Samick AV3 Greg Bennett Avion

As per a Les Paul, I won't mark it down as it has all the right bits in the correct places

Very good, I've played a variety of styles and it performs well, the humbuckers are bright and aren't too muddy

Also very good, this one was 2nd hand but in very good order, a couple of turns on the bridge and truss key and all was good

Looks solid, not too heavy though

Plenty of information on their web site, 2nd user guitar so won't be contacting them

I paid $300 Australian for this guitar, but I bought it for a friend,if I can find another I'll buy it, IMHO a much nicer guitar than the Epiphones...

Asian import Greg Bennett design. Basic features as a Les Paul standard. What more could you want, unless you are one of those guys who HAS to have a tremolo to survive.......

This guitar sounds really good, but it does all depend on your amp and your playing style. I use vintage Marshall all tube stacks so about any guitar I use sounds good though my rig. I own two Gibson Les Pauls and this guitar sounds about the same. I am an old school player so this guitar suits me fine. I plan on replacing the pickups soon with either Gibson or Duncan.

OK.. The finish and hardware are great, no complaints. Someone had stated the the finish is a photo flame, but the Greg Bennett website clearly states that these guitars have a real flamed maple top. Mine looks pretty damn good so I am not gonna worry about that....Comes stock with Grover tuners which is a plus and a white graphite nut which is an even bigger plus. The pickups sound pretty good, but not as good as Gibson or Duncans. The only problem I see is with the toggle switch and the volume/tone pots. The toggle switch is one of the cheap square type that costs about $5 at the local music store and the pots are the cheap small ones that tend to crap out after a while. So really, all you would need to do is replace the toggle switch with a quality Switchcraft toggle and replace the pots with quality full size pots. After that small upgrade this axe will be as good as any. The Switchcraft switch is about $15 and the pots will run you around $8 each. Not too bad........

Rock Solid is just the word I was looking for. Built like a tank!

Never Needed it.

Great value considering what a Les Paul costs these days. Don't worry about what's wrote on the headstock, if it plays well, play it. I am goign to use the Greg Bennett Avion right along with my Gibsons...........

Les Paul type guitar, two volume two tone , three way selector, tom bridge with stop tail, 22fret, grover tunners, arched top I'm pretty sure the top is fake flamed though it looks good I also doubt the wood is mahogany, the guitar is lite with a nice fat neck, bound body and neck.It has everything I need

I play hard rock and metal, I judge a guitars sound unpluged and it sounds great like other Les Paul type guitars I've played, plugged in the pickups are lacking and have some feed back problems as others have listed.for clean and moderate distortion it sounds ok , I need more power so the pickups will be changed with a Dimarzio Drop Sonic in the bridge and a Humbucker from hell in the neck. these are the pickups I have in my other guitars and they work great for me

I always do a set-up on any guitar I get, that said the factory set-up was playable but not what I would call good, there was no tension on the truss rod and the neck had more than a 1/8th " bow in it, after adjusting the neck level the frets where checked and they where level with each other they did need a good polishing and there were some very sharp edges on the fret ends that had to be filed down.This is a lot more work than any guitar should need, the ends were sharp enough to cut a finger on some of the frets

I've only had the guitar for a short time, for a player that gets it's share of abuse I think it will hold up ok.

Don't know.

I've been playing for 20+yrs for what I play with the mods I've made it's a good player that I use and leave the high dollar guitars at home.It was cheep enough that If it were stolen or broken I would get another one. I looked at the Epiphones before buying this and found them to be about the same quality and needing the same mods I made to this one so I saved myself $200.00 and bought the Samick

Grover tuners, set neck, 22 frets, rosewood fretboard. Looks like a les paul but the non cutaway part is a little bigger. I got a tobacco sunburst-ish finish. pickups look like the ones epiphone puts in their guitars. didn't come with anything though.

I play hard rock, heavy blues,hardcore punk, and sometimes some thrash or metal. The pickups are really good for the blues stuff and for classic rock, but you have to put on really heavy distortion to get a decent hard rock or metal sound. for high pitched solos, the treble setting sounded great, and the neck pickup gives a nice dark sound, great for heavier stuff especially when you plug in a distortion or overdrive pedal. I even tried some jazz stuff but it took me a while to find the right sound, same as with the metal sound. Clean it sounds good, but it gets a little muddy if you turn the knobs to 10. im gonna replace the stock pickups with emg's once i get some more money.

The guitar has fantastic action. tapping was really easy and loud. the neck pickup is a little lower than the other one though, but that's not even a problem. great factory setup.

I play this guitar live without a backup and nothing ever happens to it except a little scratch on the side. The knobs have fallen off though, and several times the input jack got loose and the washers fell off.

Ive been playing for two years, and my first guitar was another samick, a malibu(strat copy). I got this guitar because my other one is a piece of crap and only good for rythm if anything, and im a lead player. If this guitar were stolen, id beat the robber to death with the same guitar he stole. I love this guitar.

Set neck
Grover tuners
Printed film flame top (middle joint is at the pots area)
Beautiful head stock design
Bridge & Neck Humbuckers
Neck and body binding
High gloss finish
Honey/Amber burst

The pickups are pretty decent. They sound pretty clean and get muddy above 8. I plan to switch to Gibson Antiquity for neck and EMG for bridge later on.

