Samick RL-3 Royale

RL-3 Royale semi-hollow (came without case), Korean-made, 22 thicker/harder frets, chrome hardware, quilted mahogany sunburst top, 2 PAF-type pickups (individually controlled, vol and tone), 3-pos selector switch, passive electronics, single cutaway, double f-holes, block bridge, non-locking Grover tuners, medium depth neck with slight radius and rosewood fingerboard. Came with no external accessories.

The sound of this axe is the real selling point. The tone I get is warm and still edgy enough to cut through a heavily-synthesized band's mix. The pickups differentiate distinctively with the sweetest sound being attained with the selector in the center mix position (I am not sure whether that position cuts the coil, but it does roll off some low-mid). The sustain is amazing and the feedback is minimal even in a hot distortion channel. I love how non-microphonic it is, despite the great wood-tone it generates.

The factory set-up was good except for a slightly-too-macho action for me. The neck was tensioned properly and there was no buzz at all even after I dropped the action some. The pickups seem to be adjusted just right. The frets were finished so perfectly I can't imagine how they did it, however there was a small amount of surface corrosion on them, probably due to long storage in high humidity. The controls and switches are all tight and noiseless. It plays super fast now.

I tend to baby my axes, but there are moments of live insane aggression from time to time. I had several such moments the same night I bought this thing and it laughed at me. The finish is so pretty that you tend not to want to mar it even with fingerprints, but the laminate seems tough enough. I took off the too-visible ivory pick guard to give it a better presentation, but I may opt to install a black one or even a clear one.

Too early to report on customer service. Hopefully I'll never have to deal with them for anything other than new orders.

I've been playing for 26 years, mostly classic rock and blues. I switch between guitar and bass. I have a red Strat, a Fernandes Black Rain (like a PRS), a Fender P-bass, and a Steinberger headless bass. This RL-3 is my prettiest toy. I put it into a Peavey Classic 50 with a Digitech RP-10 pedal processor. So far, I have come to regard it as my current favorite instrument.

Shortcomings: I wish it had a blend control for the pickups, not just a selector switch. And I wish it weren't neck-heavy, but them's the breaks with petite semi-hollows, unless you want to lug a big ES-335 around all night.

2002 model...contains strings, wood, glue, etc.

i play jazz. i bought this to use while waiting for my gibson herb ellis to arive...i planned on using it as a backup later on. well, after waiting 4 months for the gibson (it was supposed to take 1-2 weeks) it finally arrived...the $3,000 gibson was a complete p.o.s. this $300 guitar sounds and plays better than the gibson. the gibson is a full hollowbody...this is a semi, but it sounds so much better than the p.o.s. gibson. I'm currently looking for a new hollowbody that doesn't suck...so the samick will eventually be my backup, but it's doing just fine now. I should mention though, i'm playing it through a fairly expensive amp (evans je-150). i give the sound a 10 for the price

its a cheap korean guitar..it needs a real setup to play well. there are flaws in the binding, etc...but it's a cheap korean guitar....and actually, the gibson was setup worse and had more flaws

ive had it a number of months now...gigged without a backup (this was supposed to be my backup!!!!) seems pretty sturdy.

n/a

this is great for the money!!!! especially considering the crap that gibson sold me for three grand. i set it up with 13 guage thomastick infeld flats, and i play it through my evans je150. I use monster cable and 1.5 mm picks...this sounds great. the pickups are decent, the tuners are grovers (better than the grovers on my p.o.s. gibson).

This is an update to my first review. I am sending the guitar back. While it really is a nice guitar, it's really not up to what I expect out of a guitar. The monoframe is made up of about 6 pieces of wood. It is neck heavy and I don't like that.

A 2002 model made in Korea. Has 22 frets. Laminated maple top. Standards controls; 2 vol, 2 tone, 3-way selector switch. 2 full-size humbuckers. The pickups are Duncan Designed models. These pickups are They're made in a small pickup factory in Incheon, Korea which we hand-selected after visiting just about every pickup factory in Korea. These guys are not a guitar factory. All they do are pickups. And they make them slowly, by hand, one at a time, just like we do. That's what sold us on them.

The designs are based on Seymour Duncan and Basslines designs, but the tone is not exactly the same due to metric wire gauge. However, if you put a Duncan Designed pickup up against many USA-made after-market brands, you find the Duncan Designed to be a superior pickup.

Notice:

Polycarbonate bobbins vs. high-impact styrene
Primarily alnico magnets vs. ceramics (the really cheap ones)
Studs on one bobbin and screws on the other vs. using the same bobbin (with allen screws) on both sides of the pickup
Nickel-silver bottom plate with bent legs vs. flat brass
High-quality cable vs. cheap, poorly insulated and poorly shielded

The HB-102 set came stock on the RL-3. It's the Duncan Designed version of the popular SH-4 JB/SH-1 Jazz combo that Seymour himself favors.

The guitar is advertized as have a quilted maple top, mohagany back and sides as well as a mohagany neck. This is all true except that the guitar is not the standard semi-hollowbody build. It's built on a monoframe. This means that there is a solod frame that is the shape of the guitar. This constitutes the sides and block down the middle. When I ordered this guitar, I thought the monoframe would be one-piece. It looks to be about five.

