 | |
| Industry | Musical instruments |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1958; 67 years ago (1958) |
| Founder | Lee Hyo-Ik |
| Headquarters | , South Korea |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Pianos,string instruments, andwind instruments |
| Brands |
|
| Website | smcmusic.com |
Samick Musical Instruments Co., Ltd. (Korean: 삼익악기KRX:002450, also known asSamick) is a South Koreanmusical instrument manufacturer. Founded in 1958 as Samick Pianos, it is now one of the world's largest musical instrument manufacturers and an owner ofshares in several musical instrument manufacturing companies.
Apart from its own brand, Samick manufactures musical instruments through its subsidiary brands, including pianos under the brandsWm. Knabe & Co., Pramberger, Kohler & Campbell, andSeiler; and guitars under the brands Greg Bennett,Silvertone, Stony River, and San Mateo.
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In 1992, Samick built its P.T. Samick factory in Cileungsi, nearBogor, Indonesia. This factory produces the majority of instruments that Samick makes.
North American operations are performed from its North American Corporate Headquarters inGallatin, Tennessee (completed July 2007). This 214,000 sq ft (19,900 m2) facility is responsible for all administrative activities for the North American market, as well as acting as a distribution center for its guitars and acoustic/digital pianos. The facility manufactures of a small number of acoustic pianos, sold under the Knabe brand.[citation needed]
Samick guitars are manufactured under different brand names and made by a number of different makers, including Greg Bennett and J.T. Riboloff (a formerluthier atGibson).[1] Some other Samick-built guitars are sold underSquier,Epiphone,Washburn,Hohner,Silvertone, and other brands.
American luthier Greg Bennett designed a line of guitars for Samick. The guitars havepickups designed bySeymour Duncan,machine heads from Grover, and bridges by Wilkinson. Woods used include ovangkol and ebony from Africa, rosewood from India, and rock maple from North America. Instruments under the Greg Bennett label are electric, acoustic and archtop guitars, electric and acoustic basses,mandolins,banjos,ukuleles andautoharps.[2]
Bennett died on 29 June 2020, at the age of 69.[3]
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, and Symphonia. Samick recently announced the discontinuation of theSohmer & Co. brand.[when?]
In 2004, Samick gained controlling interest in competitorYoung Chang, but antitrust rulings in the U.S. and Korea ended the merger a year later.[4] From 2003 to 2009 Samick was associated with GermanC. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik.
In addition, Bechstein and Samick have a joint venture factory in Shanghai, China. In October 2008, Samick announced its purchase ofSeiler, another German piano company, that is generally agreed to compete with Bechstein at both price point and overall quality. The announcement raises questions about the continued viability of relationship between Samick and Bechstein[1].
In late 2009, Samick acquired a 16.5% share ofSteinway Musical Instruments. By November 2010, Samick's share in Steinway Musical Instruments increased to 32%.[5] In 2013, John Paulson outbid Samick when Steinway and Sons was taken private.[6]
In 1975, Samick Pianos, as the company was known at that time, created anarchery department and began buildingbows. In 1990, this division was spun off as Samick Sports Co., Ltd. In 2016, the company was restructured and its name changed to Samick Archery Co., Ltd. Since 1996, its products have been used to attain severalOlympic gold medals, mostly by Korean athletes.[7] Besides Olympic-level archery equipment, Samick also manufactures the very popular budget-oriented Sage and Polaris hunting bows.
