makes me curl up in a corner and pout one of these day's...samick builds about every guitar that comes from over there or at least own's them maybe even fender?
Ive had an JZ-2 since 2005 and the playability and build quality is amazing for such a price - I literally have compared to comparable Gibson models for 5x the price and the quality is the same or better! You play traditional jazz so nicely!
I have the Greg Bennet JZ-2 La Salle Samick and it is astonishingly good. Build quality is second to none. Mine has SD pickups from the factory....the acoustic sound is just so clear. The plugged in sound is just precise, mellow and total clarity. The fingerboard they use is American Black Walnut.... I don't know if that is on the JZ-4. I absolutely love my JZ-2.
Samick has always built beautiful instruments ! It's quilted not photo-flame ! I believe that the newer guitars are manufactured in Indonesia. The Korean ones are sweet !
I own a Samick guitar. They make guitars for several well known brands, but their own proprietary- named instruments fly under the radar and punch well above their weight. I have always been happy with mine and I own Gibsons, Fenders, Martin and Guilds as well.
Beautiful instrument. Real quilted wood articulates with the light where a printed pattern would not. You should also be able to see dot matrix on a print if you look with a magnifying lens.
Regarding the appearance of the guitar, I like the look of the floating pickup because it doesn't dominate the top of the guitar like typical humbuckers and mounting plates do. It isn't such a visual distraction on a nicely finished instrument.
I have an Ibanez AF-75. Same deal. Wicked cheap, but you will often find me smiling and stomping to the beat when I'm playing like this guy is. Might be my favorite guitar, and I think it was $400 with a case (used). I do want a floating pickup rig though, so I may go a-hunting for one of these Samicks.
Beautiful tone and playing. I've got a couple Samick-made guitars and they are excellent for the price, and good for any price. As for not being able to tell if flame or quilt is "a picture" (Fender called theirs 'photo-flame' I believe) or real figured wood, it's easy. Hold the guitar with the side you're not sure of towards some good light and move the guitar different angles relative to the light. With figured wood you have dark and lighter areas, if it's real wood the dark and light areas will change when the reflection angle to the light changes. The areas that were dark will change to light and the areas that were light at one angle will change to dark, it's an illusion of course, but the angle of the reflection of the light will make it appear to do this. If it's a picture... "photo flame".... it all will look the same no matter what angle you turn it to the light. By the way, the Samick guitars I have as well as those that I had in the past, have been all genuine figured wood, not a photo image.
Love that Guild guitar on the wall. It looks like a X-500. I had a pre fender X-500 sunburst with a master volume like yours. Sadly I had to sell it. She was a sweetheart.
"Pretty nice," you say... I'd say that sounds fantastic! It's hard to say how much is you and your nice touch and how much is in the instrument itself.
I had one of those I bought in Turkey in 1990. Played really nicely and it had a fixed pickup and floating bridge. Really good guitars I can highly recommend it.
Smooth tone for sure! That’s a really beautiful guitar; Asian build quality has improved greatly since the 70’s. The Ibanez guitars from the 70’s Gibson-inspired were fantastic but by the 80’s, their guitars were by and far bolt-on, whammy bar types… Other than Ibanez, most of the Asian imports were ho-hum at best! Glad to see this quality coming from other Asian manufacturers! Great playing, thanks for posting!
I have always respected Samick guitars, from the Greg Bennett series on. They are well-made and always so pretty. And man, I could listen to that sweet chording piece all day. A Bartolini pickup doesn't hurt, either.
Something about your playing puts a smile on my face. Thanks, but I wish you had given the name of that song. I know the words start with "The way you..."
That sounds great! Very nice brights for a ply guitar. I’ve been doing a closed voicing of Moonlight in Vermont forever. Maybe it’s time to change to a version closer to yours. Very beautiful playing!
