Samick Blues Saraceno TV Twenty

Alder-body either maple or alder neck
22 frets fat neck (hellyeah..)
two seymore duncan hotrails pickups
one seynore duncan humbucker (some blues type..)
5-way selector
volume
tone /w pull-up tap for the humbucker
gotoh-machineheads

FUCKING SPECTACULAR!!!!'
I use this axe for everything.. Blues, HArdrock, sweep/n tap, Classical, Heavymetal, Black and death metal even folkstuff
Nice full sound, with so many options to fiddle with...
I can change the sound instantly from creem-soundind to slayer-sounding..
The only dislike i have on these guitars are the finish..
Mine is (was) a yellow/orange sunburst looking thing. Now its black with a concrete looking finish..

I've done some work to it, like lowering the action, changed the humbucker to a cheap, old EMG-Select, changed the wiring, and refinished it.

Also the strap-bolts had really shitty screws to hold them..
They flew straight out on me, ON STAGE...

It seems like there might have been a small production flaw on it, suddenly i realized that i had a dud fret. High E-string roughly 16th or 17th fret..
This wont be difficult to take care of, but i've been busy.

I've used this guitar for maybe 6-7years now, and it's been good to me.
I've given it a beating, and it always came back for more
I don't care for a second if this guitar won't last, BECAUSE I WILL MAKE THAT FUCKER LAST...

PPL complain bout samick's support, but all i did was send a mail, and it was answered the next morning. THANK YOU SAMICK!

I've never been close to a guitar like this. IT BEATS MY OLD '58 STRAT....
I trust this axe with my life.. I don't rely on backup guitars when i'm on this.
I want more of these instruments, and I will gladly trade an exellent HAMMOND for one..

mini black 3 to a side tuners a super easy to play kneck and jumbo frets round out the top end of my favourite guitar of all time.
Throw in some mid range duncan designed pickupsand i traded the nickel painted black saddled for graphtech string saver saddles (cheap upgrade)and simple controls found on cheap and expensive guitars
sort of EVH model meets LP sired by a Godin

good sound from cheap pickups is ok i will upgrade later but for now this worksi run through a sunn sonaro head and traynor 2by 12 cabs w a digitech rp 100 effects pedal and the guitar can sound like anything u want it to

i had to bring down the action to shreding leveli put nines on it and they are nice to play and bend w this guitar
the frets feel great under my fingers and lend to bigger bendsand it was used so took everything apart and clened w a dremel to bring back the shine but it looked good and still does to this day

this is my fav guitar in my collection and my dad who owns both a 73 strat and a 69 lp goldtop even offerd to buy it off me
this will be my live ax down the road and i will be looking for another one

i havent even tried to write samick beacuse i see from other posts its a waste of tim

i want another and look in every used and pawn shop to try to find one if im in a new town, the only other thing im going to do to it soon is adda fender rolling nut
if u see it play one and then hide it beacuse everyone will want this odd ball guitar i had to wait till the other guy looking at it left to get cash s i could buy it and be gone

Where do I start? My bright-green Samick Blues Saraceno is the absolute finest guitar I have ever owned. From a man who has owned three Gibson SG's and two Les Paul's, this may come as a shock to some of you. But there is not a more versatile guitar out there.

With a completely stock pickup configuration, this bad boy sports Seymour Duncan-designed pickups (Blues humbucker and two hot rails), and will blow out tones from the blusiest to the most thickly distorted metal. This axe also came factory-equipped with a coil tap.

I play a variety of music, anywhere from classic rock, to blue and to death metal such as Pantera and early generation Slayer. It sports a very angry tone through my Fender Stage 100 head with Mesa Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp.

This guitar can go from the punchiest, clearest sound, to the richest, most full-bodied blues tone.

As for dislikes, I have none with it.

Seeing as I got the guitar from my uncle, I never felt its factory action. I can tell you that it has a very comfortable low play action. The neck is a little thicker than I desire, but it is still fast for a thick neck.

As for the factory finish, it was black and I took it to a car body shop to have it repainted. The factory black showed every little scuff and wear mark known to man. The new finish, which is PPG base coat/clear coat car paint (two-step) is incredible.

