Gear Review: Samick Om3 Mahogany

Vodka, my love, thou hast never forsaken me.

     I'm an avid Ebay-er, and as such I know the street value and retail value of the very narrow selection of things I give a shit about. Namely music, photography and gadgetry.

     I'm also an avid drinker, and as such I can be surprised occasionally when the UPS man pulls up with a package I have no recollection of ordering.

     Such was the case with this purchase. I thought I was getting a new case for my baritone, and lo and behold...A Samick Om3 arrived instead.

     I'm a Samick guy. They ghost build for all kinds of brands. I'm not gonna name drop here because that's not what this review is about, but they sort of specialize in this 200-500 dollar range of knock off guitars that look strikingly similar to the big brand names every player covets.

     Right out of the box (A camping stove box, if you're curious), I unzipped the hard-shell gig-bag case, and was very pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful mahogany topped guitar. Why? Why did I order a mahogany top? Because my father has been talking about them for the past month and a half, that's why...

Anyway! Looking back through my emails and billing statements I found the guitar. 175$ WITH the case.

So, drunk me has the good sense to avoid ordering a guitar without a case at least...how does it sound?

Tuned up with dead strings, my first impression was...really good. Not kinda good. Not, "okay for this price". Really good. Totally clear and resonant notes, a good amount of sustain, a beautiful high end, and a crisp mid range.

I handed it to my father. He diddled it a bit. We both frowned at this kind of unexpected weirdness we were holding. He couldn't really find a fault with it.

Now I'm interested! My father, the Taylor die-hard. The Martin aficionado! The Wood and Steel subscriber, and 30+ year veteran of the instrument says he can't find fault with a guitar that's essentially 80 bucks? Bullshit.

So I order some Tusq bridge pins and resolve to re-string, clean, polish and generally set up this little beauty.

That, was an excellent idea.

With Elixir Nanoweb Custom Lights, and the new pins installed? This fucking guitar is a BEAST. It's subtle and projects, it sustains and swells. It's got the entire frequency range covered.

Any cons to having bought it? Well, the fret work is a tad lazy, and there are a few cosmetic issues that are so small I can only call them nit pickey. Truly, this guitar has surpassed all my expectations for a budget guitar.

Should you get drunk and buy one of these? Yes. Then take it to be professionally set up by a luthier.

Final score: 8.8 out of 10.