Postscript. The Sigma went to a very happy guitarist in Sydney who owned the same model in his youth. He confirmed that this is a Korean Sigma. Listening back the Sigma creates some enchanting overtones when I pick with the capo on the 4th fret. But the Eastman produces so much more bottom end when I strum without the capo. This really came through when I listened back with Apple headphones. This is recorded with a Shure Motiv MV88 mic plugged into my phone.
I used to own a 1958 Martin D18. $1000 to straighten the neck but it sounded amazing. Now I have a 1978-81 Japanese Sigma DM18. More or less identical except the Sigma has an adjustable neck. Otherwise identical quality, identical quality sound as my 1958. The back and sides of the Sigma are said to be laminate but on mine they appear to be solid mahogany ( but I'm not an expert). The best Sigmas have two separate pressed serial numbers inside plus a cute impress stamp saying 'Sigma Guitars. Made in Japan for CF Martin & Co.' This was the pinnacle of the Martin Sigmas. Anything with a paper label inside, or no label at all, is probably Korean. Nice guitars, but never as good as their Japanese siblings. 1970s American-built low-end Martins had pretty patchy quality. I suspect the Japanese companies of the 1970s made extremely good Sigmas as a matter of pride, because Japan had faced humiliation by the American military just three decades or so earlier,.
The one I reviewed here was Korean and it was nice, but nowhere near US Martin quality in my opinion. I agree the earlier Japanese Sigmas are the best!
The Japanese made ones are more highly regarded then the Taiwanese and Korean ones. This Korean one was nice, but something I didn’t mention before, it was very pretty on the outside but the internal attention to detail was not very high and the wood used on the internal veneer was meh.
Both sound good maybe a slight edge for the eastman that sounds a bit more résonnant to my ears. What s the name of the song you play first please? Sounds really nice
Hi thanks for your comment. I found the Eastman to be a bit stronger and more resonant. The Sigma had a beautiful shimmer but lacked the oomph of the all solid guitar. That tune is a progression I came up with myself. It uses a Dm then a Gm but played using the Bb on the A string. There is also an A7 there.
Totally agree, and they can also make higher quality laminates, with higher quality, void free wood used in the middle. Laminate also has advantage of being more stable.
I have 3 Sigmas. Two DM-4s (MIK) from 1980 and a DR-7s (MIJ) but am not sure of the manufacture date. Even though the both DM-4s are from the same year of manufacture the neck shapes are completely different, one has a fairly standard neck shape and the other is very slim. They also sound quite different. The thicker neck has more mid range and the slimmer neck more high end.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel I worked for 32 years in a psychiatric hospital and one of my patients, a young man, had a Sigma D-41. It was lovely. The current Sigma line is owned by a German company. Apparently after Martin stopped making Sigmas they didn't bother to renew ownership of the Sigma name and this company bought it. The ones with the Sigma name must not be allowed to be sold in the U.S. as here they are sold with the A.M.I. name.
Hello..which Sigma guitar model do you recommend for acoustic gigs? I'm currently playing with an epiphone hummingbird but I would love a Sigma for a change
Hi Tony, I am not familiar with the current Sigma models, there are a lot! But my general recommendation would be a Grand Auditorium size, with a pickup, which is between a dreadnought and OM size. Then carefully check the plugged in sound to ensure it sounds nice and the strings are evenly balanced in output. If you are buying online I would want to get a really good price as it is always a gamble!
HI thanks for your comment! From what I can find online, the current Sigma is called DR-41. I think this is the equivalent model to the D-41 I reviewed, which was made in Korea back in the day.
Not sure it's "Sigma BY Martin" now is it? Sigma is its own guitar compnay no? If I had some spare cash now I think I'd buy the Sigma J45, fabulous guitar for the money!