I couldn't agree more with your enthusiasm for the Samick, LaSalle line. A few years back I picked up a 2005, Greg Bennett JZ1 (two alnico5 humbuckers) for a song. Beautiful top and back. The sound is so rich and full. My 88 year old neighbor was a working guitarist in the '40s & '50s and still has his 1940 L5. He's let me play it, and yes, it's a phenominal guitar (also valued at US$18,000). I paid $250. for my JZ1. Is the Gibson the better of the two? No argument. But, can I tell a $17, 750 difference? Not with my ears. I'm a livingroom strummer and am very happy with my "L5" and will keep it for a long time. Thanks, for the demo.
Nice to meet you Rich and a big thanks to you & RUclips algorithms. What a joy and a treat to listen to your playing. Very nice !! I'm subscribing for that jazzy pizazzy....uh...oh yeah.. Nice guitar btw, Samicks are pretty stout guitars, definitely a pro instrument there
Samick has been around for a long time they are one of the largest manufacturers in Asia, theysub out for a bunch of American Companies. I used them for gigging made more sense than taking my Gibson’s to play my local bar gigs.
Bravo, Maestro! You obviously put in your years in a room, (as did I starting at 12.) Everyone these days wants to put a picture up online with a guitar but no one wants to put in the sweat equity of learning to play it! I use a thumb pick, but like the sound of flesh on string.
It proves that with some skill and a days work, you can fix up any guitar .. I did same with an Epiphone swingster.. finished the frets, adjust the neck, clear the bridge, add some good strings, adjust the pickup height and action/intonation and this now plays like a 2k guitar. In the range of 500 to $ 1000 guitars it's often the extra handiwork, finishing and etc up that. When you get over 5k the materials start to come into play a bit.
Very nice guitar. I have one ad even for a novice to plays well. Thanks for the tune. It is nice to see a player and not spend $90 for nose bleed seats.
Try one with the stock Duncan designed floating pickup. sounds great too! Thanks for a lovely version of “Moonlight In Vermont” ,the second song you played so beautifully.
After watching this video, I watched your other video on how to choose a jazz guitar and then bought this JZ4. After listening to the different sounds, I knew this was too good to pass up. Also, I like beautiful curves made in Korea. I don't think I will be disappointed. I am excited that I will be able to learn jazz on a jazz guitar. Great video!
On hollow bodies, I found it better to get an oval jack plate than a round one. It cut down the potential for cracking the wood at the plate. I'll look up to see if you have a lesson for T.C.T.T.A. From Me.
Samick guitars are great, I have a strat, it has the best neck ever, indonesian high quality craftsmanship… interesting that this is korean made, it’s a beauty.
Most Korean guitars in the early 2000s regardless of what brand , were made in the Sammick factory. That was before China started putting out really decent instruments and Korea was king of the imports. I always respect Sammick.
I could hear from the very first note that this is a great sounding guitar. For the price it's incredible. That said, I wouldn't buy it online without playing it first. In my experience with cheap guitars, sometimes you hit the jackpot and get a resonant and great sounding one, but another ten guitars will sound lackluster. I came across a great sounding Indonesian Broadway, I don't know why, but it sounds so much better than about half a dozen other Broadways I was able to check out.
I figured out a long time ago the price doesn`t really have much to do with the quality..I am NOT a collector but I can play..I bought a one year old Epiphone archtop a while back for $500..easily one of the best guitars I`ve ever played..trust me I know they`ve built a lot of junk over the years..you just never know
Awww, just love your playing Rich!!! Are you gonna make the 2023 Marin Guitar show in January?? Jill and I are coming down from our new home in Port Townsend WA, and would be great to see you!! Kevin
No it isn't a picture. It is however an eight inch piece of plywood stamped into a mold to make the arch top and bottom with a paper thin quilted veneer. A real hollow body would be a slab of quilted maple hand carved, dished out, shaped, scraped etc etc etc. I would buy one of those because I can't afford a real one.
the Samick JZ - 4 is made in South Korea and is 100 percent wood... probably laminated so the top can be thin...quilted maple on the back - not a picture.
my late father had similar in dark mahogany. witch is in Ohio now at my sister's. aperantly the samick factory made & still makes good guitars. same factory make guitars for other companies under their names.
