Samick Guitars

SMC's, makers of Samick Guitars, has a New Home in Tennessee

Samick Music Corp. made the decision last year that it would leave its North American headquarters in City of Industry, California, its home for more than twenty years. After considering several locations throughout the United States, SMC purchased 14 acres of land east of the city center of Gallatin, Tennessee, approximately 30 miles northeast of Nashville. In addition to moving its headquarters and primary distribution center, Samick also plans to manufacture products in its new facility.

J.S. Kim, head of SMC's Inchon, South Korea parent company Samick Musical Instruments Company, Ltd. and Chairman of SMC's Board of Directors, explains the reasons behind the move: "Over the last decade we have seen the costs of business and manufacturing increase in the Pacific Rim countries. The production of premium value products has now become viable in the United States. Many American consumers are looking for a better quality product."

In 2005, the Gallatin Economic Development Agency partnered with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and other local organizations to help bring Samick to Gallatin. Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen said, "It seems very fitting that a company that specializes in producing quality music products would find its way home to Tennessee, just 25 miles outside of Music City USA, where quality music is made."

SMC celebrates Samick's Golden Anniversary in 2008.

Samick was founded in Korea in 1958 by Hyo Ick Lee. Facing an immense challenge in impoverished and war-torn South Korea, Lee began to build and sell a few vertical pianos a week from a small converted shop front. It wasn't long before the company started manufacturing upright pianos on a large scale. In 1964 Samick became the first Korean company to export pianos and by the early 1970s, the company had become a large-scale manufacturer with over 3,000 employees building pianos and Samick Guitars

In the years following, Samick focused on global expansion. In 1978 they opened a branch office in Los Angeles, California, followed by establishment of an office in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1980. Sales of Samick products in the United States grew exponentially and Samick soon announced the development of their American subsidiary, Samick Music Corporation in 1982.

Samick has always been dedicated to developing new products and quality, starting in 1983 with a technical cooperation with Klaus Fenner, a piano designer and technician from Germany. Fenner was renowned for designing the German Imperial Scale that continues to characterize the pianos of leading international manufacturers.