I think you are right. The latest Sigmas are produced by a German company called AMI in China. They don’t use the Martin name but They copy the Martin designs very closely. I think they have permission to do that. They have done well in Australia, they are in all the music shops here.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel Hey! Just realised I missed this part out. It is actually a great guitar, had a really nice and warm sound quality with great projection, especially in the bass. Surprisingly well balanced, and for the price of 600 Aussie dollars it is definitely worth it. I had a chance to compare this to a Martin D-18 that was also in store at Mannys. The Martin did sound fuller with better dynamics, unsurprisingly, but your getting way more than what you're paying for. I also compared this guitar to my Ibanez AAD170CE, and they actually sounded quite similar. I did have one complaint about the intonation on the guitar. Luckily, tightening the truss rod did fix this issue, as the action was set up a bit too high. All in all a great guitar, with some minor setting up! Will
Well, I have an Eastman, very happy with it, the top is Adirondack spruce with East Indian Rosewood. Also, a Martin J40, Benoit dreadnought cutaway, Taylor GS Mini, and Taylor 12 string. Mostly playing the Eastman mostly, since its smaller.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel This is true, I own a Martin D45 and a custom Gibson Hummingbird but I always seem to pick up my Eastman E8 which is an all solid dreadnaught. I own two Eastmans and I enjoy them both. Eastman has such a good reputation for hand-built quality acoustic guitars. There’s not a single machine in their workshop in China.
I had a Sigma. It was astoundingly good. It felt identical to my OM28 You dont hear a lot of harmonis and openness of high end guitars at street level noise. You just need a nice balanced tone. Buy a Sigma, slap a knk mini in that sucker. Its a back up, or a tough park guitar. It will gig. Save the Martin for the studio.
Thanks for your comment. I am a fan of Recording King for street guitar also. The latest Sigmas by the German company are pretty good too but they are only related to the old Korean and Japanese ones by the name on the headstock.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel Here in the UK, I’ve seen a Sigma D45. Looks gorgeous but the back and sides is Tilla wood. That has to be some kind of cheap laminate. The top is solid spruce. It’s one of the newer German ones but of course, made in China. The newer Sigmas have a different style Sigma branding on the headstock.
Guitar makers will always make their guitars with saddles on the high side for the purchaser to get it down to an action of their choosing because there is nothing that kills the sale of a guitar in a shop more than fret buzz. They will not risk that so acoustic guitar bridges are always sold a little on the high side.
That’s true. The saddle on a new Eastman is glorious to behold! And when the saddle is lowered to achieve a good action, say 3/32 inch on the low E string, high frets can be revealed. A good shop should level these, but little chance they do for online buyers. Moral of the story: we need to learn how to do our own setups 😎👍
Can you tell me what the relative humidity is where you live? The reason I ask is if your Eastman guitar needed you to lower the saddle in such a short amount of time that would kinda lead to the possibility that your guitars are over humidified and the tops have raised up. 40 to 50 % humidity is the range you really want to keep your guitars. Your guitar is not able to produce all it can by having such a low saddle. In the 70s into the early 80s there were some wonderful sounding guitars being made in Japan and they where a great bargain for a long time.
Hi David, as I type this the humidity in Sydney is 64%, which is typical. It rarely drops below 60. I know now that this is too humid for guitars - the whole sorry saga is recorded in my videos 😅. I now keep my guitars in their cases with dehumidifier packs. A nice playable action on the Eastmans did not last long sitting out in this environment 😢Regards Nick
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel Hi Nick, Yeah that is to high and is a direct cause to why you have to have your saddles so low. Another side effect of having a over humidified guitar is it will sound muffled. I find that my guitars sound and play their best is around 41% I know this is hard to do in more humid climates and putting them in their cases is great idea, you can also use uncooked rice and put it in a perforated container along with a hygrometer to track the R/H I did this when I lived in a more humid climate, those humidity packs can get expensive after a while.
Ive got the sigma om45r and its an amazing guitar… it did however lack the qaulity control of a martin.. it had a high fret and came with a very high action.
