Ephipone Made in Indonesia, 90% Chance its Samick

Made in Indonesia, 90% Chance its Samick In the early 1990’s Korean manufacturing giant Samick began moving its production base to Indonesia. Today, Samick, at its production compound outside Bogor, 90 miles south of Jakarta, produces about 90% of the guitars made in Indonesia under various names including Gibson and Fender models. As a rule of thumb, Indonesian made guitars are generally the lowest price models with the better ones coming from Korea.

What attracted firms like Samick, Yamaha, and Kawai to invest in Indonesia was a combination of a stable workforce, nearby access to 80% of the materials that go into pianos and guitars, a stable currency linked to the U.S. dollar, and most-favored nation status with the U.S., a designation that allows Indonesian-produced products to come into the U.S. free of all duties.

Samick is the world’s largest producer of stringed instruments and has a huge presence in Indonesia producing half a million copies annually (total guitar p… Ephipone Made in Indonesia, 90% Chance its Samick