The top is actually a printed film, not a real flame top. But it's beautifully done. The flame joint which typically runs in the middle, is somewhere around the pots area. The printed film may be cut from a larger sheet for economical reasons. It would have been nicer if it's in the middle. But looks to me come second. The back is tranparent red. The quality of this instrument is very good considering its price of about USD200 w/o case. I put it on he stand and it sits beautifully inside my bedroom. The guitar seems to have been set-up quite well in the factory and inspected by a person named Hadi in May 2008. It's good to see the quality Samick is putting into their Made in Indonesia instruments. I also compared this guitar with an SX Les Paul (bolt-on model) at the shop and the SX's set-up was totally out with unacceptable fret buzz. The intonation was good except for the 5th string which I had trouble adjusting. After a careful inspection, I later found out that the intonation screw was not seated properly on the bridge. I had to remove thebridge, oil it, and press the screw down with a flat-head screwdriver. The bridge has a "Sungill, Korea" mark underneath. Tuners are Grover and they feel smooth and firm. Pots and toggle switch work perfectly without any electronic crackling sound that you would normally find on inexpensive instruments. The plastic toggle switch had a tiny mold runner leftover and had to be filed off. Epiphone is also selling one bolt-on LP model for about the same price as AV3 but the quality of the electronics is terrible. Epiphones of the same quality cost about 3 to 4 times as much. It is also very light compared to SX LP or Stagg LP. The neck is also very nicely finished and feels very smooth. Its seems to be made of 3 pieces of wood glued together. One for the headstock, one for the neck and the other one for the heel. The action set-up by the factory is quite low and you can hear fret buzz on G-string on certain notes but I will let that be for the time being.

Just got it for 4 days. So far so good.

I am convinced that this is the best instrument at this price.

made in Indo i belive,

superbly done =) bought it in 2008 ( still new )

cant even compare epi with this star if u included the price it offer.. XD

very Rich sound but .. yeah the stock one dint see too good but its good enuff to get the job done =)

action were fast.

mine were totally in great shape. everything were good the time i bought it!

the colour? hahah mesmerizing!

=)

very solid! weighing about 3.5KG

strap button were solid! very dependable!

a gig? sure! would love to use it without backup =)

never had to go for 1!

xD

Fantastic Value For the MONEY!

Highly Recommended! for a 1st guitar or even a collection! Grab it!

why get a Epi/Gibby while u can get the same guitar with 1/3 lower price =)

Typical "Les Paul" clone done well,nice medium large frets, bound neck & body . both Mahogany, the body has a laminated Maple top( done well)
two "PAF" clone Humbuckers ) strong bass and mids !
tuners are grover type (actually pretty good!)

great classic rock sound , can get well "bluesy" too. personally I'm pretty happy with the sound ! may also consider something with a little more bite but good as they are! I use it with a 120 watt valve state "Peavey" Deuce 212 with tube main end , and a totally solid state "Peavey" Renown 120 watt it can ROAAAAAR! through both!

Bought it on FLEABAY for $140 and the guy did me HARD!! I had to replace the first three frets because of an obvious FACTORY FLAW that was attempted to conceal by wedging the nut up higher. "CREEEEP"!,........
anyway after replacing and diligently replacing filing the frets it play s wonderfully!
Pick ups adjusted well Top is book matched perfectly.
There is no pick guard, But,......there are no screw holes from it's removal either ???
All selectors and controls function well , Tone pots really work well
Other then the frets I would give it a 9.5 but considering the work and damage this could've been for someone else I guess I'd say a 7
because this was a factory BOO Boo!
by the way if there is a "Greg Bennet" all he cares about is his royalty check A..H.le!

I have plenty of confidence in this ax now save the strap buttons which I'm soon to replace, I haven't but will gig with it! I always bring a spare!
The hardware is fine!and trustworthy

Don't Know bought it used from a FLEABAY CREEP!

I'm playing 45 years, have an arsenal of guitars
If stolen I'd try to replace it
Love most features.
I wish it had Bigsby on it , may add it later

Well the Avion is your standard Les Paul copy. Arch top guitar, HH pickups, maple top on a Mahogany body. Mine has grover tuners, and everything else is pretty much standard. Made in Indonesia.

Doesn't really have much features, but then again there was nothing else I wanted on the guitar. I just needed a good LP copy to keep me occupied, this was spot-on.

When you compare the features to price ratio, no one else gives you a mahogany body with a solid top at this range.

It sounds good. I wouldn't say excellent, but for the price nothing comes close. I tried out the Epiphone Les Paul Ultra 2, which was slightly more expensive, and trust me, you wouldn't want the Epiphone if it was free. This is comparable to Epiphones more than twice the price.

I'm playing it on a Roland Microcube, and get great 'bluesy' sounds with the brit combo and the black panel. With a moderate amount of delay, setting the guitar to treble and setting the tone to somewhere around 8.

The guitar doesn't really have a lot of sustain, but that may be because it's new. I don't expect the sustain to increase too much, so I guess that's a drawback. That's why it's a 7.

The pickups aren't that great, but I would change them anyway.

Other than that, playing around with the setting, you can get pretty decent and even great sounds from this baby when paired with the Microcube. If you pair it with a vox ad30vt (like I did at the shop) you'll get some really great tones.

Well the pickguard was loose, though that was easily fix.

The guitar feels solid, but there's some wax-ish material on the higher frets, and it was hard to remove that.

The finishing isn't that great, a quick look, and you'll find some paint 'mishaps'. Mine is the blue avion, so the color is a bit off here and there.

Action is moderately good for a stock guitar. No Buzzing at all, but the higher frets, have high action, which when lowered may result in buzz. But the stock setup had no buzzing whatsoever.

The feel of this guitar is great, and I love the fact that it's heavy and really feels like a quality instrument. I felt 10 times better than a similar priced Epiphone. I wouldn't buy that epiphone with this guy in the same shop. The Avion is really much better at the same price.

I played for about 3 hours and already beginning to hear some backgroun noise.

I think it's more to do with the cheap cable I got, rather than the guitar. The guitar looks solid and feels solid, I would perform without a backup, but I'm not much of a performer.

I wouldn't feel afraid letting my niece have a go at it, it's got quality materials and feels solid. Can't believe it can't be built at the price.

Never Tried.

I own a Norman B20 and a Microcube. I've been playing for about 6 years now, and wanted a Les Paul to start my electric guitar playing.