I have gigged out with this guitar extensively since 1996 and it is holding up like a champ. It sports all original hardware, all greatly intact. I could depend on it even without a backup axe.

Not applicable

I am a rock/blues picker with 10 years experience.

Mine is the two humbucker Floyd Rose designed trem equipped TV 20. Solid Red Alder body with maple neck. The stock p'ups have been replaced with two Blues Trembuckers (neck and bridge.) I don't know what the original pups sounded like as I changed them out as soon as I got the guitar. The neck is wide and semi thick. I'm used to Wolfgangs and Les Paul Deluxe necks, so I'm not going to say they're *thick* as that's relative to the individual player. Not thin like a an Ibanez, but not a Fender NoCaster either. Somewhere in the middle. Big frets though.

The TV 20 is great for rocking out on. I play Rock and Blues mostly and this guitar is perfect for my style. I mainly play it through a 5150 Combo and sometimes though a Peavey Wiggy. Sounds great through both amps. With the Blues Trembuckers it has a nice clean bite in the bridge position and a warm creamy tone in the neck. The middle selection has it's own 'in the middle' sound which is very usable too.
There's really nothing about this guitar that I don't like with the way I have it set up.

I bought it used so I have no idea about how it came from the factory.
However, I imagie it's a mid 90's model and it's holding up really well. No flaws in the woodwork so far. Mind you it is Korean made and not he quality of my other USA made guitars, but it plays and sounds just fine for what it is. Every thing works and that's all I can ask for a $250 guitar.

I don't play out. Just a hobbyist, but I don't see any reason this guitar wouldn't do great in a live situation. It's as simple as it gets and sometimes that's the most reliable ingredient. It stays in tune much better with the Floyd Rose designed trem than most hardtail guitars I own.

N/A

I've been playing guitar a little over 20 years now. I've owned a lot of guitars in that time. I currently own 2 Peavey USA made Wolfgangs, a '74 Les Paul, Classic 50's Tele that's highly modded, another Samick (Radio Ten) and a few other odds and ends guitars. This guitar is fun to play and holds it's own with my other guitars. If it were lost or stolen, I'd get another. In fact, I'm always looking to buy more of the TV 20's. Damn nice guitar for the price.

I don't know the year or anything since I bought it used, but it has two twin blade pickups, and a regular humbucker in the bridge with a coil tap. 5 way selector, one volume, and one tone which is a push pull switch for the coil tap on the bridge humbucker. Black, Tele meets EVH wolfgang body style. Maple neck with a thin finish. I think it is oiled, it is a fast neck. Gut cut. Small light body.

I like this guitar. It is very versitile, and affordable. I can get great single coil like sounds without buzz or humm due to the twin blaces which are small humbuckers. Duncan Designed pickups sound great. I have just played blues, and rock with this guitar so far, and it suites them good. I haven't played any Metal or heavy stuff with it yet, but I don't think that the sound will suit heavy stuff too well.

I got it used so I can't comment on the setup or anything. But I don't like the fact that the truss rod nut is so hard to get to. I had to bend a nut driver to get to it. But other than that it is great.

I got a good deal on the guitar since the bridge humbucker wasn't working. I got them to throw in a new humbucker. Also when I got it the middle pickup was feeding back very badly. I noticed a small crack in the top of that pickup. I put some epoxy in it, and now it is good. The guy who had the guitar before me tried to re-wire it, ,but by the looks of things he didn't know one end of a soldering iron from the other. I rewired it completely, and Used all of the original pots, and switches, and it sounds even better than it did when I got it. All of the pots are good, and the switch is good as well.

E-mailed them about this model, and a couple others that I was looking at. That was about a month ago, and still I haven't heard from them.

For the pricec I payed I got a great guitar that has a completely different sound than my others, and sounds, and plays like it is worth three time the pricee I payed for it.

I believe it this guitar was made in the mid to late 90's. Korean. 22 jumbo frets on a maple finger board. Body wood either alder or basswood. 5way selecter, with a coil tap for the bridge pickup. ssh duncan designed pickups. Tele style body, with strat style bridge. Gotoh tuners, and fat neck with flat finger board.

The sound was alright when I got it but I put a JB in the bridge this brought the guitar to life. Using a DS-1 and a classic 30 I get a great lead tone. There is no noise coming from this guitar. Very well rounded tone. Replace the input jack.