New ones are good too. They are very popular here in Australia. If you can play some you could judge for yourself. but lots of very good quality brands to choose from these days.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel found new one for 650$ and 850$ for dr-45, dunno which one to choose, can’t find difference between them ;( I’m from Ukraine , so it’s hard to try it in real life atm, and I need new guitar because it’s very boring here without electricity heh ;)
Yeah that Eastman has big sound, but honestly the Sigma has a warmer refined less booming sound. That abalone inlay has alot of pretty green too, nice guitar.
You’re right the Eastman produced more bass but there was some magic shimmer going on with the old Sigma. Age, and I think a really nice bit of spruce. I said in the video the rosewood might have played a part but in retrospect the wood inside was not rosewood.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel Not sure what your thoughts are but it’s often said that as long as the top is solid then the back and sides are not so important. It’s the top that produces the loudness and sustain as it vibrates and the bracing inside determines its sound, forward shifted X bracing for example.
Both beautiful....amazing how we keep looking for better and better, then we pick up one we didnt pay much attention to and its the one! Kind of like behaviors in the raging hormone days of relationships growing up.
Yes I know what you mean. There are guitars and gear I have sold that I did not appreciate at the time. And in recent years I have begun to appreciate the need to give guitars time to age and mature in sound.
Eastman sounds great but that breaking is terrible I would hope Eastman Would correct that under warranty at least if it was new and if it wasn’t I wouldn’t buy it in that condition knowing that a neck reset would be on the horizon
I think Eastman / Gladesville Guitars would have honoured warranty with that lifting neck, but I didn’t end up going through the hassle of taking it back and arguing my case. I did email Eastman directly and they replied with generic info about keeping guitar in case, etc. Humidity has been very high is Sydney Australia this summer it is true, but I think these modern skinny necks do not hold up at all well. See my other video how I sold this E6D. I was very honest with the buyer about the action and saddle height.
I have both a D-41 and a 1970 Japanese DR-41. While the DR-41 does sound brighter, it's NOT a solid-wood Martin. It sells for about $700 to $800 Cdn but the 1970 Japanese model was the best of the Sigmas.
This is an older Korean made Sigma, 30 plus years old. Solid spruce top, laminated rosewood back and sides. The veneer on the inside of the body was not rosewood. Still sounded quite good! Regards Nick
There is a current Sigma model that has similar specs to this old Korean Sigma. But they are actually different companies. The new Sigma brand is German and make the guitars in China, with permission to copy all the Martin designs.
I owned an early Japanese Sigma with a zero fret. It was auditorium- ish size. It was nice but it was not a Martin. Maybe a bit less not a Martin than this Korean beastie 😂 Have you been down the Morris rabbit hole? They are also not Martins. K Yairi, now they might be contenders.
Check out a 70s solid top Yamaki! Something truly magical about those guitars when you find a good example. The solid top models are designated with an S. don’t know if you’ll be able to find one in Australia but over here in Canada there are quite a few floating around. I own one as does my father and they are both brilliant guitars. I purchased mine for $250, and now I’d say they’re worth about $500 here in Canada, but severely underrated in my humble opinion I’ve done a few videos on my channel featuring them. Most of them had cedar tops, but some have spruce
Hi Lucas, I have seen some Yamaki guitars in Australia but have not owned one. I do like the older Japanese guitars. But my favourites have been Eastmans and now a Yamaha LL16. Thanks for your comment! I watch your channel too 👍🔥
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel ah thanks for the sweet words on the channel man. I thought I had seen your name around the channel before so this makes sense. Really dig your videos and happy to hear you have found a nice Yamaha acoustic. I’ve been really curious to try the upper end Yamaha‘s like the LL16, FGx5 etc. Yamaha just makes great stuff. Thinking about doing a review on a Revstar One of these days as well if I can get permission to film in a store that has them. I’m very intrigued by those guitars
Hi Brendan, the current Sigmas may well have the micarta fretboards, but this older Korean Sigma definitely had real rosewood fretboard and it was pretty too - a nice reddish hue to it.