I have a Samick Artist Series HJ700, a 7 string thinline semi hollow. Made in Korea and the original owner put Benedetto pickups in. Killer guitar. Needs to find a new home though. I'm bad at 6 strings never mind 7 lol.
Don't discount the Asian made guitars. I had a Hamer hollow-body that I suspect was made by Samick. It was a pretty good guitar. The pickups sounded good, the pots were quiet, and the switch never gave me any trouble. The only thing I didn't like about it was the way-to-skinny neck.
It's quite easy for a company like Samick to make good 'cheap' guitars, as they make guitars for so many other brands. Different headstock, I should think they have neck blanks, and half way there.
Very similar to my Washburn J-10, also made by Samick, I'm guessing. A very similar tone... solid spruce top. Yes -- I don't know how they're sold so cheaply.
Not sure if it's all in the mind... but the Johnny Smith style floating pickup is constantly better feeling? Some say it's all about attack of the strings...? Just that easy right ✅ 😌 actually some believe that style of amplifying a guitar 🎸 had been prior to the Les Paul.... isn't it great just to sit around and explore music and instruments... like your version or arrangement of 🌙 Moonlight in Vermont
"Come for the review, stay for the playing". Very nice, Rich! Its been years since I've tried Samick, I'll have to check this out.
Great lessons on how to play "Can't Take That Away from Me" and "Moonlight in Vermont".
@@paulgibby6932 Great tunes right?
You made me smile, was not expecting such a beautiful arrangement. Great tone. Looks so oomfortable to play.
I think you can make most guitars sound great. Thanks for turning us novices onto a very nice sound yet not expensive jazz guitar.
These kind of players know how to really put us in our place.
Makes me both inspired and sad, how easy he makes it look...😅
makes me curl up in a corner and pout one of these day's...samick builds about every guitar that comes from over there or at least own's them maybe even fender?
Start working through my library. I did it for you guys
4:49 starts about 15 seconds of some real smooth 'I can't believe it's not butter' buttery goodness.
Ive had an JZ-2 since 2005 and the playability and build quality is amazing for such a price - I literally have compared to comparable Gibson models for 5x the price and the quality is the same or better! You play traditional jazz so nicely!
Thank you Ivon
That playing just blows my mind.
Samick and Cort make so many guitars overseas. Many times you are just paying for one of them and a premium for the name on the headstock
I have the Greg Bennet JZ-2 La Salle Samick and it is astonishingly good. Build quality is second to none. Mine has SD pickups from the factory....the acoustic sound is just so clear. The plugged in sound is just precise, mellow and total clarity. The fingerboard they use is American Black Walnut.... I don't know if that is on the JZ-4. I absolutely love my JZ-2.
They're a lot of guitar for the $
Samick has always built beautiful instruments ! It's quilted not photo-flame ! I believe that the newer guitars are manufactured in Indonesia. The Korean ones are sweet !
Good to know
I like how you let the guitar speak for itself !
That is certainly a Beautiful Looking Guitar . I love your Efficiency of motion while playing . Proving that Arthritis need not be a barrier .
I have to play everyday otherwise stiffness sets in
Not a big jazz fan although I'm very much enjoying this ,beautiful guitar playing and the guitar is to ,the quilting on the back is amazing .
I own a Samick guitar. They make guitars for several well known brands, but their own proprietary- named instruments fly under the radar and punch well above their weight. I have always been happy with mine and I own Gibsons, Fenders, Martin and Guilds as well.
Great playing! You've always played well but, you're getting even better as time passes. Bravo!!!
I'm working on it
Great Playing Rich, You could make a five dollar guitar sound like a million dollars worth of music. Keep up the great work.
Beautiful instrument. Real quilted wood articulates with the light where a printed pattern would not. You should also be able to see dot matrix on a print if you look with a magnifying lens.