I know many had problems with the set-up but I bought mine used for a store that I get everything from, they already had it set-up when I picked it up. Only flaws were finish, and they were from the first owner.

This guitar seems tought enough, I use only as recording guitar though. The pickups and hardware will last. This guitar has not let me down yet. If i play a gig where I need a backup I also be carrying a .357.

I emailed them about a few questions. They emailed back that they would contact me, it has been a month. Not very good I guess. Maybe if I call that would be better.

I have been playing for 14yrs, if lost or stolen I would problaly try to find another, it is alot of fun to play.

I have a red one with a floyd,not sure the exact year it was made,it has two humbuckers, one volume, and a very chunky neck with big fretwire.The stock rhythym pickup sounds great but I had to replace the bridge pickup because it was microphonic.I never inquired as to what kind of wood the body was made of, and I don't really care, if a guitar plays well and sounds good,does it really matter?It has a nice finish except in the pickup cavity, but again I have to say who cares!I've never had anyone take a picture of me onstage playing it and say "You really need to paint the pickup cavity."They just comment on how good it looks.The floyd is great! Stays in tune like it should.Has Gotoh tuners (like that matters when you have a locking nut).22 frets, big chunky fat neck.I'm a floyd-one volume kind of guy,so this guitar fits me very well.Plus the body's not as big as a Wolfgang (which I have owned and sold when I got this guitar),so it's more comfortable to play live.I love all the features except the bridge pickup it came with.

I play rock and roll, every type,for a living.I play through a Marshall 50 watt head and a 4-12 cab.I use a delay and a tube screamer to bump the front end.Since I've put the Semour Duncan in the bridge this guitar is not noisy at all. The only noises it makes are the ones I intend.I wouldn't say it's the best sounding guitaar I've ever had but it comes pretty close.A lot of your sound depends on what you're plugging into,what effects,etc. Even a cheap guitar can sound pretty good through the right amp.

When I bought this guitar it didn't have strings on it and was missing a few of the little square blocks in the tremolo.I replaced them and set this guitar up myself (whoever had it before me was an idiot).No need to adjust the pickups as they're mounted to the body.The routing job and the nut on it is perfect,and the pickup selector is smooth.Since I never played it when it was new, I can't comment on the action from the factory, but it certainly has great action now!The paint job is tough!I'm usually pretty bad about putting dings in a guitar,but I just can't seem to damage the finish on this one.

This has been my main guitar for the past year,and it has become my favorite guitar to play live,it just feels great, like it was made for me.This is one tough guitar.I replaced the strap buttons with locking ones right after I got it,because I prefer them, not because there was anything wrong with the orginal ones.The strings seem to lose their newness on this guitar very fast, but thats okay because that means I keep new strings on it most of the time(I used to be very lazy about changing strings).I've never had to adjust the intonation except when I first set it up.This is a very dependable guitar, in my opinion (you know what they say about opinions), BUT I would never ever use any guitar on a gig without a backup, thats just foolish!

Are they still in business? I'v never needed their support,and it's a good thing too,from what I've heard.

I've been playing since '76,and own several other guitars including an Ibanez IC-500,a Charvel,a Kramer.If this guitar was stolen, I would just find another one.I love the neck on this guitar, and the small body.Plus when I play the upper frets, theres no backplate digging into my hand.I can't think of anything I don't like about it, I compare it to other guitars every time I go to a guitar store and play one of the guitars they want a fortune for, and I wouldn't swap this guitar for any Les Paul or Strat or Tele, no matter how vintage or popular or what kind of wood they're made from.In the end I can only say that I'm more than happy with the TV Twenty I have.Maybe I just lucked out and got a good one! Who knows?

