1990s Sigma SDM-18 Acoustic Guitar Review

Hiya!

We are going to look at something a little different today - a pretty cool budget acoustic guitar that I picked up at the monthly flea market they have by my house. This is an early 1990s Sigma SDM-18 6-string dreadnaught.

Sigma guitars were introduced in 1970 as an attempt by the venerable Marin guitar company to get a toehold into the entry level guitar market by licensing the production of instruments from overseas. This was particularly important to them as around that time many Japanese companies were building guitars that looked just like theirs, and it was hurting their business. So, the Sigma brand was their effort to fight back.

The Sigmas were good guitars, though not wildly successful, and in 1984 production moved to Korea. Seeking further reductions in labor costs, in 1994 they stated importing instruments from Taiwan, and then Indonesia by the time Martin folded the brand in 2007. A German company (AMI Musical Instruments GmbH) bought the name and started selling made in China guitars.

The SDM-18 guitar that we are looking at today was built in Korea, though it is hard to get an exact date as the serial numbers seem to have been issued with little rhyme or reason. The model name is a little easier to figure out, as this is pretty much a copy of the Martin D-18 dreadnaught. The “M” in the model name stands for mahogany side and back, and the “S” is a mystery. Maybe it stands for solid wood (top and/or back and sides), or maybe it means that there are scalloped braces, but I am not exactly seeing any in there…

The body has the traditional broad-shouldered shape, and there are 14 frets clear from the body. The top is solid spruce, and as I said earlier the back and sides are mahogany, though I cannot tell if it is solid or a laminate. I am going with laminate until I figure out otherwise. The neck is mahogany with a rosewood overlay and an inlaid logo, and the bridge and fretboard are rosewood too.

This guitar had been sitting for years before I got my mitts on it, and it came with a plastic case with foam that had completely disintegrated. So, there were little foam bits stuck all over it and piled up inside the body too. I did a quick cleanup on it, but when I am done with school it will need a more thorough cleaning and fret polish. It is otherwise in good shape with no cracks or repairs and the frets show very little wear. The spruce top has darkened nicely, and it is very attractive.

It plays very well, too. The neck has a pleasantly rounded profile that is fairly slim and fast, and the tone is very rich and loud. The sounds is pretty well balanced from string to string, though I think it would be nice to find a compensated bridge saddle as the intonation is just a touch off. It is certainly good enough for anything I will be doing with it, especially at the bargain basement price I paid for it.

I rarely see Japanese-built Sigma guitars on the market as once players get their hands on them they do not let them go. I di see Korean ones every now and then, and generally they are solid instruments, but it is a good idea to try before you buy (be careful with eBay), as I have run into a few clunkers and shoddy repairs. If you have one, post a comment below, I am curious what you think!

Mahalo!

1980 Takamine F-340 Acoustic Guitar Review

Aloha!

Over the years I have owned and played a few Japanese-made Takamine acoustic guitars and have never been disappointed with their craftsmanship, playability or tone.

Takamine is a Japanese guitar maker that has been in business for over 50 years now. They have started building guitars in other countries, but all of their high-end guitars still come from the land of the rising sun. Don’t sniff at their products and say that imports are junk, because they build some fantastic instruments. Though they have built some solid-body electric guitars, they are best known for their acoustic and acoustic-electric steel string guitars. By the way, the company is named after Mount Takamine in the Gifu Prefecture of Japan.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, this company became famous (or notorious) for building righteous Martin guitar copies that earned them a strongly-worded memo from the Martin legal department. Today we are looking at one of these animals: a 1980 F-340.

The F-340 (catchy name, isn’t it?) is a copy of the Martin D-18, their iconic dreadnought. They went whole-hog on their reproduction, with using Martin’s headstock shape and logo script. I can see why Martin was upset, particularly when you consider that this is a nice guitar, and surely provided unwanted competition for a fraction of the price. This would be a lawsuit guitar, if a lawsuit had ever been filed.

The body has the traditional dreadnought size and shape, with 14 frets free from the body. This one has a laminated mahogany body and back, and a laminated spruce top, as there is no S or SS in the model name, which is usually (but not always) the designation of a solid wood instrument. Who know, and actually who cares at this point? It is a nice-sounding guitar.

Like the Martin D-18, ornamentation is sparse. The body has a multi-ply binding around the top and a simple black binding around the back while the neck is not bound at all. The rosette is elegant, and combined with the black pickguard and black-painted bridge it fits in well with the visual theme of the guitar.