If this was lost, I wouldn't get a new one. But I have no regrets buying this when you compare the price to anything epiphone has. It's a quality guitar with good sounds and tone for a FANTASTIC price.

I think if you're going for a Gibson, get one. If you're going for a high-end epi, then maybe this isn't it. But the Avion will hold it's own with any mid-range Epi that cost 3 times as much as it. It's a good guitar for a great price, so I would definitely recommend it to people who are playing for the first time or want to start learning, or need a back up guitar.

Not something to play professionally, but I'm not a professional, and I'm VERY VERY happy with it. Get one, you won't regret it.

My Samick is a 2006 lefty, i bought it about 6 months ago, new at a local music store. was set up poorly by the tech at the music store...decided it would be okay for a backseat hauler.....boy was i surprised. did what it was supposed to do, until i really got it set where i wanted it.

I play a little of everything, and it did great with the stock pickups. I play a Peavey JSX combo, and a Vox AD15VT, for practice and around the house. It sounds great with either. it's quite heavy, but the sustain makes the weight worth it. neck pickup was kinda naked sounding clean, but cheap guitar....cheap pickups, ya know.

the setup was bad. the pickups were perfect, as was everything else(except the finish. the first thing i did to the guitar was install strap-locks, and as i was unscrewing the strap peg, the clearcoat chipped almost effortly. got one other chip between two tuning machines(how???). other than that, a good setup by someone who knows what he wants, and we were all ok.

the one major complaint i had was the pickups. after less than 6 months, the pickups went microphonic on me. no problem, i replaced them with a set of dimarzio's(Mo Jo and PAF Pro), and all was well in the camp. all in all, i couldn't be more impressed for $190 dollars. I installed a Gibson Fine-Tune stopbar tailpiece, mostly because i had one lying around and i liked the convenience of one. made a decent improvement in tone and sustain...might have been the setup adjustments.

Never had to deal with Customer Support

I have been playing a few years, and I think that bang-for-the-buck, this guitar is exactly what it claims to be. I installed a good set of pickups and a gibson fine-tune tailpiece, and have never in my life picked up a better playing, or sounding guitar. When you buy a cheap guitar, the most likely things you would expect to be cheap are the pickups and hardware. with that stuff fixed. i would never part with my 'paul copy.

Features: mahogany body with flamed maple cap, set mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard, body and neck are bound. Red/gold transparent sunburst finish. Les Paul single-cutaway style.

Tune-o-matic stop-tail bridge. Grover tuners, non-locking. 22 frets, jumbo or medium jumbo. Generic Les Paul controls - two tone and two volume for the two humbuckers (PAF-style, nickel covers).

Made, as far as I know, in Indonesia.

That all being listed, I'd easily give the AV3 a nine for features - because despite being a rather uncostly guitar, it doesn't skimp on the really necessary stuff - good woods and a set neck. All the rest - hardware and pickups - can be easily exchanged, but the wood is the bottom line, and it's very fine quality here.

It has the generic Les Paul sound to me - the neck pickup has a nice "chunk" to it, a big warm sound (some might say muddy, but it does have a punch) while the bridge pickup has a bright squawky sound. The mahogany body and neck provide a lot of girth to the sound, and the maple cap adds a lot of high-end clarity. It's a very well-defined sound, if perhaps unspectacular. The sustain is superb.

Sounds very good and with surprising volume with unamplified.

Importantly, chords ring out with thickness but with each string clearly defined - something often missing in Les Paul copies. Also, high-fret sustain never cut out or choked - another telltale flaw of Les Paul copies.

In short, it almost exactly cops the classic Les Paul sound.

I've played it so far out of a small Vox practice amp and my Marshall JCM2000 half-stack - so two ends of the spectrum. It sounded good through both, but really shone with the Marshall.

I would deduct a point only because the stock PAF-style pickups aren't quite as rich or dense as stock Gibson pickups or any aftermarket pickups. Despite their good, above-average, solid sound they don't excel in any particular area either. They do what they're supposed to do but don't go above the call of duty.

No problem at all with microphonics.

Here is where the points get deducted. The guitar was setup well in every way except one - frets 18-22 were not level, and caused buzzing, choking and other major problems. I had to carefully level and polish each fret to get the problems to ease and then disappear, which took the better part of two hours. Out-of-the-box, solos and chords from 17th fret and above would be pretty much impossible, or sound terrible. Took a lot of TLC to bring the guitar into proper shape.

Otherwise, the guitar was good - tight jacks and knobs, fret-ends were straight with no sharp edges, tuners were good, nut was good, everything aligned, neck well adjusted.

The color is very pretty, and the flamed top is well-matched and also eye-catching.

Like all Les Pauls, it's damn heavy. Very solid feel. I would play it live, certainly - the clearcoat on top of the paint seems extraordinarily thick and would withstand a heavy blow or scratch.

Hardware seems on the same level as Gibson, as far as durability goes - it feels and actuates exactly the same.

I've only played it a few hours, but it hasn't exhibited any symptoms that would make me doubt it.

Warranty is non-transferable from the original owner - I don't like that. I haven't needed to contact them, so I'm not sure what they do about subsequent owners (like me).

On the other hand, for that original owner, it's a lifetime warranty on body and neck flaws - which is nice.

This is an excellent copy of the Les Paul - it really gets pretty much everything right, at about one third the price.

The only drawback was the fret issue - but I'm assuming that it's not a problem on every individual guitar, and everything else was fine.

If you wanted a really fantastic Les Paul copy, you could take a solid AV3, add a couple high-end pickups and call it a day. All the other pieces are already in place.

The standard Les Paul copy with Tune-o-matic bridge, stop tailpiece, Seymour Duncan designed pickups and Grover tuners. Made in Indonesia.

The sound is quite good for Seymour Duncan "designed" pickups, whatever that is. I have a Vox AD15VT amp and you can easily get that AC/DC crunch. Clean tone is good too. I play mostly 70s and 80s classic rock and with the Vox set to model a AC30TB and the gain on max, I get all the tone I need. Not tube tone, but close enough.