Regarding the appearance of the guitar, I like the look of the floating pickup because it doesn't dominate the top of the guitar like typical humbuckers and mounting plates do. It isn't such a visual distraction on a nicely finished instrument.
It's lighter as well
I have an Ibanez AF-75. Same deal. Wicked cheap, but you will often find me smiling and stomping to the beat when I'm playing like this guy is. Might be my favorite guitar, and I think it was $400 with a case (used). I do want a floating pickup rig though, so I may go a-hunting for one of these Samicks.
Sounds great. Great playing! Samick’s are incredible guitars.
Beautiful tone and playing. I've got a couple Samick-made guitars and they are excellent for the price, and good for any price. As for not being able to tell if flame or quilt is "a picture" (Fender called theirs 'photo-flame' I believe) or real figured wood, it's easy. Hold the guitar with the side you're not sure of towards some good light and move the guitar different angles relative to the light. With figured wood you have dark and lighter areas, if it's real wood the dark and light areas will change when the reflection angle to the light changes. The areas that were dark will change to light and the areas that were light at one angle will change to dark, it's an illusion of course, but the angle of the reflection of the light will make it appear to do this. If it's a picture... "photo flame".... it all will look the same no matter what angle you turn it to the light. By the way, the Samick guitars I have as well as those that I had in the past, have been all genuine figured wood, not a photo image.
Love that Guild guitar on the wall. It looks like a X-500. I had a pre fender X-500 sunburst with a master volume like yours. Sadly I had to sell it. She was a sweetheart.
"Pretty nice," you say... I'd say that sounds fantastic! It's hard to say how much is you and your nice touch and how much is in the instrument itself.
I had one of those I bought in Turkey in 1990. Played really nicely and it had a fixed pickup and floating bridge. Really good guitars I can highly recommend it.
Agreed
Beautiful guitar and tone... and one of my favorite Gershwin songs"You Can't Take That Away From Me". Thanks for sharing!
I played a used one of these and they are flipping amazing for the price.
Smooth tone for sure! That’s a really beautiful guitar; Asian build quality has improved greatly since the 70’s. The Ibanez guitars from the 70’s Gibson-inspired were fantastic but by the 80’s, their guitars were by and far bolt-on, whammy bar types… Other than Ibanez, most of the Asian imports were ho-hum at best! Glad to see this quality coming from other Asian manufacturers!
Great playing, thanks for posting!
I have always respected Samick guitars, from the Greg Bennett series on. They are well-made and always so pretty. And man, I could listen to that sweet chording piece all day. A Bartolini pickup doesn't hurt, either.
Something about your playing puts a smile on my face. Thanks, but I wish you had given the name of that song. I know the words start with "The way you..."
That sounds great! Very nice brights for a ply guitar. I’ve been doing a closed voicing of Moonlight in Vermont forever. Maybe it’s time to change to a version closer to yours. Very beautiful playing!
I couldn't agree more with your enthusiasm for the Samick, LaSalle line. A few years back I picked up a 2005, Greg Bennett JZ1 (two alnico5 humbuckers) for a song. Beautiful top and back. The sound is so rich and full. My 88 year old neighbor was a working guitarist in the '40s & '50s and still has his 1940 L5. He's let me play it, and yes, it's a phenominal guitar (also valued at US$18,000). I paid $250. for my JZ1. Is the Gibson the better of the two? No argument. But, can I tell a $17, 750 difference? Not with my ears. I'm a livingroom strummer and am very happy with my "L5" and will keep it for a long time. Thanks, for the demo.
That was a fantastic arrangement of Moonlight in Vermont. Absolutely beautiful!
Some cheap Archtops are amazing good, recently I bought a D´Angelico Excel.
Since than my Gibson ES 175 is untouched 🙂
By the way, your channel is awesome!
Many regards from germany
Nice to meet you Rich and a big thanks to you & RUclips algorithms. What a joy and a treat to listen to your playing. Very nice !!
I'm subscribing for that jazzy pizazzy....uh...oh yeah..
