and I still can't believe how it sounds. I swapped out the switch and the cap, and that's it. Take a closer look at what it is.





Never did I EVER think that I would like a Samick better than any U.S.A. Fender.. But I guess the Pigs flew by yesterday, and they're snowboarding in Hell. I'm still dumbfounded by how it feels and sounds. The Stock pickups are incredible. Most of the hardware is what you would expect from a Korean low/mid level guitar, but it functions without any problems. Stays in tune, sustains, straight neck, smooth truss rod, low action, no fret buzz, and a tone that still has me in disbelief.

I guess every dog has it's day, and yesterday was one of those days. The cost of the Samick was $140 and a sad day turned around.

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Cool beans dude.

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...I for one, sure would appreciate the return of intelligent conversation, spirit of assistance and the simple yet effective ignoring of those who can't seem to hang with that...
Best regards,
rob

As we would say back in the 60s,"Far Out!!!" Samick makes surprisingly good guitars and at times have been contracted to build off brands for Fender,Gibson and other makers. To pass the exacting quality control of some of these companies they had to turn out better than average products so it's no wonder that your guitar is such a great find-you were given a gift by getting that guitar for such an incredibly low price-Congrats.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Cool guitar, thanks for posting pic's, congratulations!

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

One of the best Strats I ever had was a bizarre late 70's Seiwa Century I bought while I lived in the US for $60. Just bought it to mess around with, but it just played and sounded superb. Sold it when I moved back to the UK, as I could only take so many guitars on the plane with me.

I'd love to have that guitar back - never seen another one.

Nice! It's funny how things go sometimes.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

I have always been a lover of "cheap" guitars! I loved cheap guitars when "cheap" wasn't cool. But today I think that cheap guitars can be a REAL bargain, same as used not-so-cheap guitars can be a real bargain. When I'm out cruising the pawn shops or M-G-R I always have an eye out for guitars with two features - one, I love the way they look, two - they play great for the money.

I had amassed a pretty good wad of gig money in the sock drawer last December and I went on a little "cheap guitar" buying binge...



These six guitars ranged in price from $400 (new Fender Modern Player Tele) to $59 (early 80s LP-style Aria Pro II), with the Fender Showmaster coming in at $300 and the ESP LTD PB-401 coming in at $212, original street price $700. I love variety in my guitars and I am certainly not stuck on any particular brand.

For me, when it comes to guitars, pigs fly almost every day!

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

What's your impression of the Showmaster?

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.

great looking fiddle. i'll take your word on the sound and feel. again. great looking fiddle.
come see us in Texas and bring that fiddle with you. we are harmless music loving folks. austin is very, very music friendly. the "view" is extremely nice.

Are you sure it's a "low/mid level" guitar? I didn't try to Google it (I don't know what model it is), but that heel contouring doesn't look like something one would find on a low/mid level guitar.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

REALLY like the look of your new axe. Nice score!

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I've always been a sucker for a happy ending, congrats on a great find.

I don't know what these sold for when they were produced. But what I was getting at is the hardware. The bridge, saddles, block, tuners, switch, pots, are all very common in Korean made lower/mid level guitars.

I don't know what these pickups are, but they hang with my hums. They're very quiet when you stop playing, then they're beasts when you get into it. They distort like hums. I recently posted about my venture with SD Phat Cats, and these are better and more versatile. The wiring was original when I bought it, but I swapped the switch, cap, pickup covers and knobs. The Brass saddles need to be swapped back to the originals. They made the guitar too bright.

The craftsmanship of the wood and fretwork is exceptional. You're right about that. It's not typical of anything lower level. I have a few Korean made guitars and parts now and they all seem to be consistent in that department. Squier Stagemaster neck-through, Squier Esprit Masterbuilt, Cort MGM-1, Hamer Slammer (early 90's), and now The Samick Valley Arts. All very well crafted Korean models and some of my very favorites. But this is the only one where the pickups are just insanely good and I won't swap out.

I looked up the Samick Valley Arts models on ebay, and they look to be in the $250 or so range.. Very much worth that and then some.

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I certainly hope we make it there soon. We were close to booking it earlier this year, but it was out of our budget. We couldn't book enough for that mini tour. But we'll keep trying. Eventually, I do think it will happen. I'll let you know when it happens ok.

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wanted to bump this thread for the Samick players on the Forum

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.