I've read people complain about the action and the finish of the guitar, but the one I got was perfect. Removed the ugly pickguard straight away. Action was perfect. I haven't adjusted a thing. Bought it and still playing away!

I've had it for about a month and it seems pretty solid. Heavy at about 3.5 kilos, as expected of a LP style solid body. You'll have no problems gigging with this thing.

Haven't had the need to deal with them yet.

I've been playing for about 6 years, but this is my first electric. I've always wanted an Epiphone Les Paul, but they aren't available in my area, not to mention cost around $550 (including shipping and customs). The Samick Avion AV3 is the perfect guitar for you if you absolutely must have a LP style guitar but can't afford a Gibson. Why pay extra for an Epi, when you can have better features for less?

Highly Recommended.

Set neck, nice thick heacy body, nice neck profile, neck is sturdy enough to stay in tune pretty well. Good looking axe in transparent red. Pickups to me sound really nice once potted. I can't say whether the potting process changed the sound, but I think the overall sound of this guitar is great. I have never felt a need to go switch out the pickups. I like that this one has its own personality.

There were minor fit/finish issues like the not-tight nuts and bolts, and I have no clue what materials are used.

Grover tuners are "good enough". Some high end tuners might make tuning more stable although it is stable enough for me.

This is a follow-up to my earlier review. I have been playing this guitar along with an 80's Jap Squier w/floyd II as my main axes for a few years now, and I thought it might help readers to get my long-term view.

The sound is great, it was necessary to pot the pickups with paraffin wax to eliminate microphonics in the pickups.

Does it sound just like a Les Paul or an Epi version? Well, not really but it DOES have its own sound and it certainly sounds enough like a Les Paul that on a loud stage with loud amps and distortion pedals and DI boxes or mics you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Those who know me know that my philosophy is to use cheap good-enough guitars on stage. I don't see the purpose of setting a $3000 Gibson Les Paul on your guitar stand at Joe's bad and grill only to see a speaker cabinet get knocked over onto it and your $3000 Gibson now needs $2000 of repairs. No thanks. Give me a set-neck copy for $300 please. Break it in half if you want, I'll go get another $300 copy.

I give a 10 because this guitar sounds great on everything except SRV, I just can't play SRV on a set neck.

Well it was ok, I have no idea what the actual materials/processes used. It was easy enough to set up and get a comfortable feel for me, so I see no issue. I could care less about little cosmetic flaws, and the red flame maple, even if its a photo on plywood looks pretty nice up on stage. So I give a 7 because to me its good enough.

Been great. I abuse this thing in a thin bag that claims to be a "gig" bag. I'm surprised the neck hasn't been snapped in half yet.

I went through and tightened all connectors/knobs, etc. They did a TERRIBLE job tightening at the factory. I would recommend to every owner of these to take 30 minutes and tighten the heck out of the jacks and knobs and stuff. And also pot the pickups if you plan to use it live.

Samick is in like Korea or something. I don't speak Korean. Who is Greg Bennet anyway? I want to know how my guitar was constructed and where and with what materials! Surely that's not too much to ask?

This is an incredible deal. I play in a classic rock/blues band and a funk/dance band and this guitar covers most everything I throw at it with a VERY nice warm balanced sound. Does it sound exactly like a $20,000 1972 Les Paul? I don't really know and honestly I don't really care. To me this guitar sounds just fine in its own right.

I bought this in 20055, a made in Indonesia LP copy. It has 22 frets, medium jumbo. The body is solid mahogany, and mine came with a flame maple top. Controls are the usual LP. Neck is mahogany, and fretboard is rosewood. The pickups are stock PAF-style (nickel-covered) humbuckers.

Contrary to some reviews that said that the top is finished plywood, I actually opened up the guitar to have a look at the pickups. It's solid, dark brown maple. And the insides is coated with a black spray. I thought it was some messed up finishing until my dad told me that it's actually shielding paint. My old 2002 Squier Bullet have no shielding paint inside the body cavity. The frets are nice and smooth.

Bear in mind, this is a budget guitar, and not a Gibson or Epiphone.

I play page/beck/clapton (late 60's) on this axe, and it nailed everything through the Vox AD30vt I have. Since the pickups are PAF, the lows are fat and warm, with smooth highs and long sustain. I'm thinking of changing the pickups (GFS) so that I can have more bite and crunch (aka Led Zep). Basically this is blues/rock-and-roll guitar. Sunshine of Your Love comes through VERY nicely....

For metal and pop, it'll be too muddy and dark. Each to his own. Pickups could be better, but it's the wood and construction that counts, electronic can easily be replaced.

Electronics are silent (due to the shielding paint?), set-up nice out of the box, though I set it up myself for more action and relief for those clapton bends and slides. Minor cosmetic flaws, no major dinks anywhere, with the exception of a small crack near the neck and the neck pickup (sloppy glue/paint job).

I've only have it for half a year. I'm a bedroom player, and it hadn't died on me yet... Nothing have dropped out, the electronics still magnificently silent.

I sent an email, they never replied. Why spoil a nice brand with absymal customer support. Greg Bennett, please take note, your guitar is damn nice but to achieve 100% customer satisfaction the customer must always comes first.

The looks and feel seems nice, and the silent pickups...

For more info on Greg Bennett guitars, don't go to www.samickguitar.com. Come here http://www.samick.co.kr/eng/product/guitar_gregView.asp?types=7&series=30

Bought it brand new at a local music store ,sunburst with a flame top, it has Duncan Design pickups. Pretty standard as far as features.

It has a great sound to it. I am playing it through a crate palamino (a class A tube amp w/celstion speaker) It has a nice tight sound to it and tons of sustain. I get a sound somewhere between skynyrd and zz top. It's great for classic/southern rock and blues.

It was set up by the msic store so it was set up good. The craftsmanship seemed decent. The finish is flawless.

