- Young Chang
Young Chang is a Korean manufacturer of
piano s and industrial wood working machinery, headquartered inIncheon ,South Korea . Young Chang also currently holds 50% of the Korean piano market.The company was founded in
1956 by three brothers, Jai-Young Kim, Jai-Chang Kim and Jai-Sup Kim. As South Korea emerged as a major economy and producer of high quality goods, Young Chang has also emerged as one of the largest manufacturers of quality pianos in the world. It produces and markets the Bergmann, Weber and Pramberger models, and used to manufacture the Essex line forSteinway & Sons .In
1990 , Young Chang purchasedKurzweil Music Systems , a maker of high end electronic and digital musical instruments.Joseph Pramberger , a former vice president from Steinway & Sons joined the company in1990 . Pramberger brought many new innovations to piano design, including the "Platinum Touch Action" and the patented asymmetrically tapered soundboard.During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Young Chang manufactured
Squier electric guitars and basses forFender Musical Instruments Corporation , and also manufactured electric guitars and basses under their own "Fenix" brand [Blue Book Of Electric Guitars 9th Edition Zachary Fjestad, Edited by S.P. Fjestad ISBN 1886768579] . However, because of the similarities to the Fender brand and instruments, Young Chang could not sell the Fenix instruments due to licensing issues with Fender, and production stopped.In
1998 , Young Chang built a new $40 million dollar factory inTianjin , China to manufacture its new Bergmann line. The "Pramberger Platinum" series , introduced in2001 was modelled after Hamburg Steinway's discontinued "Model C" piano, and incorporated top quality German materials, and many of Prambergers revolutionary design innovations. This new series, manufactured in Incheon, brought Young Chang into the league of world class piano manufacturers.Joseph Pramberger died in
2003 , and the following year, his estate sold the Pramberger name toSamick . Young Chang continues to make pianos with the Pramberger design, but can no longer use the name. At the same time, Samick is licensed to use the name, however, they can not utilize the technology developed by Pramberger.Currently, Young Chang has more than 2000 full time workers, designing and building its upright and grand pianos, and also the electronic Kurzweil Music Systems.
References
External links
* [http://www.youngchang.com Young Chang Official Site]
* [http://www.youngchang.com/?section=pianos&series=bergmann Bergmann series]
* [http://www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com/ Kurzweil Music Systems]
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