`96 samick blues saraceno model tv-twenty,22 frets,alder body,
1 volume,2 humbckers,(i replaced the front with a air norton and the back with a tone zone)maple neck and fingerboard,raid red paint,
looks like a tele-strat-les paul-wolfgang,floyd rose tremolo,
gotoh tuners,had a fat neck(very fat!but i shaved it down)
big frets(layed very nicely)blah blah blah....this is my sixth tv-20!!!!!!!!

well it sounded great but i took it over the edge with new pick-ups!!!
the tone zone is really really hot!
has below i play thru a gt-3 pedal,marshall vaulesat amp into a
peavey 4-12" speaker cab sounds great, clean,drity, loud always..
the 8 is cuz of the duncan designed pick-ups..

well i got it from e-bay and all the locking nut things were missing,and the bar was history..well it was beat hard!i took it apart and started over..ill paint it later,,(the raid red is to harsh to look at)maybe seafoam green! im giving it a 9 cuz its now my nubmer one guitar!!!!! (turn out so hot)

these guitars are great for live playing and studio,they are lite and sound fat and creamy!i still have 3 of them and ill keep um!
i have them for back up :)

yeah rite!!!!!!!!!!they stop making these a long time ago and now you cant get thier web page so blah blah blah.......

cheap, kicks butt, and looks good...cant you beat it? NO!!!!!if you got one sell it to me!!!if it was stolen i would have to kill somebody! its easy to play, lite,and sounds so good(hard for a samickto do!)they just look good, you can go rock, metal, blues it will do it all...

This is definitely a 'Warriors' guitar. Totally striped down and Spartan in nature. Though I was initially disappointed by its lack of variety giving features, the H/H one volume knob configuration, has proven to provide the most expedient means to a variety of tones in an expedient manner. This guitar has taken the place of my 76 Les Paul Custom and my Amercian Standard Strat for live applications.
Doesn't have the tuning problems of my strat. And unlike my Les Paul, the neck pickup is fat without getting to muddy. Jumbo frets are a plus, but I may get rid of the Floyd Rose trem as maintenance is a pain. As features go with the TV TWENTY, less is definitley more.

The music I play utilizes clean rhythm funk guitar with 'Greased Up Solos' ala Steve Lukather. For clean stuff I'm going through a Boss Compressor directly in to a Roland JC-120 using the neck pickup.
This is where this guitar really shines. I get an incredible spanky/smoky rhythm sound with this guitar. It's like getting the best sounds from my Les Paul and my Strat. The neck pickup is a little brittle for my tastes; clean and distorted. My 5150 and that pick up just don't get along. I'm thinking about throwing an EMG in there. Neck pickup is pretty much useless for me. But the neck pickup is so versatile that it will get me by until I replace the neck pickup.

Action was perfect for me; not to high not too low.
The only problem I've had is with the intonation. Every 3 months or so it goes out on me. Taking it to the shop every few months is starting to get expensive. The finish is kind of shoddy, but I play it for it sound not its looks.

This guitar is a true stalwart. You can definitely depend on it going into battle. This guitar looks tuff and lucky for me it has proven itself time and time again on the road. Gotoh tuners are top notch and you couldn't rip those strap buttons off if you tried.
This guitar has been dropped countless times, in all kinds of ways, out on the road. And everytime I pick it up and it plays like a dream.
The more expensive guitars I've had could never take this kind of punishment. This guitar was built for the road.

I believe Samick's customer support is non-existent. I have yet to make contact with them. Looks like you are on your own with this guitar.

I've been playing guitar for 21 years. In that time I've owned alot of 'expensive' guitars. This guitar, though, has won my heart.
It has proven itself time and time again. And for the music I play the tone can't be beat. Acknowledging all the negatives, this the guitar I had been waiting my playing career for.
For a guitar designed to rock, it does the clean thing better than any guitar I've ever played. If anyone out there has one they want to get rid of please sell it to me.

22 frets.5-way pickup selector (s/s/h)Duncan designed.Looks like Peavey Wolfgang a bit. Vintage tremolo.

This guitar has awesome sound for my music style(hard rock)kinda warm sound. But I can say this guitar is very versatile.