I have only had it for a couple of months so far it is holding up well. I havent giged with it, but I have used it in the studio. As far as giging without a back thats just not smart.

I did email them with a question and they never got back with me.

I've been playing for over 20 years. I dont buy expensive guitars anymore especially when some of these cheaper ones are getting better in quality. I have a Fender Strat, A custom built Strat, A solid Panache LP copy. If something was to happen to it I would get another one. I love the sound of it and the feel of the neck. I shopped around for a 2nd LP copy tried some epi's,ect.This one had the sound and the sustain I was looking for.

September 2005, Indonesia, cherry sunburst, gorgeous finish.
Grover tuners, splittable DuncanDesigned HB103 pickups, tone lock t-o-m, one wonders about the very low price paid.
Les Paul style archtop, gibson scale, you get the idea.
The tiltback head is properly glued at the 2nd fret, the most reliable way to do in such a case.
The neck is on the wide side, but thin, reminds me of Ibanez necks. A real joy to play of course.
For the price paid, a solid 12.

Very honest sound, the DuncanDesigned are clear and with good definition. The guitar concept provides warmth and clarity, along with fantastic sustaiiiinnnn.
To my taste, the sound is slightly too bright(FM rock) so I changed the pickups for "woodier&trhoatier"ones.
The guitar behaves well noisewise, and you can play most styles as it comes stock.
I am using a Cube30 and a Vox vr30r with this guitar, and nothing else in the signal path. It is my living-room guitar so keep in mind I don't play it loud. The p-u's seems a bit microphonic, which could be a squealing issue when played loud.
Overall, stock, it gets a honest 8. For the price paid it is better than any guitar I have encountered.

Well set-up as it came (I got it in its paperbox), nothing to worry about except the loose jack input, a very common issue I have to say.
The nut is well cut, but could be 1-2mm lower.
I had a little problem with a too high fret, had to file it in order to play perfectly. No big deal, but a bit surprising given the overall quality of this guitar. Hence one point off.
The electronic job is properly done, no worries here.

Strap buttons are well attached, and the hardware seems reliable. Overall a very sane impression about this axe. Still, I can't rate it yet.

I just love it, and its price is somewhat from another planet. Before buying I had an Epi LPstandard at home for 2weeks, and the Avion3 is better made(polished frets-nothing hurts) and has better pickups by far. The sustain on both guitars is fantastic.
I would buy it again if broken/stolen/lost.
I love its neck, and the tones delivered. The sustain!
The overall tone is compressed and fresh, just keeps you playing for hours.
If you want a LesPaul-type guitar, this is it.
I play since the mid'80s, own too much stuff hence I know one thing or two about guitars. Hats off Samick!

la mienne est fait en indonesie, probablement par de jeunes exploites. elle a 22 frets et elle a un arch top. dessus jai 2 volumes et 2 tons (treble et bass) + un 3 way selector. elle a 2 humbuckers qui fonctionnent tres bien et qui capes beaucoup de dist. jai aucune idee de quoi est fait ma guitare. ils mont dit en mahogany mais ce nest pas vraie. ce point ne me derange pas car le son est tres beau. la mienne est de couleur cherryburst et elle a une forme de les pauls mais avec une courbe avant plus prononce.jaime bien le neck car il offre une resistance quand on joue dessus. jai aussi recu un petit cable CHEAP ASS de 2 pieds. completement inutile

je joue du metal, nimporte quelle sorte de metal et la guitare prend des surplus de dist ce qui est excellent. jutilise une boss od 20 drive zone twin pedal et un cube trente (ampli). tous les cordes donnent des sons chaleureux. bref, le son est parfait

parfait est mon seul mot mais je nai aucune idee de quoi est fait ma guit mais cela m importe peu

ma guitare a deja fait des tonnes de lives et tout est alle comme sur des roulettes. tout a de lair bien place pour durer longtemps. encore une fois , je crois quelle va durer tres longtemps et je depend sur elle. parfait

elle coutait 660 et je lai eu pour 319 $

je joue depuis 9 ans et elle est la meilleure guitare que je nai jamais eu

Well unfortunately Samick plays the "I'm not telling" game on their website. I think they would sell twice as many of these if they listed the specs, no matter how dismal. I think it would be better to own up to a DECENT guitar built with cheaper wood than to *hope* that nobody finds out that this guitar does not have any mahogany or maple in it (I honestly don't know if it does or not). I would like to know how this guitar is actually built, but that is secondary. I will assume a plywood top with a picture over a nato wood body or whatever the cheapest way to get it built might be. It does have a good set-neck joint which seems to be 95% of the LP sound. Also is an arch top which adds $$ if you're buying a custom guitar. Inlays could be stickers, probably a plastic nut, fake binding, whatever. However, this guitar plays and sounds fine to me.

I had been playing strats, wanted an LP sound for cheap, that simple. It sounds fine to me, not necessarily EXACTLY like a 1960 goldtop or whatever but perfectly usable. My band partner described it as "warm" after hearing me play it at a few gigs without knowing anything about the guitar, and he has NOT always liked the sounds I have brought in.

When I got it it had the usual squeal at high volume, pickups were microphonic. I spent like $15 on wax, melted it in a crock put and dipped the pickups without even undoing the wiring and the microphonics are gone. I can't say that the pickups sound different, but they still sound fine to me, I have no reason to think that going out and buying new pickups will make too much of a difference. The wax came out of the crockpot nicely in one big piece (should have put a wick in it, could have been a candle ;) I can always pot more pickups with the leftover wax as well. You need alot to dip the pickups but it takes very litlle to fill up the spaces inside the pickup.

Having never actually owned an LP or Epi I can't compare the sound of each, but I will say that I am very satisfied with the sound of this guitar. It works great for rock and roll and sounds at least as good as any of the Variax LP models without the piezo chonk.

