Samick AV7 Greg Bennett

This is a Copy of a Gibson les Paul. Bought it new in 2004 made in Korea. 22 fret Mahogany arch top, set neck, 8 ply binding Duncan Designed HH, pearl type block inlays, gold hdwr. Typical LP set up 2&2 on sound and tone

Sound is unbelievable. I was able to play it against it epiphone and gibson counter parts. Better than an Epi and equal to the American made Gibson. I play through I fender Princeton chorus and a Vintage Randall rg 80. If i want a bluesy mellow I run it through the fender...if I am going for the peel your face off rock...the randall. If you like the LP and cant afford it buy this..if you have the money..buy a couple of these instead

ACtion , pickups were...surprising set up well have not had to make any adjustments. Which actually surprises me. The only thing I dont like..is the truss rod cover....how is that for the only flaw.LOL Pearl white finish..everone seems to buy the red and the black. Samick doesnt even list the pearl on their site

So far its good. I had a friend who bought one about 4 years ago....he plays all over florida at beach bars. Said he has dropped his in the snad more times and has yet had to take it in for adjusments. Said it built like a tank. I would deffinely gig with this and without a back up

Never had to deal with them

I have been playing 19 years Have a Strat, Tele, Coronet, Ovation, Teisco(original not re-issue)I would buy again if stolen. I shopped around to try to get it cheaper but 375 is the cheapest I could get. One important note if you are looking at theese the av 1-4 are vere similar to the squire and affinity line of fender...inexpensive, cheaper components. the AV 5,6 and especially 7 are not. As a former luthier from Gibson told me...."i would buy an AV 7 over anygibson puts out...except for a special order from the custom shop"...enough said

2003 Greg Bennett AV7 in metallic pearl white. Got a killer price brand new from Crossroads Music only $309!!! Typical Korean Les Paul Custom copy controls and electronics, Duncan Designed pickups, full size 500k pots, decent capacitors, fully shield painted cavities, 1/2" thick Mahogany carved top, mahogany body & neck with LONG neck tenon, easily as long of a tenon as a Gibson Historic, it extends past 3/4 of the way into the neck pickup cavity. Very nice rosewood for the fingerboard. Real Grover tuners, multiply binding everywhere. Gold plating seems to be very well done too. Very light for an LP, slightly less than 8 pounds.

Very impressive sound considering the Duncan Designed pups are usually average sounding at best. Unplugged this guitar is alive, I have vintage Gibson Les Pauls from the 1950's and new Historic Les Pauls and this one is just as lively unplugged and has some serious sustain. Plugged in clean it's warm and jazzy sounding, kick in the overdrive and that creamy Les Paul crunch and grind is delivered in satisfying quantities. A good set of pickups would make this a killer guitar.

Typical Korean fret work, frets were nice and level but the material is a bit soft and the final polish step is missing leaving a gritty feel, easily enough fixed however. The ABR-1 copy bridge rattled a bit and did not provide enough travel to intonate the G string. A tune-o- matic bridge copy from Stew Mac for $16 remedied that easily enough. The pearl white metallic finish is beautiful, a few minor finish glitches can be found IF you look VERY carefully under good light, but overall it is a very well done finish and very nice multiple binding job. The nut which seems to be bone or tusque was reasonably cut and only required a final slight lowering of each string for optimum action. I like it low and clean and this guitar delivers that. Action is set at a low 2/64" both sides 12th fret and it plays clean and fast! One area of concern is the fingerboard inlays, they are your typical plastic as almost ALL inlays are, but more often than not on these Bennetts they vary too much from inlay to inlay, some are very nicely figured and others are bland looking.

No reason not to think it won't hold up. Strap buttons are nicely partly recessed into the body giving additional stability to them.

Don't know, haven't tried to contact them. One serious problem that persists for Samick is info and availability. This pearl white finish for example although out for almost a year now is still not listed on their site or in most catalogs. I don't know of any dealers I can go to to try these, I have to scour the net to find them for sale online and prices vary dramatically from site to site IF you can even find them. I've seen models that are not even listed anywhere too. SAMICK, wake up, get a good dealer network, and good info available!