The mahogany neck has its original 20 chunky frets, and they are skillfully sunk into the rosewood fretboard. The peghead has chrome-plated sealed tuners, probably made by Gotoh. This Takamine shares the D-18’s 1 11/16-inch nut, and 25 ¼-inch scale. The fretboard is a bit more curvy with a 12-inch radius, instead of 16-inch.

The condition of this F-340 is very good, especially for a 34 year old guitar. There is very little wear to the original frets, no cracks or evidence of repairs, and only small dings and chips here and there – no signs of abuse here!

After a quick set-up with new medium gauge strings, I have to say that this Takamine is really a peach. It is not the loudest dreadnought I have ever owned, but I never expected that going into this deal. It has a sweet and mellow tone that is tolerant of the occasional mis-fretted note, and the volume is nicely balanced from string to string.

The frets are still level, and it is a very easy-playing guitar with no fret buzz. It is not the greatest fingerstyle guitar, but for the basic stuff I am using it for, it is a fabulous guitar. It would be a terrific instrument for a beginner, for sure. I am holding onto this as a guitar to loan to friends that are considering taking up the instrument.

If you are looking for one of these guitars, remember that they are 30 years old now, so you should look it over carefully or have a luthier check it out. Just look for the usual stuff: bridge lift, cracks, evidence of previous repairs, and fret wear.

Compared to other new guitars on the market, you get a lot of performance for the money on this one. Finding a used Takamine F-340 is not terribly difficult, and they are still very reasonably priced, at around $350 to $450 for a nice example, which is 25% of what you would pay for a playable D-18. If you need a durable budget acoustic, you might want to track one down!

Mahalo!

2012 Martin D-28 Acoustic Dreadnought Guitar Review

Aloha!

Today we are looking at a guitar that never stood a chance in my collection, a 2012 Martin D-28 acoustic. This is no fault of the guitar, but is it an innocent bystander of my fickle nature. It is still a beautiful dreadnought that anyone in their right mind would be glad to possess.

The D-28 is a classic in the Martin line, and it was put into production shortly after the D- series was introduced in 1931. This guitar hit the market at exactly the right time, and its full range and sweet tone were just what the performers of the day were looking for. As time went on, this became the signature model in the company’s line-up and it became the guitar of choice of for musicians from all genres, including legends such as George Jones, Hank Williams and Elvis Presley.

There were a few cosmetic changes to this model over the years, and some structural and functional changes including a slimmer neck and better internal bracing. The 2012 Martin D-28 we are looking at today represents the zenith of this guitar’s development, and it is a solid piece of work.

On initial inspection the D028 does not look super fancy, but it is still a very handsome instrument. The solid sitka spruce top has a nice grain, and fortunately it is not as blindingly white as some new Martin guitars I have seen. The sides and back are made from pretty solid East Indian rosewood. The body has multi-layer black and white binding, which looks very nice. It carries over to the purfling on the back. The black pickguard and the rosette are not my favorite look, but it they are well accomplished.

The neck is a fine piece of workmanship. It is made of satin-finished hand-shaped mahogany with an ebony fretboard (the bridge base is ebony too). The neck is not bound, and 14 of its 20 frets are clear of the body, which is a change that Martin made in 1934. The neck has an easy and shallow profile, with a 16-inch radius and a 1 11/16-inch wide nut. The nut and compensated bridge are both made of bone.

Grover tuners are installed at the factory, and they hold well but I am not sure that they really fit into the look and character of the instrument. There is no electronics on this one, but supposedly there is one available. The $95 K&K Pure Mini is a nice choice for these, if you want to plug in.

And the craftsmanship is first-rate. I came out of the box perfectly set up, and the nut and fretwork is unparalleled. It plays very smoothly, and it feels very comfortable even without any break-in period. It can be a very loud guitar, and the more you lean into it, the more you realize how well balanced it is from string to string. I go back and forth on whether I like the sound of mahogany or rosewood better, but the tone of this one is great, so rosewood it is…

These guitars are fantastic, but not terribly cheap. A brand new Martin D-28 has a list price of $2799 and a street price of $2399, which includes a nice molded hard case and a limited lifetime warranty for the original purchaser. Think of it as an investment in your future, as these guitars will last a lifetime if kept in a loving environment.