With the potted pickups I'm giving sound a 10 because I am satisfied. It's not the greatest thing since Leo Fender was born but it is perfectly adequate in my opinion.

Maybe I'm less picky than others, but it plays fine for me. I have used it live about 15-20 times now. I did some minor action-setting etc when I got it, had to tighten up the jack and a pot but otherwise it has been fine. I think that in spite of the lack of documentation about materials used it is a very nice-looking guitar. Good value for $300 if you ask me. I give it a 1 because Samick refuses to document this model. ARE YOU LISTENING SAMICK?

Finish, strap buttons, dependability, are fine, I gig with it regularly. I specifically stopped buying $1500-up guitars so that if a pa speaker falls over on it and it breaks in half I could care less. Just get the insurance $$ (I know, good luck) and go get another. I give it a 9 because they ought to be able to put enough torque into the jack and pot nuts at the factory that I shouldn't have to worry about it.

Do they have anybody who speaks English? I've never tried to deal with them, as far as I'm concerned I could care less, they would have nothing to offer me anyway. All I want is documentation, specs of the guitar.

Been performing live in the Dallas area for over 15 years.

As I mentioned, I stopped buying expensive guitars, my Ed Roman Quicksilver is sold and I have semi-retired my 1979 anniversary strat. I now play an 80's jap strat with floyd (awesome guitar) and this one and a Variax. I paid less than $500 for each, so I won't be devastated if they are stoled or broken. I play through lots of old-school effects (love the Ibanez TS-9 series) and a 69 Twin Reverb. Between this guitar and the Strat I pretty much have all the electric tones I need, the amp and effects make the most difference to me. I use the Variax mainly just for acoustic, although there are lots of usuable sounds on it.

What I love about this guitar is that it sounds fine and I could care less if it gets damaged. Perfect for live use for me.

I wish Samick would give us more information on their website. Maybe they would be willing to hire me for marketing. I promise to pay for myself with increased sales ;)

I give it a 10 because it costs $300 and is every bit as usuable as the $2000 overpriced **** that says Gibson on it. Ask Ed Roman about Gibson ;)

Those already said by everyone. Excellent.

I play punk-rock and I needed the LP sound. Well, I got it. It sounds warm and thick even when selecting the "treble" position.

Yet I'm thinking about chancing the pickups for a couple of Seymour Duncan SP-90-2. I'll tell ya when I 'm done.

Perfect. It looks, feels and wighs as any Gibson LP. Excellent finish, perfect hardware. Friggin' hard to get out of tune. Love it.

I would definitely play it on stage with my group or alone. It sounds perfect and it's a booty you can rely on.

Haven't had to contact no cuystomer support. I guess that says it all.

I definitely love this thing. It's my fourth guitar and I wish they made them this good when I was a kid. I'm so happy with it that I've been considerin' buyin' another Samick-Greg Bennett model, maybe a Torino or a Royale.

If you're lookin' for a Les Paul but you can't afford it, this is exactly what you need. And if I were the Gibson buddies I'd be shakin' in my shoes.

(This is a continuation of the last post)
First let me say that the wait was worth it!!!
The guitar that Samick sent me is a 10 for the way it looks and the care that went into producing this high quality guitar. This is the nicest guitar I have ever owned!!! This guitars finish is nicer than the 2 I played in one store and 2 I only looked at in another store

2005, Indonesia, 22 frets, 2 volume 2 tone, 3 way selector, Daul humbucker, Les Paul Style, Red Transparent, Grover tuners, Jumbo frets, case included. The pickups were already wax potted.

I LOVE the way the guitar feels!!! It really is great for playing rock blues etc. I am using a Roland Blues Cube-30 and a Digitech RP300A and the whole set up sounds pretty awesome to my ears! The only noises that I am getting are from a bit of buzzing on the E and A strings. I play pretty hard and have tried to use more finesse but always return to playing chords harder. I already had lifted the action up and just yesterday finally adjusted the rod to get some neck relief and it has helped a lot but not all of it is gone. I will most likely have to set the action a bit higher for MY TASTE. I love the sound of this guitar!
My friend has an Epiphone LP Studio and I did notice that the pick ups are a little hotter, but with the presence and treble knobs on my amp and the wide variety of controls on my Digitech, this is not an issue for me.
I love the way this guitar makes me feel about playing!
I love the neck since it is closer to an acoustic steel string guitar neck!
I love the looks!
I love that it has the higher quality Grover tuners!

The only thing I see that I dislike is that it did not come fully set up for MY STYLE of heavy handed playing and no guitar company can set up guitars for every different type of player that is why they are made to be adjusted!
I give it a 9 only because the pickups should be a little hotter in my book.

Set up well for light to medium playing.
A couple of frets have little mars on the upper edge but I do not play with my thumb up on the 19 thru 22 frets so it is only a minor cosmetic issue.
The nut is a bit high, but it seems as though it is not as high as the first one I recieved. I am going to wait on filing down the base to lower the action at the nut.

* Will this guitar withstand live playing?
Yes although I am not on stage yet!
* Does the hardware seem like it will last?
Yes!
* Is the finish good enough to last, or does it seem thin and easy
to wear off with lots of playing?
Finish seems thick, but a bit too glossy and I feel that it will show flaws eventually
* Are the strap buttons solid?
Changed out for Schaller Strap Locks
* Can you depend on it?
Seems VERY reliable. Too soon for this really
* Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
YES!!!

Because I ended up with a diamond, I feel a lot better about the whole experience.

First off I want to send out kudos to Steve and David at Crossroads Music in Indiana for really going the extra mile and making sure that everything worked out for me! They told me that they are now getting all guitars shipped to them directly(no drop shipments) so that they can verify that only the best quality guitars get shipped out!!!! View guitar here: http://www.crossroads-music.org/catalog/samick_av3_avion_flamed_arch_top_electric_guitar_brand_new_2854489.htm

The maunfacturer Samick wants you to deal only with the place that sold you the guitar. They would not mail me the return label but instead mailed it back east to the seller, who then mailed it to me! So it took a bit longer to get.

