Samick Pianos

Hyo Ick Lee established the Samick Piano Company in South Korea in 1958. At the start conditions in the country were difficult but, he built his pianos using imported parts. As circumstances improved during the 1960s Hyo Ick Lee was soon exporting his pianos around the world.

Very quickly, Samick became one of the largest piano manufacturers in the world. Naturally, they were soon making their own parts and able to oversee every aspect of production and closely monitor the finished product.

European pianos have always been revered as the ideal blend of build-quality and tone, so, during the 1980s, Samick appointed Klaus Fenner, a German piano designer to rework the designs of the Samick pianos. 

In 1992, because the labour costs in Korea were becoming ever more expensive, they opened a factory in Indonesia. The mid 1990s proved to be very troublesome. The huge and speedy expansion of the company at a time of economic hardship proved unsustainable and the company was forced into bankruptcy in 1996. 

However, they were able to dispose of the non-profitable business ventures and most of the debt, so that they began once again to report a profit. In 2002, a consortium of Korean businessmen acquired Samick and cleared all of its debt and by 2006 all production had been moved to the factory in Indonesia.

Piano Maker Directory

©Steve Burden

Schiedmayer & Soehne Serial Nos.

 

Year	Serial No.	Year	Serial No.
1900	20005	1948	51900
1910	28611	1949	52950
1915	33486	1950	53100
1920	35321	1952	53185
1925	40130	1961	54135
1926	41567	1966	54605
1927	42261	1967	54705
1928	43372	1968	54800
1929	44237	1969	124600
1930	45037	1970	124870
1931	45326	1971	125165
1932	45528	1972	125460
1933	45712	1975	126130
1934	45806	1978	126420
1935	46017	1980	126640
1938	47200	1981	126801
1940	49600	1982	126901
1943	51700	1983	126960

These serial numbers can be used only as a reference point.
An Exact date does not make a material difference to an assessment of a piano - a year or so out 120 years ago really is neither here more there.

The idea that 100% accuracy for all piano makers over a century ago is an interesting thought - but considering that all record keeping would be hand-written and kept in large ledger books, inaccuracies are likely. These records will be as reliable as the clerks whose job it was to keep them. The digital age of barcodes and scanned labels was still in the realm of science fiction. So we have to be content with our best guess numbers.

Back to the Piano Atlas

Schiedmayer: Short History

Schiedmayer, J & P, Serial Nos

 

Year	Serial No.	Year	Serial No.
1900	31000	1935	62101
1906	36700	1936	62335
1910	43000	1937	62641
1915	49500	1938	62863
1920	51800	1939	63108
1925	55600	1940	64000
1926	56700	1950	64200
1927	57600	1952	64800
1928	58700	1955	65555
1929	59600	1958	66405
1930	60200	1960	67005
1931	60800	1962	67205
1932	61200	1966	68905
1933	61600	1969	69623
1934	62000

These serial numbers can be used only as a reference point.
An Exact date does not make a material difference to an assessment of a piano - a year or so out 120 years ago really is neither here more there.

The idea that 100% accuracy for all piano makers over a century ago is an interesting thought - but considering that all record keeping would be hand-written and kept in large ledger books, inaccuracies are likely. These records will be as reliable as the clerks whose job it was to keep them. The digital age of barcodes and scanned labels was still in the realm of science fiction. So we have to be content with our best guess numbers.

Back to the Piano Atlas

Schiedmayer: Short History