![]() ![]() (When in doubt, remove the end pin which will expose the edge of the side wood to inspection.) In 1980, Martin produced 100 Anniversary Sigmas (model 10), a solid mahogany dreadnought equip one of these with a brass or ivory saddle, ebony bridge pins and medium strings and you can hunt down D-18's in the heaviest brush and stomp them to death - it's a very loud and impressive guitar! Secondly, 1980-84 Japanese made models DM-18, DM-19, DR-28, DR-28H, DR-35, DR-41, DR-45 are all excellent guitars but are sometimes inconsistent: 1981-83 DR-41's are laminate the 1984 DR-41 was solid woods! Where they are laminate construction, the veneers are of high quality and it's often hard to distinguish their sound quality from solid wood. The first Sigma catalog (1970) also shows a DJ-7, made of jacaranda or Brazilian rosewood, but I know of no one who has ever seen one in the flesh! The most desirable vintage Sigmas are almost any of the "old logo" Japanese made models: the DR-7 (a D-21 clone), the GCR-7 (a rosewood 00-21 clone), the DM-5, the CR-7 classical, the DR12-7 12-string. Which old Sigmas are worth buying? Here's a guide. It is worth noting that all the most recently produced Sigmas except the DR-41 are designated with the quality grade of 1, the poorest quality. A few Taiwanese (like the DR-28) are surprisingly good, but they're rare. In general, the quality of the guitars declined in Korea to a medium or lesser grade level. In 1984, production was shifted to Korea, and in 1993-4, and thereafter to Taiwan. The paper labels were dropped in favor of stamping the back brace. The models made between 19 in Japan are almost always solid top with laminate back and sides (like the Shenandoahs), as the Japanese manufacturers had used up their stock of seasoned woods by then. The headstock logo was changed to the present day form: "Sigma Guitars / EST. But the older model types were also continued as well. In 1980, the model lines and designations were changed to capitalize on Martin model names: the DM-18, DM-19, DR-28, DR-28H, DR-35, DR-41, DR-45. The early models are encoded by size, wood, and quality-grade number that is, a DR-7 (the top of the line) is a rosewood dreadnought of top grade, the DM-5 a mahogany dreadnought of lesser grade, and so on. These early models are almost always solid wood guitars constructed with high-grade tonewoods. ![]() Sigma guitars made in Japan from 1970 through 1979 can be distinguished by a headstock logo consisting of the single word "SIGMA" surmounted with a greek letter sigma ("sideways M") and an inner paper label giving model and serial numbers. "Martin began importing the Sigma line of Japanese made guitars in January of 1970 (none was ever assembled in Nazareth except the "N" models in 1981-82, see below) as a means of offering "low end" guitars to its line. I cannot substantiate or verify any of what he says, but he sure sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Most of the above info and all of what follows is from a post on another site in October 2004 by a fellow named Sterling Webb. But the older model types were also continued as well for another 4 years (1980-84). In 1980, the model lines and designations were changed to capitalize on Martin model names: the DM-18, DM-19, DR-28, DR-28H, DR-35, DR-41, DR-45.Originally, the quality was ranked from 1 (lowest) to 7 (higherst). R is for rosewood, M for mahogany, S for sapele, B for bubinga, J for jacaranda. The sizes were Dreadnought (D), Grand Concert (GC) or 000, C for classical, and so forth. The naming scheme for Sigmas was originally by size, composition, and quality.Sigma Serial Numbers do not provide an indicator of the year in which a particular model was built, and Sigma did not use a dating system of any kind.It was great fun and very satisfying to tinker with these old beasts.įor several years I've been collecting tidbits of information about Sigmas, although most of what I've found is of the "I'm not sure but I think" nature, I have yet to uncover the actual unambiguous Sigma bible. Doesn't sound like my old D-18 yet, but it's getting there! I also added a sound port to the DM3. I modified the DM4 in an attempt to coax the inner D-18 spirit out of it, which included enlarging the soundhole, scalloping the braces, adding a cross brace at the end of the plate to boost the bass, reaming and slotting the bridge, and replacing the plastic saddle with bone, the plastic pins with ebony. I have a DM3 and a DM4 picked up for about a hundred clams each several years ago. ![]()
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