I recieved the guitar boxed in a guitar case with a small guitar cable and an allen wrench for neck adjustment. No warranty or any info on how to setup or care for the guitar.

I give Crossroads Music a 10 for customer service
I give Samick a 7 in the hopes that they beef up thier customer service and also hope that they will very soon carry replacement parts as it is very hard to find any! (just looking at options!)

If stolen I would buy again!
If you are thinking about purchasing let me tell you that if you get anything close to what I got you will not be disappointed!!! Feel free to email me with specific questions and I will tell you all I know!!!

This rating is a bit premature, but I think it is appropriate to let people know what I am going through in regards to buying this make and model of guitar!

2005, Indonesia, Red Transparent, Grover tuners, basic medium duty case included.

I bought this specifically to have a Les Paul style guitar, with a bound neck. (I already had a Squier Strat, but it had a way too narrow "quick neck" that had strings buzzing in open chord positions.)I play mostly rock/blues, and have finally after years of off and on playing, decided to get more serious about my guitar. I have played with some friends in a garage band and at small gatherings. I tried this guitar and an Epiphone and a Les Paul on a Marshall amp and while there obviously were differences in the quality of pick ups and finish, it was not enough to have me want to plunk down $499 for an Epi on sale, not to mention the outrageous price of the Gibson. I liked the sound of the pickups on all three and would be happy with any of 'em! Of course I was not blasting the amp so the differences would probably have been more obvious then. I would have to say that the Gibson had more of a lighter ethereal feel to the pickups.

BRASS TACKS- Just as I see it----The action was higher than two I played in local store. Neck pickup had to be pushed down repeatedly on the bridge side to get the neck side to not be dipped down. There are various mis-colorings on this guitar. Nut is definitely too high. The lead/rhythym switch was pushed all the way in when I recieved it. the 1st string is buzzing a lot around the 1,2,3,4 fret. The 5th string tuner is weird and I tried to loosen the screw but to no avail. All of this is not too bad other than the broken switch and the fret buzz and the creaky feeling Grover tuner. Oh yeah, the case has a wierd shape on it for the arch top and it was made a little askew. I am upgrading to a heavy duty case because i feel that this is what allowed the toggle switch to be pushed in.

Seems durable! High gloss that will most likely show everything that happens to it. solid strap buttons.

I will now be finding out how well customer service is. As I write this I am awaiting a return label from the online company that I purchased it from. At this point, you don't deal with Samick, just their authorized dealers.

I like this guitar a lot and feel that the only real issue here is that the inspector needs to be told to not let anything like this pass by them! I would buy this guitar again if something unforseen happened. I love that I can get a decent Les Paul for under $300.

I am going to do an update to let everyone know how this turns out and I will also fill in more of the questions asked and give truer number ratings! Just won a Blues Cube 30 on ebay and can't wait to hear them together!!! Keep on Rockin' in the Free World!!!!!!!!!!

2003 Avion-3 Cherry Sunburst, Made in Indonesia.
Mahogany neck & body with maple flame top, Grover tuners and HH pickups.

When I recieved my AV3 by UPS, I ran to plug it in and try it on my amps.
A 1968 VT-22 ampeg(tube) and a Randall commander(solid state). And to my astonishment, this guitar sounded incredible. Absolutely no problems with the pots or pick-ups as stated by others -(this dosen't mean that they don't have a problem with these features, it just means I might have been lucky with this guitar). Warm tone on the neck pickup, a little bright on the lead though, but managable. Great sound with a glass slide, one of the reasons of my purchase for this guitar was the lespaul sound w/slide without the astronomical price. And I'm sure this product would sound even better if the pickups were changed to a aquality set.

The bad - High E was too low. Bridge was also too sharp on the high E and I had to file a slight area on the bridge to keep the E from premature breakage. Volume knob was cracked. And a small crack in the clearcoat finish where the bridge anchors (over tightened).
The good - Besides the bad, which I think is minor, the guitar played beutifully. nothing loose. If it wasn't for these negatives I would have said this guitar is excellent in this catagorie.

This guitar will last! I USE my guitars. If it couldn't keep up to my every whim, it would end up in the fireplace. Very solid. Stays in tune, unlike my old goldtop I owned. Thats why I don't own it anymore. Strap buttons were replace with dunlop locks. Gigging alone with it wouldn't worry me a bit.

Beeing an avid guitar player for many years, I've come to discover that price dosen't always mean quality. Brand-names nowadays are the selling point for guitars, not the quality of them. I own 2 guitars for over 25 years -- 69 telecaster w/bigsby, 77 strat standard. Also I have owned a 68 gold top les paul. I've tried all the LP copies like Jay Turser, Epi, etc... None of them impressed me, not even NEW LPs - A whole lot of money for what? That goes without saying for all of the old companies that are making money off just their name. This AV3 was the deal of the century. Low cost with high quality. I would have no problem purchasing another AV3 should anything happen to this one.

Remember fellow guitar players - The guitar doesn't make the player, the player makes the guitar!

This is an update to a previous review of mine.

I just recently wax potted the pickups on this guitar ( http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/electrical/index.php ) , which showed me a few things about it. For one, inside the guitar it was coated with this flat black spray, which I believe to be a shielding spray. I was very surprised to see this sprayed on the inside of the guitar because I don't see it on my Fenders! I suppose this is why it's so quiet between the humbuckers and shielding. Anyway, after putting the potted pickups back in I plugged it into a little solid state amp I use for practice and noticed a much warmer sound on the neck pickup, which I didn't even think was possible. Switching to the bridge pickup I found that it was more useful than ever, because it was also mellower and it doesn't have that harsh bite to it anymore. I can't wait to play this through my 50 watt Crate amp, which caused me to pot it ... every time I added treble I'd get an annoying squeal in my face. Not anymore 8-)

Everyone else has already said these Gary Bennett Avions are made in Indonesia ; this is the 2 pickup model with 2 volume controls and 2 tone controls -- mine is black, and we all know black is best. The 3 way toggle even has the unnecessary Gibson "rhythm/treble" sign on it. I have always used rhythm pickup for lead playing, if there can be said to be such a thing as lead or rhythm. Unless we're talking Hank B. Marvin and the Shadows, the distinction is dead.