By the way, a while back I went on the Martin factory tour and got to see first-hand the care that goes into building these guitars, and it made me proud to own one. If you are ever in Eastern Pennsylvania, I highly recommend that you stop by their factory for a tour.

Unfortunately for this D-28, the week after I picked this one up I stumbled across a D-18 Golden Era, and the its Adirondack top distracted me so much that I had to off this one in a big hurry. So, this guitar moved on to a fellow in San Diego, and he loves it to death.

Mahalo!

Martin DM Acoustic Guitar

Hiya!

Today we are looking at an entry-level Martin dreadnought: the DM acoustic guitar. And I will not keep you in suspense on this one -- it looks and sounds like an entry-level Martin.

First off, let’s look at how this thing is put together.

The back and sides are made of laminated sapele (an African wood that is similar to mahogany), and the top is a clean piece of sitka spruce. There is stout spruce A-frame X bracing, and I think this guitar is not going to fall apart any time soon.

The binding is black, so from any distance it looks unbound. This is a Spartan guitar.

The DM has a mahogany neck (or maybe sapele again?) with an East Indian rosewood fretboard. There are 20 frets, with 14 to the body. The neck is comfortable and has a flattened C shape to it.

And the whole thing is sprayed with an uber cheap-looking matte finish (my porn star name, BTW: “Hey ladies, I’m Matt Finish!”)

But don’t get me wrong. The guys at Martin did a nice job of putting this guitar together. The frets are well done, and their craftsmanship is fine. This is just a cheap-looking guitar when you get down to it.

It weighs in at around 4 pounds, 4 ounces which is pretty nice (especially since I usually play 10 pound basses).

Playing the DM, it not a chore; the neck and frets are good, and it came with a nice low action from the factory. But, I do not care for the tone I get from it. I would expect more even tone across all the strings from a Martin dreadnought, and this guitar is really lacking in the bass department. It sounds too tinny and bright.

If you want to pick one of these up new, you can find them online for $899.00, which includes a sturdy case covered in tolex and lined with luxurious green fur. The case might be the nicest thing in the deal, actually. The DM is available in lefty for no extra charge, and there is also an optional electronics package that I have not seen or heard yet.

Though $899 seems like a reasonable price for a made in the USA Martin acoustic guitar, it is too much for what you end up with in this case. The DM does not sound terribly special or have any standout aesthetic qualities, and there are a lot better guitars for less money out there. I would take a look at the offerings from Godin’s family of guitars if you are looking for a quality low-budget dreadnought. If you want to stick with a Martin, pay a grand more and step up to the D-18.

Mahalo!

Martin D-18VE Acoustic Guitar

Howdy!

There is nothing like the look and sound of an old Martin dreadnought. Martin realized that there are a lot of people looking for just such an animal so they introduced the V series guitars. To get an idea of what they are like, we will look over a D-18VE today.

There are plenty of vintage-style things on the D-18VE, such as its rosette, headstock shape, pick guard, hardware, fretboard markers and neck profile. This carries over to its construction, with scalloped braces (light strings, please) and top bracing that is more forward than the regular D-18V.

The basic construction is solid. It has a solid sitka spruce top, and solid mahogany sides and back. Note that the vintage series gets a nicely aged finish. The fretboard and bridge are made of ebony.

The neck is fabulous. The small frets are comfortable to the touch, and are very well finished on the edges, unlike a lot of new guitars I see on the market. The neck has a comfortable V shape to it, and the width at the nut is about 1 & 11/16 inches.

There is an “E” in the name, so the D-18VE has the factory electronics, which consists of the Fishman/Martin Ellipse Matrix Blend pickup system.

The electronics combine Martin's piezo bridge pickup with a condenser microphone attached to a tiny gooseneck inside the body. Inside the sound hole are sliders for volume and pickup blend. There is also a phase switch and a mic trim control. Blending the condenser mic with the piezo gives a very natural sound, and an accurate reproduction of what the guitar is actually doing.

And, what is the guitar doing? Being awesome! This really is a great-sounding guitar, with a very clean tone (less overtones) and tons of bass. This guitar would be fantastic for recording.

In the end, this is the story of the one that got away. I got a fantastic deal on this guitar, and flipped it shortly after getting it to make a few bucks. I was not playing much acoustic at the time, so it was no big loss. Of course, acoustic guitar is pretty much all that I am playing right now, so I recently completed a successful search for a new dreadnought. Details to come…

p.s. Happy birthday, mom. We miss you.