Description

Young Chang was founded in 1956 as a distributor of Yamaha pianos for Korea and other parts of Asia. The company was founded 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. The first Young Chang factory was built in Seoul in 1964.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Young Chang manufactured Squier electric guitars and basses for Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, and also manufactured acoustic, acoustic/electric, electric guitars and basses under their own “Fenix” brand. 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 addition to guitars and pianos (vertical and grand varieties), Young Chang produced in the late 1990s harmonicas, reed organs and industrial woodworking machinery.

In 1986, the company established Weber Piano Company, which sells pianos under the Weber brand name, which it had purchased rights to use after the demise of the Aeolin Piano Company in 1985. Young Chang subsequently sold this subsidiary to Samsung America in 1987.

In 1988, Young Chang established a foundry for production of piano plates in Tianjin, China, to supplement production of this key component, also produced in Korea. The success of this facility was one factor leading to the 1995 establishment of a piano manufacturing facility in Tianjin.

In 1990, Young Chang purchased Kurzweil Music Systems, a maker of high end electronic and digital musical instruments.

In 1991, Young Chang invested US$32 million to establish a subsidiary in Tacoma, Washington, Young Chang (America) Timber, to cut and process North American spruce and maple for export to its Asian manufacturing sites.

In 1995, Young Chang opened a new US$40 million factory in Tianjin. The Chinese facility allowed Young Chang to start serving the low-end markets, part of a long-term strategy involving shifting production from Korea to China. The quality of pianos produced by this new plant was initially high, but dropped sharply after technicians who had helped set up the production returned to Korea, which had a significant impact on their ability to complete sales.

Joseph Pramberger, a former vice president from Steinway & Sons (head of manufacturing) and an experienced piano designer, joined the company in 1995. Pramberger brought many innovations to piano design, including the “Platinum Touch Action” and the patented asymmetrically tapered soundboard. The Pramberger Platinum series, introduced in 2001, was Young Chang’s top-of-the-line for three years. These models incorporated some German materials including Renner action parts. Joseph Pramberger died in 2003, and the following year, his estate sold the Pramberger name to Samick, but his patents and innovations are still exclusive to Young Chang.

The year following the opening of the Tianjin, China factory, in October 1996, Young Chang entered into bankruptcy, emerging in August 1998. Young Chang has more than 2,000 full-time workers, designing and building its upright and grand pianos, and also the electronic Kurzweil Music Systems. Hyundai Development Company acquired Young Chang in 2006.