If it does not, is painted, or you can discern layers, then it is laminate. The grain pattern should continue through the edge. To tell if you have solid wood on the top, look at the edge of the sound hole.
It is hard to tell from your photos, and an in hand examination would tell us more, but the homage to Martin is apparent as you point out (using the nicer term for "copy). The guide does state at their height Samick produced 350 different models, everything from entry level beginners through intermediate and "professional" level. The most honest answer would be "whatever someone is willing to pay". Samick would appear to fall into that category. They do this when there is no collectable interest in a brand.
In the case of Samick, they give only a brief history of the company, no specific model listings and no prices. If you look up Fender, Gibson, Martin, or other brands that have gained collector interest, you will find numerous specific models with prices. If you are not familiar with this guide, it is a reference work giving current market price guidelines for collectable guitars, mandolins, ukes and even banjos. I looked up Samick in the 2014 Vintage Guitar Guide (newest I have right now). Some of these were excellent instruments for their prices, others weren't.Ī pic would help, and you might also consider going on the Acoustic Guitar Forum and trying your inquiry there. What you may be dealing with is one of the several Martin copies that Asian manufacturers like Tama, Takamine, Yamaha etc. Without any direct experience, I'd go with Don's assessment of solid wood. Reading about Samick on the internet, there are many (conflicting) opinions as to whether their better instruments are all solid wood, have only solid tops, or are laminated. The use of numerical designations like "HS 35" and "HS 28" suggest at least some influence from C F Martin models. Samick's Korean factory was billed as the "world's largest" a few years ago, and it produced many varieties of instrument for many brands and distributors. This entry suggests the HS 35 "went for $5-600 when new." Samick HS 35 sold on eBay two years ago for $81 seller said it needed a neck re-set, though. Since it is not valuable as a collectable, the best thing to do is just to play it and enjoy it.Thanks for your response, does anyone else have any information? Before building their own factories in China, Gibson used to contract with Samick to make some of their Epiphones. Samick, in addition to making instruments under their own brand, also contracts to make instruments for other companies under different banners. As to value, I have seen this exact model for around 500 dollars. In fact build quality of yours is probably quite high. Values are comparatively low because of the Korean manufacture. Properly set up I should think with that combination of wood it should sound great. They started out making instruments that were partially or completely made of laminate, but your model represents a time when they were trying to compete in the high end all solid wood market. Samick is a Korean manufacturer, and your guitar was certainly made in Korea, most likely in the 70s or 80s. Since it is not valuable as a collectable, the best thing to do is just to play it and enjoy it.