Nice guitar btw, Samicks are pretty stout guitars, definitely a pro instrument there
Samick has been around for a long time they are one of the largest manufacturers in Asia, theysub out for a bunch of American Companies. I used them for gigging made more sense than taking my Gibson’s to play my local bar gigs.
Bravo, Maestro! You obviously put in your years in a room, (as did I starting at 12.) Everyone these days wants to put a picture up online with a guitar but no one wants to put in the sweat equity of learning to play it! I use a thumb pick, but like the sound of flesh on string.
I couldn’t stop my body from groovin’ along with that rendition. That was really swinging Rich! My back teeth are still sore…
Funny
It proves that with some skill and a days work, you can fix up any guitar .. I did same with an Epiphone swingster.. finished the frets, adjust the neck, clear the bridge, add some good strings, adjust the pickup height and action/intonation and this now plays like a 2k guitar. In the range of 500 to $ 1000 guitars it's often the extra handiwork, finishing and etc up that. When you get over 5k the materials start to come into play a bit.
Beautiful guitar...beautiful playing...thank you.
Very nice guitar. I have one ad even for a novice to plays well. Thanks for the tune. It is nice to see a player and not spend $90 for nose bleed seats.
You are such a great guitar player, the guitar sounds very good. Greetings from México 🇲🇽
Try one with the stock Duncan designed floating pickup. sounds great too! Thanks for a lovely version of “Moonlight In Vermont” ,the second song you played so beautifully.
What a fine guitarist you are Rich!
wow, it sounds great! l That is because you're playing it Rich!
Lovely guitar, very beautiful playing. I will be taking a look at your course
After watching this video, I watched your other video on how to choose a jazz guitar and then bought this JZ4. After listening to the different sounds, I knew this was too good to pass up. Also, I like beautiful curves made in Korea. I don't think I will be disappointed. I am excited that I will be able to learn jazz on a jazz guitar. Great video!
The guitar and playing is just beautiful.........
Nice guitar you got there. The finish and tailpiece remind me of a Washburn J-10 Orleans I used to own.
Quilt is probably a maple veneer
On hollow bodies, I found it better to get an oval jack plate than a round one. It cut down the potential for cracking the wood at the plate. I'll look up to see if you have a lesson for T.C.T.T.A. From Me.
Samick guitars are great, I have a strat, it has the best neck ever, indonesian high quality craftsmanship… interesting that this is korean made, it’s a beauty.
lol
Beautiful sounds and great playing.
Most Korean guitars in the early 2000s regardless of what brand , were made in the Sammick factory. That was before China started putting out really decent instruments and Korea was king of the imports. I always respect Sammick.
almost sounds like there's reverb on the guitar, awesome tone and impeccable playing!
Beautiful playing.
Sounds like the kind of music that Les Paul always played and loved
China baby! Indonesia makes quality stuff too. Cheap quality. Good quality control. Nice playing sir.
Good on ya Rich, making it look easy!
Egads. That sounds good. You are an arteeeest sir!. Lovin the jazz.
I could hear from the very first note that this is a great sounding guitar. For the price it's incredible. That said, I wouldn't buy it online without playing it first. In my experience with cheap guitars, sometimes you hit the jackpot and get a resonant and great sounding one, but another ten guitars will sound lackluster. I came across a great sounding Indonesian Broadway, I don't know why, but it sounds so much better than about half a dozen other Broadways I was able to check out.
Really like that playing... That's so nice!
Nice sound and great playing, Ive got the same guitar, and I change the floating pickup for a standard DiMarzio neck humbucker, and sounds real nice
I had one like that when I was younger, acustic tho. Beautiful sound. Absolutely nice guitar.
It's a great guitar it's after a Gibson 350 or something like that I love mine I paid 700 bucks for it believe it or not and it's all gold-plated
Very nice. I acquired a greg bennett d-1sn . Absolutely sweet sound. It is my go to acoustic. New subscriber
You make any guitar sound great. Thanks for the post.