Beautiful sound played through a 30w Roland amp (hey, I'm not Hendrix). I play all sorts of stuff from 60s rock to a bit of jazz, to a bit of blues. If you like the sounds on "Cheap thrills", you can get plenty on this thing ; if you like Cream, you got it ; you can get some AC/DC power chords ; you can pick neat and clean like Les Paul himself ; you can get classic Free, you can do a passable Santana sound, surf music, Stax soul sound, Chuck Berry, even a bit of tele twang --and my son uses it for a bit of industrial gothic metal (and plays it in church services!) -- great for classic Aussie rock such as Daddy Cool and Tamam Shud. My only reservation is a minor one which applies to nearly every pickup on any guitar: there's not enough tone difference from 1 to 10.

I'm not the expert, but I've adjusted zilch. Finish is fantastic. No pickguard, which is great, because all you should do with a pickguard is take it off.

The guitar gets few live workouts, apart from in the garage, but goes like a ripper (Aussie speak for "is very good") ; the guitar will still be here when I am gone, and the tuning pegs are worth the price of the whole unit. A very minor point: why do manufacturers stick the jack socket on the edge of the guitar where it puts stress on the jack? Yes, I know you can curl it under the strap, but let's get it right!

Haven't dealt with the company. The best company support is no company support because the product works.

Have played for over 35 years ; this is unquestionably the best guitar I have owned (I did have a Maton El Toro -- Maton has a good international name, but this 35 fret monster was pretty dreadful ; its best feature was the case). I have played teles, strats and Les Pauls, and copies of many. I never liked the look of Les Paul guitars, and never liked the heavy, chunky feel of most Gibsons (including some beautiful jazz archtops I have played). I was looking for a tele or strat and just picked this up in the shop to convince myself I had tried everything ; after about 3 notes and 3 chords I knew this was it. I still don't like the Les Paul look, but if you only ever buy 1 guitar, get one of these. If you are a pro, buy some new pickups if you don't like these, and you will be pleased. In Australia, the original is at least 10 times the price, but you will not get a 10 times better guitar ; Epiphones are 4-5 times the price, and frankly I wouldn't bother. I'm old enough to remember when Ibanez and Yamaha were unwanted in guitar stores, and I think this Samick line falls into the category of potential collectors' item. I was so impressed that I bought the Samick "stratt-ish" guitar, the Interceptor, and if I ever get the money, I might go the tele copy, too. The only thing I occasionally would like on this guitar is an extra neck with 12 strings.

This is an add-on to the last review. This guitar can be made to sound WAY better by replacing the stock pickups. I'm on somewhat of a mission to come up with the best-sounding LP copy for the least amount of cash. After reading some reviews, I decided to try a pair of Mighty Mite Alnico Vintage Buckers. These pickups cost me $35.00 ( I think they've gone up to a whopping $42.00 now at dancingdragon.com), for the PAIR! What a huge improvement in overall tone! It took away the brightness of the stockers and replaced it with warmth. They didn't come with any instructions, so I had a little trouble figuring out the wiring (although this was mostly due to a defective input jack wiring problem that was making me crazy 'til I figured it out). If you don't want coil-splitting (don't know why anyone would; I did it by accident during my wiring trials and it sounded like crap), just hook the red wires together, solder, and wrap with electrical tape to insulate. Attach the other two leads to the pots the way the stockers came out.
These pickups sound great and are a great deal!

Absolutely great with new pickups! Not an expert, but betting it's not far from a real LP.

Made in Indonesia. Chestnut flamed maple top (it's been a while, but I think this color is similar to a Gretsch Country Gentleman). All the operational features have been well-documented by other reviewers. It's a Les Paul copy and a good one in my opinion. Very nice neck with great "playability". Minor detail differences to avoid patent infringement.

I use it to play "roots rock", Neil Young, Bodeans, J. Mellencamp style through a Fender Pro Jr. You can pretty much get any sound you're trying for with this combination. The pickups can be a little bright, but I've been able to "dial out" the brightness as required. The pickups are also somewhat microphonic and I'll probably wax pot them once the "newness" has worn off. Overall very nice-sounding instrument.

Action was slightly high for my taste, right out of the box. No problem getting it set-up to my liking. It also needed new strings, which was no surprise, and I adjusted the pickup heights a little. We're talking personal taste here, so, to each, their own. The only real glaring poor quality item is the nut, which is functional, but not very confidence-inspiring. I think you can get them replaced for less than $20, so, big deal.
For the money, this thing is beautifully made. On close inspection, you can find a few minor detail flaws, but overall I'm very impressed.

Seems very well built. Time will tell. Should withstand live playing without a problem. Finish seems very solid (thick-feeling/looking). I don't think anyone should ever gig without a backup - nothings perfect.

No need for contact, so far. I bought this as factory overstock, so there's no warranty anyway.

I bought this because I've been playing my '78 Tele for close to 20 years now, and I wanted some variety. As a family man, I can't afford the real thing, so I took what I thought was a chance on this. I've only had it a week now, but I'm very happy with it. The quality doesn't quite measure up to my Tele overall, but I didn't expect it to. The sound and playability are fantastic. In this case, I actually feel that I got more than I paid for (a rare circumstance in this day and age). If it were lost or stolen, I'd be bummed for awhile, then get busy finding another one. Thanks to fellow reviewers on this site. I probably wouldn't have "taken the chance" if it weren't for your reviews, so thanks for doing me a big favor!