Vester Guitars
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Vester was a music instrument manufacturer specializing in guitars and guitar amplifiers. Formed as a part of the Samuel Music Company based in Effingham, Illinois, Vester is perhaps best known for their good quality Japanese and Korean import electric and acoustic guitars.
The Samuel Music Company, founded in 1946, is the proprietor and owner of a chain of music stores which sold pianos and specialized in school band renting programs. Following the success of several small luthier businesses such as Jackson Guitars and ESP Guitars in the late '80s boom of the rock music industry, the Samuel Music company decided to launch its own brand of guitars, and named the brand Vester.
Rather than manufacture the instruments themselves, Vester used imported instruments, which were made by Saehan Guitar Technology, a subdivision of Zaozhuang Saehan Music Co., Ltd in South Korea (now known as Sunghan Music), or by The Vestax Corporation in Japan. The guitars were imported into the United States by Midco Music (now Musicorp), at the time chaired by David Samuel. Design specifications were dictated by Samuel Music in Illinois and revolved around variations on Saehan's preexisting top-of-the-line models.
Eventually, Vester guitars managed to find a good home in the marketplace and covered a broad range of Japanese and Korean made middle-to upper-range acoustic and electric guitars, along with basic solid state amplifier models. Through contacts in the music industry Vester was able to secure endorsements from several popular musicians of the period, including the Country and Western band Alabama.
Following the Vester corporation's initial success in the marketplace was the company's sudden and unexpected demise. In a move similar to the Norlin Corporation's (Gibson) lawsuit of Ibanez, the Fender Corporation began preparing a litigatory action against Samuel Music in 1994, for allegedly basing the Vester brand on a "sound-alike" for "Fender"; even going so far as to cite the typefont used in the logo was identical to Fender's trademarked font. Samuel Music, lacking the funds for a prolonged legal battle, settled the matter out of court and sold out all remaining stock.
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