I think I'm turning Korean. I really think so.

[custom53]

I sold my Hamer B12S Bass but missed it so much I bought a MIK 4 string Hamer Bass..

 

 

 

 

[JimHalinda]

I recently bought a 2012 through-neck Korean BC Rich Mockingbird ST, and it’s a killer guitar! Fit and finish are as good as anything I’ve owned, and it plays like a dream.

[gtrdaddy]

On 8/22/2019 at 4:26 AM, FGJ said:

You mean, like, get a Korean product, or actually get a Korean? And if it's the latter, how does one go about ordering a Korean, and are we talking mail-order brides or something?

I once purchased an entire family of six for sixty bucks in Manila back in ‘83. Imelda Marcos kept them captive in her shoe closet. Her maid forgot to pad lock the door after she snagged a pair of Jellies. 

[FGJ]

So, like, you got the bride and five of her kids? You couldn't wait for her to be delivered to start making your own family, so you got the pre-fab Kit?

[Hamer95USA]

 

    I bought this guitar about 2 years ago from a TGP member. It's a Reverend Eastsider T guitar designed by Pete Anderson, former guitarist of Dwight Yokum's band. I found it to be a great playing Tele style guitar since I didn't bond with the '97 Hamer T-51 guitar that I had a few years ago due to the neck being chunky and aggravating my De Quervain's tenosynovitis on my left hand. The neck is comfortable, has a nice C style profile, low action,  and the body is acoustically resonant due to the chambers underneath the pickguard. I did modify the pickups & electronics to put in an EMG T pickup set & SPC module and it's a more versatile guitar whether I play it clean or with high gain with no thin tone/noise/squeals that are associated with passive Tele single coil pickups. 

To the OP: Good on you for living within your means, supporting your family, getting a good deal on a nice MIK vehicle, and enjoying your MIK partcaster guitars. You don't have to buy high end or name brand things to be happy, go into credit debt, or keeping up with the Jonses.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Guitar George

[Dasein]

I think the day will come when Korea develops it's own guitar brands and takes a pride-in-export or pride-in-design approach to guitars.... So instead of buying American brands (or other world brands) manufactured there we'll get actual rising star Korean brand.

 

[tobereeno]

11 hours ago, Dasein said:

I think the day will come when Korea develops it's own guitar brands and takes a pride-in-export or pride-in-design approach to guitars.... So instead of buying American brands (or other world brands) manufactured there we'll get actual rising star Korean brand.

 

It's been a few years since I was living there, and keep in mind I never managed to speak the language so my understanding of things were limited...but the factories that are producing affordable versions of USA-made stuff, will also use domestic branding - we've all heard of Cort. I think it would take a very talented Korean luthier to start a custom shop and go from there, which is how a lot of the great US guitar companies started.

I hear you on the Korean-made thing. It is a very affordable way to buy guitars on a whim, and in the past few years the quality and precision which which they're made has gotten to the point where there's no measurable different between them and production-level USA stuff, maybe even better. The finishes have gotten really good as well. The bargain stuff isn't made in Korea anymore - Korean-made guitars are now solidly midrange quality...and price. On the average a Korean guitar beats out USA Gibsons that cost twice as much.

They may not have tonal mojo worthy of professional studio work, but they don't sound bad at all. And for $800 new with top-shelf hardware and excellent build quality, that's a very hard package to beat.