Sigma guitars model dm 4 serial number3/31/2024 ![]() Martins intended sale of the brand to AMI and has been revived by St Louis Music of Missouri, who currently offer a four model range of Martin clones, all sporting a ‘block style’ Sigma logo similar to that which appeared on the very early Japanese output marketed by C.F. Martins own in-house, less expensive, 'LX' series of laminated wood guitars Martin discontinued the Sigma line in 2007, and in 2011 the German company 'AMI Musical Instruments GmbH' (AMI) acquired the rights to the brand from C.F. It has been suggested that these Second Generation branded instruments were the precursor, or pilot program for what has now become C.F. The DR-28 and SDR-28 and SDR-28H are clones to the original Martin D-28 and HD-28 guitars and are high quality instruments. ![]() These guitars are thoroughly inspected and prepared by Martin craftsmen at our factory and carry a limited lifetime warranty. ![]() From the Sigma Generation III Brochure (see below) High quality is readily apparent in the SDR-28 and SDR-28H rosewood Dreadnought with its rich appearance and wide range of features: solid spruce top, scalloped top bracing, rosewood back, sides, fingerboard and bridge and carved mahogany neck. The SDR models also feature 'scalloped' bracing ala' Martin's own HD-28 with the addition of herringbone design around the binding. No solid top Sigma under numerical model designation '8' exists, save for the DM-1ST (Solid Top.) Further, tests conducted on the 52S models with model numbers below '8' show that they are, in fact, wholly laminate bodies. Current documentation (taken from the files at Martin) indicate these models were produced by the Kasuga Gakki company as overload for the Tokai Gakki company. ![]() While it was thought at one time that these were somehow 'special' and had solid tops, based on current research and scholarship, an emerging school of thought dismisses this notion. The construction dates and other data may not be completely accurate but they provide a general sense of when particular models were offered.This is understandable since the Martin customer service department now responds to individual inquiries stating 'all' Sigma's had laminate back/sides, while Sigma catalogs from the early 70s list the back/side wood as 'Matched.' (edit: 'Matched' does not mean solid, but is a careful marketing nomenclature for laminate to confuse potential buyers.) In the 70's Sigma produced a line of guitars with model numbers starting with 52S, e.g., 52SDM-5, 52SDR-7 and 52SGCS-7. maintains a data base of market prices for used instruments, which is used as a reference source by retail dealers, insurance companies, manufacturers, libraries, pawnbrokers, etc. However, most models were offered only for a limited number of years, so that most models’ construction dates can be narrowed down to a reasonable range. Serial Numbers do not provide an indicator of the year in which a particular model was built. It was relaunched by the German company AMI GMBH in 2011. Brand then purchase by German Co (Made in China) but cannot be sold in US under this name. Guitar maker Martin, based in Pennsylvania, created a line of inexpensive guitars in 1970 to compete with the increasing number of imported guitars from Japan and elsewhere.
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