Looks good. Adjustment of all things is great

It has never fail me in action

i have five of them so here goes..one is purple with s/s/h,two are plaid with h/h (one with locking tremolo...)next we have a black one its s/s/h and finally a red one s/s/h, they all have alder bodys.. the two plaid ones have a laminated top but there painted so wood? all but the red one have a tremolo unit gotoh tuners and 5-way seletors, all also sport 22 frets--- as far as the finish...well the same as everybody eles ...its kind of sloppy but the purple one is the best looking guitar ive owned in 20 years playing!

three out of five sound great(i play a boss gt-3 thru my motu hard disc recording system)clean,drity, raw... they have a great tone...

the action on all!!!!! the guitars sucked! (even the used ones!) but i worked at a music store setting up guitars before so setting them up was very easy...finish flaws some, but for the price (i got one for 100$!)were not enuff snivel about!

im really,really,really hard on guitars!(ripped a flody off on stage once!) so if i say they will last then well...

youll never get thru to samick so dont waste your time!!!!!!
oh yeah if you have a tv-twenty.... your warranty is up!
(they stop production 3-years ago!)

they are a great guitar,(well i do have five!)for the most part, sound good, look good play great... so if you find one... well sell it to me!!

22 frets, two Seymour Duncan copy pickups. One volume, one tone knob. I think the body is alder, though I could be wrong. This one has the Grapecicle finish, kind of a purple-burts. Vintage style bridge, with generic tuners. No case.

Because of the Duncan copy pickups, it has a warm, round tone, which was the reason I bought it. Mainly suited for hard rock, though it can produce a variety of sounds. It was mainly played through a Marshall Valvestate amp, with little or no effects(the best way).

Action was very high from the factory, not to mention the intonation was way off. Overall finish was very nice. I've never been able to properly adjust the intonation on the stupid thing!! So needless to say it doesn't get played much anymore. The nut was never cut properly, so I had to fix that.

For a guitar that didn't get played much, it's had it's share of problems. Pickup selector shorted out right away, the nut had to be fixed etc...

I've played long enough to know I wasted my money on this guitar. I originally bought it because it had a nice sound, and it wasn't a strat shape. Through playing it I've realized it's mainly a piece of crap. It's unbalanced, so it doesn't ever hang on you right, the electronics are extremely cheap, and the intonation is unfixable. What do you want for under 500 bucks, right? I paid $375 for my Washburn, brand new, and it's 10 times the guitar.

This is the H/H pickup version with the Floyd Rose-type trem. Set up kind of like a Peavey Wolfgang Special, with just one volume knob. "Duncan Designed" pickups mounted directly to body; 3-way switch in the "strat" location. Fat, 22-fret neck, like a 50's Les Paul. Gloss maple fingerboard (with inlays matched to body color), fat frets, back of neck unfinished and very smooth. Alder body with kind of a Fender Toronado shape. My wife says it looks like an amoeba, but I thinks it's pretty cool looking. The features it has are very nice; there's just not a lot of them. It's a fairly simple guitar.

The stock pickups are plenty powerful and clean, but somewhat brittle sounding. Hey, they're cheap knockoffs. I've replaced them with a Duncan "Blues Trembucker" in the bridge and a Duncan '59 in the neck, and the difference is amazing. Playing through a Crate Blue Voodoo 2x12 tube combo with a 4x12 extension cab, I can get a tone very similar to Blues Saraceno's, without his custom-made amp. My only effects are a Boss RV-3 reverb/delay unit and some DOD chorus and flange pedals. You're somewhat limited due to the lack of the tone knob, but with the right pickups, you can get serious tonal variations by just rolling off the volume knob a bit. EVH was right about that !!! I'm very much a subscriber to the philosophy of keeping a clean guitar signal and letting the amp do all the work. Keep the pre-gain to moderate levels and really drive the power tubes of your amp; the distortion tone is incredible! My style is a mix of down&dirty blues, VH, old Extreme, and a few others (not all at once, what a mess!) Nice fat, sustaining, "honky" tones, even with the floyd bridge. Good clean tones, but will also shred with the best of 'em.

Nice job for an inexpensive guitar. The rating is more for the playability of the guitar than for appearance. Neck fits nicely in the body cavity (no neck plate, so the heel's more comfortable). Action from the factory was pretty much spot-on for my tastes, not too high, not too low. Pickups are screwed directly into the body, so no adjustment issues there. Paint is nice, but a little sloppy in the pickup and control cavities, as was the routing of the wood itself. This is definitely a player's guitar, not a showpiece. Fretwork is good, all the controls work well, and the guitar plays like a dream.

