I saw this guitar last night. A friend of mine had bought it at a music store and it has Sigma Martin on the headstock with USA underneath. The neck endblock inside reads the same and says made in Nazareth, Pa. It has a six digit serial number. Looks great, plays great and has a very sweet sound. Not the loudest but certainly loud enough. I read on another forum that there were a few guitars so made by Martin at their factory in 1981 and 1982 and the later ones were relabled Shenandoahs. Any ideas?
Jim, did you call the guys at Martin Customer Service? The were able to give me info about a 1981 Martin once. They usually are pretty cool.
I've seen the Sigmas, but always figured they were an imported product owned by Martin.
Even though there are some Martin players who frequent this forum, You might also check on the Martin Forum.
Let us know what you find out, ok?
--Fred
Thanks Fredmando. I have searched the net and found that they were in fact made at the Martin factory in '81 and '82 and were the forerunners of the Shenandoah line. It blew my mind to see a Sigma made in the USA but it is true.
I have a friend who also owns a "made in Nazareth" Sigma. His resembles a D-35. I was trying to find out about it for him so I posted an inquiry on the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum. Usually, someone there can come up with some information but I didn't get one response. They must not have made many there.
If I recall correctly, my friend did call customer service and was told at first that all Sigmas were assembled in Japan or Korea but the person telling him that was corrected by someone who overheard the conversation and said that they had in fact made some Sigmas in Nazareth. I don't know what year or years, though.
Thanks Beel -
I found at Sigma Martin made in USA that had been advertised on ebay for over 2000 dollars. It was a D-35 style. There are some but apparently not many out there.
Sigma's were Martin's first foray into a budget line.
In the early eighties components (bodies, necks etc) were manufactured in Asian plants, shipped to PA then assembled and stamped Made in USA.
Unfortunately this was an illegal practice so subsequently Martin dropped the Made in USA designation.
The made in USA Sigma's are now considered a little piece of the Martin story kinda like the nocaster .....
Hi All!
New here and saw this thread, so I thought I would throw in my 2 cents.
I have one of these guitars. I sent an e-mail to Martin for info regarding these and the reply was pretty short and sweet:
Good Morning,
Thank you for contacting Martin. We made the Martin - Sigma for two
years, 1981 and 1982. The DR28N, we made a total of 1,611. They had
the solid Spruce top, laminate Rosewood back and sides, fingerboard and
bridge were stained Rosewood. That's about all I have.
LOL so I guess thats all we really need to know...
I like mine alot!!! It has a beautiful vintage tone. When I first picked it up it was more out of curiosity... then I played it a little and absolutely loved the tone. Very warm and woody. I was surprised! I havent played anyone else's so I dont know how it compares.
Well, thanks for a very informative forum...I have lurked for a while and felt this to be a good place.
Thanks!!!
:donut :donut2 :donut :donut2 I am soooo sorry ...forgot the donuts on my first post.
Here is a link to my orfay.com page . I have pictures of my DR-28N here incase those of you who haven't seen one can. http://hkp2000.orfay.com/
All parts were made in Japan,all bends were also done in Japan.Solid tops in most case with solid backs and if I remember rite the sides were lamenated.
Great guitars,If I remember rite there was also a line that was built in Japan of all solid woods.
I hope I remembered rite.
I bought my sigma in 1981. It was used then (probably 10 years old) and I paid about paid $125 for it. It was my first guitar and my friend played many guitars for me while I listened to the tone. I remember that this guitar had the best tone of the under $300 price range. It had great bass and clear highs that the others didn't. I could tell by tapping the top of the guitar that it had far better resonant qualities than the others we looked at. I didn't like the "western look", but I went for the sound and have been pleased with this guitar ever since. I still have it with its worn out frets and grooved finger board from many hours of playing. It still plays as well and as easily as it ever did - nice low action. Since getting my larrivees I have appreciated just what a nice sound this sigma has. It has great resonance that you can feel in your chest as you play it - just like those larrivees. Funny how you get feeling for an old guitar like that - it's an old friend that I'd never sell. It's been with me through thick and thin. Tolerated by several women that are long gone from my life.
Hi, I'm new to the forum and just noticed your Sigma thread.
I have a Sigma DR-35 that, as far as I can ascertain from Google research, was made in Japan at some point between 1980-1984. It has the Sigma logo and 'Since 1970' on the headstock. It stamped stating Made In Japan. I know the very early Sigmas had the greek symbol for Sigma on the headstock instead of the gold Martin style lettering. Later Sigmas that were made in other Far East countries have Martin mentioned on the headstock logo.
It has a spruce top with (I think) a solid 3-piece rosewood back and probably laminate (or maybe solid?) mahogany sides. I posted a message earlier today regarding my buying decision for a Larrivee and in that I talked about the tone of my Sigma being as good if not better than many Martins that I tried. It was only then that I realised how good the Sigma actually was!
My very new Larrivee OM-09e is wonderful with a fantastic tone but has very different characteristics, mainly due to being an OM body not a dreadnought.
Just thought someone might be interested to hear about these increasingly rare early Sigmas which I think are very underrated.