Sunday
Purchased From:
ebay
Price:
$200.00 USD
Features:
97 Model I believe, top is green sparkle so I don't really know what's underneath. But I love the green sparkle finish, it's cool if maybe a little gay. Standard LP controls and pickup configuration old style LP type tuners - not that great but ok. They look cool but are kinda mediocre quality.
Action, Fit, & Finish:
Unbelievably good for the price of this guitar. Also much much better than the AV-3 that I owned. No flaws except possibly the use of cheaper components, but anything that nags at you is upgradable for pennies compared to the cost difference between this and a Gibson.
Sound Quality:
Sounds pretty good to me. Having owned both this and the AV-3 LP copy by Samick, I think the materials and workmanship are a little better on this one. The only edge I'd give to the AV-3 was that it had more mass and was heavier, and maybe had a little more sustain. However I had to pot the pickups on the AV-3 so the LS-450 wins because you don't have to pot the pickups :) I think either Samick LP copy is somewhere within 70-90% of a real Les Paul sound-wise. Enough that I highly doubt you could tell a difference in a live show. Considering that the cost is about 5% of the stupid rediculously overpriced Gibsons, I have to say thank you to the Koreans for enabling me to play a Les Paul without having to throw away money on Gibson. Shame on Gibson. I play blues, rock, and metal, this guitar fits in well with all three styles, although I like Strat for blues better than LP in general.
Reliability/Durability:
Have been using this guitar every weekend for around a year now and I love it. I would replace the tuners to really make it solid in a live setting but I'm digging the way the vintage style tuners look at the moment, so maybe I won't bother.
Ease of Use:
Customer Support:
Well they're in Korea and probably don't have many English speaking employees. Plus this model is discontinued. Plus I don't need support, I can do any damn thing I need to on a guitar.
Overall Rating:
Unbelievable value. Samick, please break this one back out and put it back into production!!! (or however you say that in Korean)
Purchased From:
Twinbrooke Music in Fairfax, Virginia
Price:
$497.99 USD USED
Features:
Year made: 1997 if I'm correct. The serial number starts with 97. Frets: 22 frets Pickup Configuration: H/H Body Style: Les Paul Tune-O-Matic bridge
Action, Fit, & Finish:
Very good action. Not too high. Very rarely slips tuning. The bridge is perfect. Whoever owned this guitar before me did a great job. The only problem was the toggle switch crapped out. I had to get that replaced with an American Gibson Les Paul switch, but now it works fine.
Sound Quality:
I play punk and general rock. No unwanted noise on any settings except when you sit too close to the amp with Gain on 10. Very bright. Sometimes hard to get a deeper sound.
Reliability/Durability:
Very reliable. It's fallen over once, from the stand, and it didn't slip tuning or break. Strap buttons are good, my strap hasn't fallen off. Finish is good, won't wear off. I never gig without a backup, but definately my main guitar.
Ease of Use:
Customer Support:
I've never dealt with the company, as they've discontinued the model. I got it repaired, and the store that sold it to me was really good about replacing everything that needed replacing. No warranty, but I don't anticipate any problems.
Overall Rating:
I've been playing for 3 years. My other gear is Squier Strat, Hohner Dreadnaught Acoustic, Fender Frontman 15G, Roland Micro Cube. If it was lost or stolen, can't buy it again because it's discontinued. I'd buy a Gibson or Epiphone. I compared this to a lot of Epiphones and found the sound to be a lot better. Too bad Samick discontinued it.
Purchased From:
doremi sdn bhd
Price:
MYR1,250.00 MYR
Features:
ok, this guitar is a korean made, 22 beautiful ebony fretboard with excellent crown inlyas (like gibson's). the fret is perfectly binded. it's laminated top, it's has 2 volume control and 2 tone control. teh knob is amazing. pickup configuration is H/H. the body is mahogany with high tech flame maple top, sunburst color... perfect!!! it's is single cut, like Les Paul... it's is a Les Paul. the bridge is stop tailpiece. excellent for sustain. the tuner is Gibson like tuners. the neck is set in, so the sustain go all night :P the neck is ok, fatter than ibanez. ibanez fan will hate this :P
Action, Fit, & Finish:
the guitar is being setup well. the finish is awsome!!! very good
Sound Quality:
the sound is very bright. i never expect it to sound like this. you can get alot of sound with this guitar. but, not suitable for extreme metal. no unwanted sound heared. my setting is= SAMICK LS450-->morley classic wah-->LINE POD 2.0--> ROLAND CUBE 15 hm, the only thing that i dislike about this guitar is... hard to get REALLY HEAVY sound. but, it's not a major problem.
