- Samick guitar serial numbers how to#
- Samick guitar serial numbers serial numbers#
- Samick guitar serial numbers serial number#
Ina branch office was opened in Los Angeles, CA. Shortly thereafter, Hondo became one of the largest selling entry level brands, being sold in 70 countries worldwide. Inover 22, of the Bi-Centennial banjos were sold. At this time, they also began introducing copies of classic American models like the Les Paul and Stratocaster as well as banjos, mandolins, violins and autoharps. Inthey began selling electric guitars, mostly copies of Teisco models. Hondo initially produced a line of classical and folk guitars. The new company introduced modern American and Japanese production methods to the Korean market, while taking advantage of the low-wage level in Korea to offer inexpensive, entry-level guitars. Byits production capabilities had developed sufficiently for it to launch its first grand pianos.ĭuring this same period, the company began to step-up the quality of its guitar production. InSamick began production of acoustic guitars for the Korean market as well as for export to fulfill the demand for cheap Asian-made guitars that overwhelmed the market during this decade.
Within two years, they began building their own upright pianos, using imported parts. Originally, they were an importer for Baldwin Pianos to Korea. You can also find more information on the Fender site.Samick was founded in by Hyo Ick Lee, with the goal of "enriching human life through music, the universal language". I hope this article helped you figure out how old your Korean Fender guitar is. In some ways, it helps to know the story behind the numbers to understand their meaning.
Samick guitar serial numbers serial numbers#
1997 – present Korean Squier Fender Serial Numbers NumbersĪs you can see, the Korean made Fender Squier serial numbers are no less confusing than any of the other guitars. From 1998 on, Fender used the “KC” prefix followed by a two-digit year identifier and six digits. Fender used “KC97” to represent 1997 and followed this prefix with six, seven, and eight digits. The 1997-1998 serial numbers were a little messed up. Starting in 1997, the Korean Fender Squiers used a “KC” prefix that stood for Korean made in the Cort factory. Since all guitar production was moved to the Cort factory, Fender decided to change its numbering system again. 1993 – 1997 Korean Squier Fender Serial Numbers Numbers These serial numbers were used until 1997 when Fender stopped producing guitars at the Sungham factory. Sungham guitars would be the same only starting with a “V”.
Samick guitar serial numbers serial number#
So a guitar produced by Cort in 1992 would have a serial number of CN2 followed by five digits. This is similar to the American Fender serial numbers. Both of these serial numbers used an “N” to represent the 1990s followed by a number that stood for the exact year. You would assume Sungham would use the letter “S”, but that was already taken by the Samick plant a few years earlier. All Cort serial numbers started with the letter “C”. Both the Cort and Sungham plants used unique numbers. Since Fender was using new plants to build their guitars, they decided the change the numbering system again, but this time they changed it to something more like the American guitars. They switched to two different plants: the Cor-Tek or Cort plant and the Saehan or Sunghan plant. 1988 – 1993 Korean Squier Fender Serial Numbers NumbersĪfter 1993, Fender really cleaned up their serial number process. Watch out for these! Here’s a reference for the first few years. Korean serial numbers starting with “M” are said to actually be made out of plywood. Some of these no prefix serial numbers have been found on guitars produced all the way through 1996.
They just had six, seven, or eight digits with the first number representing the year. Some early Korean serial numbers didn’t have a lettered serial number at all. The 1980s guitars’ serial numbers were written in silver ink.
Samick guitar serial numbers how to#
It doesn’t get more confusing than that, right? Here’s how to tell the duplicate serial numbers apart. In 1991, they reused an “E1” serial number. At this point, they decided to start corresponding the serial number with the actual year, so in 1990 they used an “E0” serial number. An “E2” serial number was then used for 1989 since it was the second year of production. They used a “1” because it was the first year of production. The first year Young Chang produced guitars with in 1987-1988, but they didn’t use a “7” or an “8” as the first number. It does stand for the year of production in a way. The first number on the “E” serial numbers is a little confusing. The Young Chang and Sung-Eum guitars used a serial number starting with an “E” followed by six digits.
Usually the first digit represented the year of production. Guitars produced by Samick used a serial number starting with an “S” followed by six digits. What we do know about the early Korean days was that there were three different plants: the Samick pant, the Young Chang plant, and the Sung-Eum plant.