Can you guess what this (non-Guild) is?

rampside

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Sigma by Martin.

Made in Japan for Martin. We know the story. Make an affordable quality guitar by going overeas. These guitars were made with materials provided by Martin and were inspected by Martin before being released for sale. The Sigmas made in Japan were high quality guitars. Later Sigma was moved to Korea and the quality suffered.

Only a small handful of the DR-11's were made, so this one is pretty rare. It is a higher end Sigma and is a copy (I believe) of the D-41 (Martin's D-45 had inlay along the sides of the fret board up from the sound hole).

I don't remember the exact price, but it was on sale when I walked in the store. Somewhere around $300. There were American guitars all around it for more more $$. I didn't know much about guitars then, but it sure seemed like a steal to me. After all, it is a Martin.

I do need to have the original plastic saddle and nut replaced. That should make this sweet little cheap guitar a whole lot sweeter. :smile:

Thanks everyone. It was fun reading all the guesses and comments!

ps: By the way, the top is solid spruce and the back and sides are supposed to be laminate RW, but as you can from the sound hole, there's RW inside and I'll darned if the grain patterns aren't closely matched to the exterior. I haven't pulled the end pin to verify, but it does indicate what went into the build of these early Sigmas.
 
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davismanLV

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Oh wow, Terry!! You took the hookers on a chase for a super amazing bait.... It's a lovely guitar, amigo Does it sound as good as it LOOKS?? Because that's a BEAUTY!! I try not to get too judgy.... and I try to be open minded. But that guitar SLAPPED me around and made me sit up!! I'll bet it sounds really nice. Will you tell us more about it? PLEASE????:surprise:
 

walrus

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I remember seeing Sigma's for sale in many guitar stores. In the early days of these guitars, Sigma may have been the best guitar for the price. Rampside's photos and description add to that argument.

walrus
 

D30Man

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Wow that thing is gorgeous. I bet it sounds like a million bucks whether it is solid b/s or laminate. With that age, Martin materials / specs and a solid top it has to sound pretty damn amazing.

Tom - Taking hookers for a chase can be a dangerous and very expensive game.. Sorry couldn't help myself..
 

sailingshoes72

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Beautiful guitar Terry. I really like the fretboard inlays! I wouldn't be surprised if the back is solid RW. I think that the reason for the three-piece backs on the D-35 was to make use of smaller pieces of RW in the warehouse. I don't think that this would be an issue with a laminate.

Bill
 

Rayk

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Wow I had a sigma lower end but did look a tad at the available higher end but the one I played didn’t work for me but this here looks awesome !
 

rampside

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I remember seeing Sigma's for sale in many guitar stores. In the early days of these guitars, Sigma may have been the best guitar for the price. Rampside's photos and description add to that argument.

walrus

Thank you, Walrus, and that is very true. It seemed to me, by far, to be the best guitar in the store for the money that I had to spend. I can still remember way, way back then, looking at that wall with many guitars and this one just jumping out at me, and then I played it, then promptly threw the cash on the counter.
 

rampside

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Wow that thing is gorgeous. I bet it sounds like a million bucks whether it is solid b/s or laminate. With that age, Martin materials / specs and a solid top it has to sound pretty damn amazing.

I had taken a 25 + year hiatus from playing guitar, decided to start again, pulled the Sigma out of the closet, and to be gentle on my fingers put a set of Elixir extra-light coated strings on it. Then, After getting my first Guild, it's been mostly in the case ever since.

I've just been doing a little comparison with the GV-70, so once I get the now old and too light Elixirs off, new bone saddle and nut, I'm pretty sure I'll be a very happy man.
 

txbumper57

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Gorgeous Terry! I figured it was from the Japanese invasion of Acoustic Guitars from the late 70's/early 80's. One of the tell tale signs is the top inlays with the 3 piece back. Takamine did the same thing so that in all actuality it wasn't identical to an American made model as the American made models either had the same top or the same 3 piece back but never the combination of the 2. Great Looking Guitar!

TX
 

walrus

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You know, in '78 I bought a Martin D-35 that I really couldn't afford, and I never really bonded with. This was before I knew anything about Guild. I clearly should have bought a Sigma!

walrus
 

adorshki

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ps: By the way, the top is solid spruce and the back and sides are supposed to be laminate RW, but as you can from the sound hole, there's RW inside and I'll darned if the grain patterns aren't closely matched to the exterior. I haven't pulled the end pin to verify, but it does indicate what went into the build of these early Sigmas.

Interesting. I'm guessing at the time using veneers and laminating was cheaper than using solid.
If they had access to pre-laminated sheets that could be even more likely.
In Westerly, Guild laminated their ownsheets for the archbacks, and because the veneer they got was normally sheeted from a single block, the facing surfaces of consecutive sheets had identical grain pattern.
They also normally tried to make sure the grain patterns matched inside and outside, so it would appear to be solid to the casual observer.
I think it was purely for aesthetics, but it actually made one new member from Europe insist that his F65ce had a solid back many years ago, in spite of several confirmations of my explanation, because "the grain was the same inside and out."
He was one of those guys that thought laminated wasn't as good as solid no matter where it was, and wanted to believe it was solid.
I found out about the intentional matching years ago when I reported that I only realized my D25 had a laminated back when I noticed that the grain pattern inside was rotated exactly 180 degrees in reverse to the outside.
It didn't bother me, I actually thought maybe it was to ensure greater strength by crossing the grains, but when I mentioned it here one of the old Westerly hands told me it would actually have been considered a production goof and might have even flunked QC if caught.
So it appears that matching of grain in laminations is not unusual, and might even be the norm where the vast majority of it gets used, in the furniture making world.
(Guild's veneer was actually produced for furniture makers)
 
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rampside

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I would say your explanation is 100% correct, Al. Having strong back and sides is probably a good thing, but what's most important in regards the sound, is the solid top.
 
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kostask

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Takamine also matched outside veneers on many of the earlier laminated guitars. Don't know if they still do or not.
 

txbumper57

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Takamine also matched outside veneers on many of the earlier laminated guitars. Don't know if they still do or not.

Most of their upper end guitars today are all solid wood construction but on both of my 70's models the inner and outer veneers are matched.

TX
 

Taylor Martin Guild

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I bought one of the early Sigma guitars for my wife.
It was back in the mid 80's. I got it used and still paid $300.00 for it.
It was worth every penny.

Mine was called Sigma Martin USA.
The inside matched the outside of the back causing many of to think that it was all solid wood.
Now I doubt that it was. It's long gone so no way to tell.

Has anyone here ever heard of Sigma Martin USA before?
 
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bobouz

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Same with a new Ibanez 512 mandolin I purchased new back in the day. It was a bit unusual, utilizing rosewood for the back & sides. The inner & outer grain lines matched, but I'm pretty certain the specs did not specify solid rosewood.
 

rampside

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I bought one of the early Sigma guitars for my wife.
It was back in the mid 80's. I got it used and still paid $300.00 for it.
It was worth every penny.

Mine was called Sigma Martin USA.
The inside matched the outside of the back causing many of to think that it was all solid wood.
Now I doubt that it was. It's long gone so no way to tell.

Has anyone here ever heard of Sigma Martin USA before?

It is my understanding that, for a while sometime in the mid eighties, a couple models (DR-28N and DR-35N) of Sigmas were being made along side Martins in Nazareth with kits sent over from Japan. Maybe it was one of those. There may been others too?
 
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