Reliability/Durability:
hm.. good
Ease of Use:
Customer Support:
hm, it's come with a hard case... thumbs up!!!
Overall Rating:
i've been playing for 5 years. i also have an ibanez RG270(with DiMarzio X2N installed), and a yamaha RGX. this guitar blows me away!!! if it were stolen, i would buy an epiphone, because tihs guitar is VERY hard to find. it's been discontinued by samick. i love everything about this samick. very good, and reasonable price to. if you like les paul, buy this one. it's cheaper than epiphone and have the same quality.
Purchased From:
zzounds.com
Price:
$199.99 USD
Features:
This guitar was purcheased new in 2003 from zzounds.com. It is a typical Les Paul copy very nicely done in a gloss coat sunburst finish. It has 22 medium frets. It is solid 3 piece mahogany body with a solid one piece cap on it. I assume the solid cap on the top is mahogany? If it was maple there would probably be a seam of some kind in the middle I would think. I can't seem to find any info on this guitar it's not listed on Samicks website. The fingerboard is rosewood of a very good quality. There is yellowish, white binding covering the entire sides of the guitar and up the side of the fretboard just like a real Les Paul standard. The binding has an aged look giving the whole guitar a vintage look which is cool. The neck is bolt on not glued. The tuners are cheap but they are adequate. The pick ups are chrome covered. They seem adequate like the tuners. A cheap cable comes with the guitar
Action, Fit, & Finish:
zzounds did no set up at all on this guitar. The neck was bowed back to far making the guitar unplayable as delivered. A couple turns on the truss rod solved that problem and the neck is OK now. I will go over a few minor finish flaws. The 15,16,17 and 21 frets have a few small unwanted file marks on the right side of the binding. On the right lower side of the guitar it looks like something brushed up against the laquer when it was still wet leaving a small blemish. The very top of the neck near the binding had a little spot of glue. When I scraped the glue off with my fingernail I chipped the paint leaving a very small area that needed to be touched up with paint. I would have been better off leaving the small glue spot there. Other than that the guitar has an excellent finish. The wood has no flaws and the sunburst finish is nicely done.
Sound Quality:
it sounds like a bolt on neck guitar unpugged but with an amp it has a very Gibson like tone sounding nothing at all like a Fender guitar. The guitar does not have that smooth harp like quality of a high end Gibson Les Paul model but it still sounds very nice. The guitar sounds nice played clean or with slight distortion but with full on cranked distortion the guitar sounds pretty bad. Maybe it's the strings or pickups or a combination of both. I think the strings that are on the guitar now are of poor quality and they will be replaced as soon as possible. Playing single note runs the guitar sounds as nice as a Gibson Les Paul. Playing chords it is not equal in sound to a good high end Gibson Les Paul.
Reliability/Durability:
This guitar would be excellent for a gig being much lighter than a standard Gibson Les Paul which are usually in the 20 pound range. This guitar is below 15 pounds making it a much more friendly guitar for live playing. The guitar also has better balance than a Gibson Les Paul.
Ease of Use:
Customer Support:
don't know really
Overall Rating:
I have been playing since 1986. I have owned a high end Gibson Les Paul for 2 years. The Gibson had a flawless finish and a tone to die for but the guitar sucked because it was way to heavy and the guitar had awful balance when trying to play it sitting down. The specific Les Paul model was a gold top 30th anniversary model. This guitar was bought for 200 dollars and zzounds shipping was almost free at only 5 dollars! The Samick LSE 450 was 40 dollars less than this model but to be on the safe side I paid the extra 40 dollars. I don't know the difference between the LS 450 and the LSE 450. I tried to win a Jay Turser Les Paul copy guitar on E bay. What a total joke that was with those last minute bidders. E bay was a real waste of my time. This guitar is worth buying. For 200 dollars it's an outstanding value and I am happy with my purchase. Just be sure not to scrape off any glue spots. If you have and other questions E mail me at mahogany09@yahoo.com
Purchased From:
Guitar Workshop
Price:
Features:
I am just updating my previous post on this guitar.