The finish is beautiful. It's a trans amber quilttop. The neck, back, and sides are light mohagany. As stated before, it's a semi-hollowbody thinline. It is a single-cutaway model which was a selling point to me. I didn't want just another ES-335. Plus it's just a little smaller than an ES-335.

It has a tune-o-matic style bridge and a stop tailpiece. The tuners are Grivers and are very nice; as is all the hardware. The neck is 24 3/4" scale and is a pleasure to play. I have a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe and the Samick's neck feels identical.

The real caveat here is the lack of accessories and/or info that you get. I got a guitar in a box. I could have bought a case but didn't it didn't come with a gigbag or anything like that. I also received no warranty info. I don't like that kind of thing...

I play mainly Jazz and Blues. Think Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, John Scofield, Pat Letheny, Fourplay, etc... This guitar plays and sounds like a $2000 guitar.

I play through a Peavey Classic 50/410 with a bit of delay overdrive just past the breakup point and chorus when needed.

Because of the humbuckers, it's not noisy at all.

It has a very rich, full sound.

The guitar was set up very nicely from the factory. I ordere this guitar and it came from FedEx as I was leaving from my gig. I played it the whole evening. That alone, should say something. I did change the strings however. It came with 12's and a wound G. I switched to Ernie Ball Power Slinkies. 11-46.

I have to do just a little adgusting to the action as well as the pickups. So far, I can't find any flaws with this guitar.

Even though everyuthing on this guitar is topnotch, it is a Gibson-type semi-hollowbody. It feels very solid but is fragile at the same time. I do not gig without a back up ever...

I hope I never have to find out. But I have called Samick quite a few times while it was on order to check the order status. They were always willing to be very helpful.

I have been playing over 20 years. I also own a 2001 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe and a 2001 Fender American Nashville B-Bender Telecaster. If it were stolen, I'd have my insurance company get me another one.

Until 2001, this guitar would have been called a JZ-112. It is a Korean-made semi-hollow with laminated quilt top, single florentine cutaway, chrome hardware, and cream binding/pickguard/pickup rings. You can see the exact same guitar (including the amber color) by going to www.samickguitar.com and following the links to the Royale guitars.

Came with 2 Duncan Designed humbuckers (which I replaced with Rio Grandes), stopped tunematic bridge, good Grover tuners. Constructed with a unique mahogany skeleton, with a wide spine down the center that the pickups are mounted into; the web site also illustrates this better than I can explain it.

The sides, back, and neck are mahogany and are stained a medium brown. The headpiece has a PRS-like flare and is black on the face. Cream binding on top, bottom, and along the neck.

Two F-holes, and the lower bout is almost 15" wide.

A well-made guitar with a nice feel; I also liked the unusual design that was not just another copy of the ES-335.

If you envision a scale with a Les Paul solidbody on one end and a good twin-humbuckered archtop jazz hollow body on the other, the sound is a lot closer to the LP.

The original Duncan designed pickups actually sounded pretty good, but I replaced them with the Rio Grande BBQ/Genuine Texas pair of uncovered zebras and the improvement was significant.

No feedback or squeel problems. Pretty much achieves any sound and style you want; I usually play blues, classic rock, and acoustic-based stuff. My son has used it to play Creed, Rage Against the Machine, and other more contemporary thing and is pretty satisfied with it. I play it through a Fender Cyber-Twin and Reverend Hellhound 112.

I give it a "9" with the Rio Grande's, so it must be a "7.5" with the original pickups. Call it an "8" overall.

This one came to the dealer right from the factory and there was actually very little done in the way of setup; had to tighten the truss rod, adjust the action, and the pickups.

Everything is constructed well, and when I had the pickups out I could see that the unexposed parts of the guitar were well-made with good wood.

Only flaws are cosmetic; the places where different pieces of wood come together are pretty obvious, especially at the neck joint, and the brown stain on the sides, neck, and back does not have a uniform color.

The quilt top is bookmatched very well down the centerline; however, the quilt pattern is not too consistent; it gets compressed and pretty much disappears as it reaches the f-holes. Doesn't really look bad, I guess, but it just doesn't have the uniform quilted waves that one would normally expect.

I took off the pickguard, and as mentioned installed zebra pickups. It now has a non-stock appearance that I am happy with.

Strong, solid instrument. Finish, strap buttons all good. No problems yet. Only thing I worry about is that if the jack ever comes loose it will be nearly impossible to tighten or reinstall (it is on the face of the guitar about 5" below the f-hole; no way you could ever get your fingers, a wrench, or anything else down there).

I think Samick has improved in the past year or so. They actually have a decent website now, for one thing (however, it seems to indicate that only the "Greg Bennett" series is actually offered now; I'm not really sure that's the case). I got the guitar from a Samick dealer in Korea who was very helpful, patient, and accommodating. No complaints here.

It gets confusing, though, when they keep changing the model numbers around.

For the money (even with the new pickups) this guitar was a great value. Retails for about $1000, you can get them on e-bay for a little less than $500 (plus shipping).

A good choice if you're looking for an inexpensive, distinctive semi-hollow; I'd get the same guitar again if I had to.