Jacksons made by WMI vs Cort vs Samick

[wrldeatr7]

Little by little the new Jacksons made by Samick in Indonesia are starting to come out as well as non-Kelly models made by Cort in Indonesia, which means that World Music Instruments is getting a lot less business from Jackson/Fender. Any thoughts on the quality of manufacturing by these 3 companies? Generally I have a favorable view of WMI and elsewhere people ranked Cort below WMI. Not sure about Samick. You would think Jackson would get a better deal and more consistency if they got all, or a large majority, of their guitars just from one company instead of spreading it out among 3 companies and changing things around every couple of years. At some point they made the exact same model at two different plants. Doesn't seem very efficient to me.

[pianoguyy]

How do I feel about Samick?
I am not a fan, but I know they make things as ordered. So if they are ordered to be cheap, they will be cheap. If they are ordered to be nice, they will be nice.


Would they do better if they had one factory make all of them?
And then, you find a Dinky with a Kelly neck because someone grabbed the wrong one. Or a Soloist with Ibanez pickups.

[euronymous]

Wmi is located in korea. Is there any jacksons made in Korea?

[Rich#6]

Jackson charvel made only a few guitars in the 90's in Korea. samick play a squire, cort play a ibanez

[warlok]

I can only go by what I have/had from each. Everything I've ever touched from WMI in Korea has been outstanding quality. 2 Ibanez RGT42's and a PRS Tremonti SE, all solidly built. The 2 I have had from Indonesia (don't know what plant, just know Indonesia) are a bit mixed. The ESP/LTD M300FM was excellent, I only got rid of it because I didn't bond with it. The RRTMG I have now is good quality but having issues with shrinking/cracking ebony, and have heard elsewhere that I'm not the only one. Still love the guitar but could do without this issue.

[wrldeatr7]

Perhaps but they have plants in Indonesia and China. I haven't seen a Korean Jackson.

Wmi is located in korea. Is there any jacksons made in Korea?

[Rich#6]

always thought korean ibanezs were Cort built.

[rjohnstone]

Back in the early 90's, Samick guitars were very well built. I used to sell them in the shop I worked at along with Fender, Ibanez, G&L and Jackson guitars.
When they bought Valley Arts, their guitars got even better. The build quality of their higher end guitars was on par with the big boys.
Now granted this was for Samick branded guitars.
Their Samick branded LP copies from the early 90's were so good Gibson threatened to drop them as a manufacturing partner for Epiphone guitars if they didn't "junk them up" a bit.
Samick complied and any of their LP copies made after 1994 pretty much sucked. Still well made, but not to the spec they were before.

In short, every Korean built Samick guitars, whether branded or for made for another company (Gibson, Fender, etc), were very well made.
Their Indonesian built guitars have always been hit or miss. This facility came online in the late 90's and never had the QC of the Korean factory.

[elrrek]

Sorry to jump into this thread with extreme igonorance but is there a list somewhere of which models are being made in which factories?

I was under the impression that :
* the Pro Series bolt-on guitars were being made in the Fender Mexico plant.
* neck thru / set neck guitars were being built in Indonesia (Samick and Cort)
* cheaper bolt-ons were being made in India

I did not know that WMI were making Jacksons, which is really interesting because I just picked up a PRS SE Custom 24 purely on the reputation that WMI have for building guitars. If I knew which Jacksons were WMI I'd know which to try and grab and compare to my older Japan's Jacksons and Charvels.

[artonsafari]

Wmi is located in korea. Is there any jacksons made in Korea?

My Performer PS3-T has a MIK sticker on it.

Edit: Meant to say Korea, Made in Korea, changed the MIJ to MIK
Stupid work getting in the way of me thinking clearly...

[Rich#6]

No Jacksons are currently being made in Korea. That was the 90's. The low end Jacksons are now made in China. The India Jacksons made be all gone(not sure if they moved the SDX). They did more the SLXs to Indonesia fro India.

[x_zac10]

First guitar I ever got, back in the early '90s, was a Samick. It was always so much nicer than the beginners stuff my friends had at the time. I recently found it, cleaned it up, restrung it, after probably going untouched for 15+ years. The neck didn't even need adjusting. I couldn't believe how well it plays after all that time - especially since I've mostly played USA Jacksons since. I really lucked out with a great instrument to get started on.

Back in the early 90's, Samick guitars were very well built. I used to sell them in the shop I worked at along with Fender, Ibanez, G&L and Jackson guitars.
When they bought Valley Arts, their guitars got even better. The build quality of their higher end guitars was on par with the big boys.
Now granted this was for Samick branded guitars.
Their Samick branded LP copies from the early 90's were so good Gibson threatened to drop them as a manufacturing partner for Epiphone guitars if they didn't "junk them up" a bit.
Samick complied and any of their LP copies made after 1994 pretty much sucked. Still well made, but not to the spec they were before.

In short, every Korean built Samick guitars, whether branded or for made for another company (Gibson, Fender, etc), were very well made.
Their Indonesian built guitars have always been hit or miss. This facility came online in the late 90's and never had the QC of the Korean factory.

[pianoguyy]

Some of these questions/answers should probably be clarified between old and new.
Asking if something IS made in Korea is different than asking if something WAS made in Korea.

Sure, some of us can tell by the models mentioned that they are old and discontinued. While others are new and do not have that same historical knowledge.

[VoiceX3]

My JS22-7 was built in China and seems to be pretty well built, doubtful if it is the same factory that built me Chibson and Chackson as both of those guitars are much nicer than the JS. (The JS is a good low end guitar still)

My KVXT is from India and is very nice. Every bit as nice as the RR5 I had. (It was from the very first run built in Japan)

[wrldeatr7]

Sorry to jump into this thread with extreme igonorance but is there a list somewhere of which models are being made in which factories?

I was under the impression that :
* the Pro Series bolt-on guitars were being made in the Fender Mexico plant.
* neck thru / set neck guitars were being built in Indonesia (Samick and Cort)
* cheaper bolt-ons were being made in India

I did not know that WMI were making Jacksons, which is really interesting because I just picked up a PRS SE Custom 24 purely on the reputation that WMI have for building guitars. If I knew which Jacksons were WMI I'd know which to try and grab and compare to my older Japan's Jacksons and Charvels.

It changes every year and by model.
Right, Pro Dinkys are made in Mexico.
I don't know what Jacksons are set neck but yes, neck thrus are made in Indonesia by WMI, Cort, and Samick.
Some JS and even X Series neck thrus were made in India by Harmony in the past. Currently all JS are made in China by WMI with the exception of JS Kellys which are made by Cort in Indonesia.

Lots of Jacksons are made by WMI in JS, X, and Pro series, and in most shapes.

You can use the serial numbers as a guide:

J= Jackson
MXJ- Mexico
IWJ- Indonesia WMI
ISJ- Indonesia Samick
ICJ- Indonesia Cort
CWJ- China WMI