Samick factory cranked out major brands for decades.
Great playing , Rich!
Marvelous playing, sir;)
I figured out a long time ago the price doesn`t really have much to do with the quality..I am NOT a collector but I can play..I bought a one year old Epiphone archtop a while back for $500..easily one of the best guitars I`ve ever played..trust me I know they`ve built a lot of junk over the years..you just never know
I like the guitar. Your playing is fantastic.
Samick and Cort are the 2 main makers of guitars all over the world... Cort is in Indonesia and Samick is in S. Korea.
great sounds,better playing..... thank you for creating theory for the road-i still use it and still learn from it
Thank you for working through it!!
Sounds very good. Very round tone.
Awww, just love your playing Rich!!! Are you gonna make the 2023 Marin Guitar show in January?? Jill and I are coming down from our new home in Port Townsend WA, and would be great to see you!! Kevin
I hope to be there thanks for the note
That's some lovely Jazz!!!
No it isn't a picture. It is however an eight inch piece of plywood stamped into a mold to make the arch top and bottom with a paper thin quilted veneer. A real hollow body would be a slab of quilted maple hand carved, dished out, shaped, scraped etc etc etc. I would buy one of those because I can't afford a real one.
Thay sounds so good because of you, thanks.
the Samick JZ - 4 is made in South Korea and is 100 percent wood... probably laminated so the top can be thin...quilted maple on the back - not a picture.
Came for the guitar, stayed for the music!!...
Great Playing... Great Sounding
my late father had similar in dark mahogany. witch is in Ohio now at my sister's. aperantly the samick factory made & still makes good guitars. same factory make guitars for other companies under their names.
Beautiful playing!!
I have a Samick Artist Series HJ700, a 7 string thinline semi hollow. Made in Korea and the original owner put Benedetto pickups in. Killer guitar. Needs to find a new home though. I'm bad at 6 strings never mind 7 lol.
I've resisted the 7 string for years. Too lazy to rethink things
Nice looking guitar, but just beautiful playing. So sweet.
Just ran across your channel with this video. Nice! Liked and subscribed
Thank you!!
Don't discount the Asian made guitars. I had a Hamer hollow-body that I suspect was made by Samick. It was a pretty good guitar. The pickups sounded good, the pots were quiet, and the switch never gave me any trouble. The only thing I didn't like about it was the way-to-skinny neck.
Fine vid and superb touch. Thanks
Man that guitar sounds sweet 😋 and your jazz playing is Devine, wish I could play half as well !!!
You will!
Man what an arrangement you are good
It's quite easy for a company like Samick to make good 'cheap' guitars, as they make guitars for so many other brands. Different headstock, I should think they have neck blanks, and half way there.
You're a wonderful player.
Very nice find Rich.
I think it has 24.75 inch scale according to their internet site. If so - its not comparable to L5 type guitar! Its a big difference!
Well, the site is incorrect. The jz-4 is indeed a 25.5" scale guitar. I've changed the bridge recently and can confirm the scale...
sounds and looks beautiful. Two piece
Bird's-eye maple?
I bet "Tequila" by The Champs would sound great on this. Also, "Sleepwalk" by Santo and Johnny.
Love those tunes!
Very similar to my Washburn J-10, also made by Samick, I'm guessing. A very similar tone... solid spruce top. Yes -- I don't know how they're sold so cheaply.
Not sure if it's all in the mind... but the Johnny Smith style floating pickup is constantly better feeling? Some say it's all about attack of the strings...? Just that easy right ✅ 😌 actually some believe that style of amplifying a guitar 🎸 had been prior to the Les Paul.... isn't it great just to sit around and explore music and instruments... like your version or arrangement of 🌙 Moonlight in Vermont
Sometimes you just want a change from a mounted pickup and the floater is the answer
Are you saying "picture" regarding the back wood? 🤔
I have an old Samick 5 string bass that I picked up for next to nothing, and it plays and sounds like an instrument worth ten times it's cost.