I've also heard a price increase is on the way and I see most models are going for a lot more now on the net. BIG mistake Samick, DON'T do it! you'll loose the market if you get to Epiphone level street prices.

Been playing 25 years and repairing, teaching guitar too. I have A LOT of guitars. Anything from 1939 Gibson archtops, 1950's Les Pauls to 2002 Historics, a Guild X700, Strats, Teles, and everything inbetween. I've been watching these Greg Bennetts from the start, I have a 1999 factory prototype AV6 that is very nice too. Early on they had some serious QC issues on many models, I got a really bad SG TR2 Torino a few years back but they really seem to have gotten things fixed up now. I have several different Bennett models and these newest ones are some of the best I've seen. They easily are vastly better than Epiphones and careful shopping will get you one for almost 45% LESS money than an Epi. Agile guitars from Rondo Music are the latest, greatest buzz in cheap LP copies, but IMO these Bennetts are easily better overall and usually cheaper too. The jazz box models, JZ 2, 3 & 4 are killer for the price too. Although I own some very expensive guitars I find myself grabbing for this AV7 on a regular basis I like it so much, and that says a lot to me when I can play anything I want but my gut preference many times is for this budget beauty. I'm going to put a good set of pickups in it like some Peter Florence Voodoos, I'll bet this thing really sounds great then.

***One warning, the lower models like AV1, AV2, AV3 are junk. Although they "look" very similar to the AV6 & 7 they are built out of cheap nato wood and have plywood arch tops, NOT carved solid wood! AVOID ALL the cheap Bennett lower models of the entire line at all costs, total junk IMO.

My 2002 Samick Greg Bennett Avion AV7 is a Single cut away, with 22 frets and 24?" scale. It has a mahogany arch top body, with a mahogany set neck. The body is bound on top with an 8 ply binding. The back of the body, neck and headstock are also bound. The fretboard is rosewood with block inlays. Electronics are basic LP setup, 2 humbuckers (gold covered Duncan designed)- 2 tone and 2 volume controls with a 3 way selector. Tuners are Grovers and there is a tune-o-matic and stopbar all gold plated. You can get a guitar with more faetures, but anything more for me just gets in the way.

I use a Line6 flextone HD stereo head with a Celestion loaded Carvin 4x12 cabinet. Even though the Line6 can make virtually any guitar sound good, The AV7 sounds especially good. Has a great overdrive tone using the modern high gain model with the bridge pickup and the neck PU has great smooth sustain- very similar to my Les Paul Classic. I must admit I am a bit surprised at the sound. All controls are smooth and quiet (a rarity for a guitar of this price)

It also has a great clean, jazzy sound when using the middle or rythym position. I've never cared for the sound of a bridge humbucker clean, so I never use that combo.

Sound is exactly the way I like it.

This was without a doubt the biggest surprise when I opened the box. After playing/collecting for 20+ years, I've started playing some more affordable guitars as it is becoming harder to afford the American mades. The AV7 was setup very nice out of the box. (I bought it from a dealer on ebay, he may have set the guitar up, but I don't know for sure) intonation was dead on. I lowered the bridge a little, but didn't have to make any truss rod adjustments, which is a pleasent surprise. The finish is way better than any imports I've ever played. Frets are finished nicely. Binding, paint (translucent wine red), and clear are all to notch with no visible flaws. Hardware is also better than you usually find on a less expensive guitar. Pots are smooth and quiet as is the selector. The Duncans are also very nice.
I posted some pictures because I know how aggrivating it can be when every dealer has the same picture from the manufacturers web site.

just copy and paste this url- http://www.geocities.com/bigconig/samick.html

Only had the guitar for a week. No issues. Seems quite solid. I wouldn't imagine it will have any problems for quite some time.

not sure about the warranty. But I wouldn't imagine needing it.

All in all this is a great guitar, and when you factor in the price it becomes an even better one. I will probably try to track down one of the quilt top ones next- Finding a dealer that has the Greg Bennetts in stock can be a bit of a challenge. Another note. this guitar doesn't fit in all Les Paul cases. It doesn't fit the newer brown w/pink cases, but does fit my '70's black/purple. So best bet is to get it with the case if available or bring it to a local shop and try it before buying a case.

Very pleased with this purchase a I have said, and will probably get another.