Action, Fit, & Finish:
See old post
Sound Quality:
Since my last post I have changed pickups to Duncan JB in bridge, and SH-2 jazz in neck. I have also put on real Grover tuners, Switchcraft output jack, 500 k push pull pot for neck pickup, and DR 10-46 strings. All I need now are Graphtech saddles and a Graphtech nut and it will be all set. These improvements I have made have been the best thing I could have done. This guitar sounds gooooood! I use to use Ddarrio strings, but after reviews on the Duncan JB and others advice on the string change, I noticed a definate difference and these are my strings now.
Features:
Not sure what year or where it was made.. 22 frets. 2 hums with volume and tone for each. stock pickups .. les paul copy stop tailpiece
Action, Fit, & Finish:
the guitar is slow to play..
Sound Quality:
i play metal and its a fairly cheap guitar so i dont expect too much of it but it sucks for playing lead.. but for ryth it does the job bu t not to well.. im using it thru a dod fx7 and a marshall vs8080
Reliability/Durability:
ive played it live once the finish is done pretty well the strap buttons fell out once but i put them back on. its a fairly dependable guitar.. ive dropped it once and nothin happend to it.. i dont have another guitar to use as backup but this would become my backup guitar if i bought a new one.
Ease of Use:
Customer Support:
never dealt with em
Overall Rating:
been playing 2.5 years. i own dodfx-7 run thru a marshall vs8080. i dont like the guitar that much as i play lead and its slow a chunky.. it also is fairly heavy and i hate standing up with it for too long..
Purchased From:
Scotty''s Guitar Works
Price:
$400.00 USD
Features:
'97 Korean-made Les Paul (Samick makes Epiphones for Gibson, as well). Granite Gold finish (black with gold overlay), regular controls, Kluson tuners, 2 humbuckers, body is mahongany and maple, same as a Gibson, Tune-O-Matic bridge & stop tail. Came with OHSC. Neck is mahogany with ebony fretboard, trapazoid inlays. According to Samick, the specs on this model match a true Gibson very closely. Mainly, the body is ONE piece mahogany with a 1/4" maple cap, exact same specs on a Gibson, and BEATS a laminated, multi-piece body/maple veneer cap Epiphone to pieces!
Action, Fit, & Finish:
Got it used but my guitar shop guy is great at setups so other than a wee tweak on the hummys to bring out a bit more brightness, it was setup nicely. Only flaw i can find is one of the peg head tuner holes was drilled a tiny bit out of line with the others, but this doesn't affect a thing.
Sound Quality:
The sound of this axe is why I bought it. I took my Mex Strat in to trade for an Ibanez and left with this Samick. The sound is incredible, period, and that's with stock pickups. I borrowed a friend's real 1970 Paul to test along side this and the Samick truly holds its own. It actually has a bit more bottom and a nice creaminess lacking on the real Paul. The real one is a bit crisper in the highs, a touch more clarity all around. My strat was just too thin and twangy for my tastes. This Samick Paul is fat and round with mucho body and a sweet, creamy, resonant tone. I play everything from Fates Warning type prog-metal to poppy CCM and this baby covers 'em all with a great tone, clean or massively distorted.
Reliability/Durability:
Very well built. Even the "pearl" inlays are quite well-done. This is usually a place to find shoddy workmanship. The neck set and binding are both perfectly done. Guitar is very sound and solid.
Ease of Use:
Customer Support:
I've emailed Samick directly several times, asking them specific questions about this guitar and they have always been more than helpful, responding within a couple days every time. They knew my guitar was used, even, and that didn't matter.
Overall Rating:
This model Samick normally sells for around $650 new, so even for a non-american axe, its in a higher quality bracket than your average korean axe. Given the fact that even American-made Gibsons are assembly-line mass produced (just here in Nashville instead of overseas) the Samicks should be top of your list before shelling out 4-digit prices for "name" guitars. If you're looking for great sound, high quality workmanship, monstrous value, and care more about your tone than the name on the head, look for a Samick.