As I mentioned above, this guitar is meant to be played. Everything in the hardware department is heavy-duty. No need to replace strap buttons or anything. Finish seems tough as nails. The trem is a floater, so you'd need a backup in case of a broken string. Otherwise, this guitar is simplicity itself.

I haven't talked with Samick directly, but the dealer I work with says they're not too bad about warranty issues and such.

I LOVE this axe. Essentially, it's the ideal rock guitar for me. It's simple yet versatile, and with the new pickups sounds fantastic. Unfortunately, Samick doesn't make this model any more, but I've seen brand-new leftovers for as little as $250. For that price, you're basically getting the equivalent of a Peavey Wolfgang Special (with a better neck in my opinion). I've been playing for over 15 years, and have had lots of (expensive) guitars. I still have three others, including a Yamaha Pacifica for single-coil blues and some chicken-pickin', and an Epiphone Sheraton semi-hollow. If I can find one of the fixed bridge, H/S/S versions of the TV-20, I'm going to buy one of those as well and then I can sell the Pacifica. Tube amps, as much of a pain as they are, are the key to "the tone". S

Designed by guitarist Blues Saraceno. Korean made, Valley Arts "design" neck, Duncan "designed" pickups, 22 frets, S/S/H with split H via pull up tone knob, 5 selector strat style switch, passive electronics, maple fretboard, not sure of body wood, "cream-cicle" finish, Jetson's neo-retro body shape (closest look alike is the Ibanez Talman which is vaguely strat like). Vintage strat style trem thru body, jumbo frets, wide/thin neck, flat radius >= 12", cool triangular 3/3 alternate headstock- like a mini flying V head. Oh yeah, satin neck finish on back, glossy on the fingerboard, pretty cool.

Playing blues rock, bassman head/4x10 celestion cab, rat and blues driver pedals. I don't care for the pickups, they are very loud but have no character the neck pickup is microphonic also and it's a mini humbucker. There are no pickup covers or pickguards hence no sheilding. Pullout split coil switch gives a strat like sound in bridge/middle position. I don't like the pickups at all, I just purchased AGI-Lace transensors but have yet to install them. The guitar does have some resonance, so I think it's worth a second chance. As of now I'll just give it a 6, it sounds just OK.

First of all action/fit should be one category and finish another. So Action/Fit gets a (1). Finish gets a (9) because the paint job, satin neck finish and pickup wiring is excellent. As far as the setup, the nut was cut way too high like a childhood acoustic I once had. When I was a kid I gouged out the grooves, this time I did it right and took the nut out and filed the back, better but still didn't like the action. First of all, I play .010 strings and perhaps this guitar is desinged for .009s? I believe they have a .0095 out there so I may try them. It's not really the height but the tension .010 almost feels like an acoustic. I had a luthier adjust it and put in a graph-tech nut, it's a bit better now.

Nice black hardware good and solid tuners, strap buttons etc. Would gig without a backup, if the pickup replacement brings this guitar too life. Right now, this guitar is the backup for string breaks.

Though they run ads and claim they make the most guitars in the world, I don't think they really care about their own line. They mostly make guitars for other companies. Maybe this thing didn't take off in the US but does good in Asia? Also, people will say wow that's really cool, what kinda guitar is that? I'll say "Samick" and see a twisted face staring back at me, so now I say "it's a Blues TV 20" :-) They should really come up with a cool name for their guitar line. Samick doesn't roll off the tongue like Fender.

Been playing 20 years, have a sweet '68 strat that bends like butter with .010 which is why I'm critical of the setup. Really liked the Neo-Retro looks and have to admit I bought it via the net without every playing one. Also bought it because Blues himself has killer technique, saw him play with the Jack Bruce band w/Ginger when he was a lad of 18. Sounded great though it wasn't that guitar (before he had the endorsement). Blues says (on his webpage) he uses the TV twenty today however, I would doubt his is the same as mine, probably better tonewood for the body, and real Duncan pickups, not overseas knockoffs. One other thing I forgot to mention: as a strat player I'm used to the vol knob being real close to the first string sitting almost in the palm. On the TV 20 it is set back outside my pinky and I occasionally rolled off the volume while playing. I also found it difficult to get to the pull out tone knob while the whammy was in, so I reversed the volume and tone pots. Obviously, Blues' right hand works differenly!