I love the way you play. Sounds excellent 👌
Just bought an early 70's Japanese SIGMA D-18. This is exciting.
Postscript. The Sigma went to a very happy guitarist in Sydney who owned the same model in his youth. He confirmed that this is a Korean Sigma. Listening back the Sigma creates some enchanting overtones when I pick with the capo on the 4th fret. But the Eastman produces so much more bottom end when I strum without the capo. This really came through when I listened back with Apple headphones. This is recorded with a Shure Motiv MV88 mic plugged into my phone.
Sigma sounded great! Beautiful playing as well!
I used to own a 1958 Martin D18. $1000 to straighten the neck but it sounded amazing. Now I have a 1978-81 Japanese Sigma DM18. More or less identical except the Sigma has an adjustable neck. Otherwise identical quality, identical quality sound as my 1958. The back and sides of the Sigma are said to be laminate but on mine they appear to be solid mahogany ( but I'm not an expert). The best Sigmas have two separate pressed serial numbers inside plus a cute impress stamp saying 'Sigma Guitars. Made in Japan for CF Martin & Co.' This was the pinnacle of the Martin Sigmas. Anything with a paper label inside, or no label at all, is probably Korean. Nice guitars, but never as good as their Japanese siblings. 1970s American-built low-end Martins had pretty patchy quality. I suspect the Japanese companies of the 1970s made extremely good Sigmas as a matter of pride, because Japan had faced humiliation by the American military just three decades or so earlier,.
The one I reviewed here was Korean and it was nice, but nowhere near US Martin quality in my opinion. I agree the earlier Japanese Sigmas are the best!
Nice find ! She sure sounds like a Martin !
The 70s, Japanese made , Sigma are great guitars... and worth the bucks.
The Japanese made ones are more highly regarded then the Taiwanese and Korean ones. This Korean one was nice, but something I didn’t mention before, it was very pretty on the outside but the internal attention to detail was not very high and the wood used on the internal veneer was meh.
Both sound good maybe a slight edge for the eastman that sounds a bit more résonnant to my ears.
What s the name of the song you play first please? Sounds really nice
Hi thanks for your comment. I found the Eastman to be a bit stronger and more resonant. The Sigma had a beautiful shimmer but lacked the oomph of the all solid guitar. That tune is a progression I came up with myself. It uses a Dm then a Gm but played using the Bb on the A string. There is also an A7 there.
Sounds really good
Hi!! Is this an electric acoustic?
Hi there! Neither of the guitars in this review had a pickup.
What model Eastmsn dred is that, friend?
Hi, that was an E6D, with the Sitka top and mahogany back and sides.
They can make a laminate back and sides with a solid top sound quite nice with a good bracing system.
Totally agree, and they can also make higher quality laminates, with higher quality, void free wood used in the middle. Laminate also has advantage of being more stable.
What was the song you were playing to demonstrate the tone on both guitars?
Hi that is my own tune, it goes from the d minor shape to the d major and I play a g minor shape without the bottom e string.
That sigma sounded great
I have 3 Sigmas. Two DM-4s (MIK) from 1980 and a DR-7s (MIJ) but am not sure of the manufacture date. Even though the both DM-4s are from the same year of manufacture the neck shapes are completely different, one has a fairly standard neck shape and the other is very slim. They also sound quite different. The thicker neck has more mid range and the slimmer neck more high end.
That’s a nice collection!! I have my eye on a Sigma MIK D35 copy, all solid!! I think these guitars will become more collectible as time passes.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel I worked for 32 years in a psychiatric hospital and one of my patients, a young man, had a Sigma D-41. It was lovely. The current Sigma line is owned by a German company. Apparently after Martin stopped making Sigmas they didn't bother to renew ownership of the Sigma name and this company bought it. The ones with the Sigma name must not be allowed to be sold in the U.S. as here they are sold with the A.M.I. name.
Hello..which Sigma guitar model do you recommend for acoustic gigs?
I'm currently playing with an epiphone hummingbird but I would love a Sigma for a change
Hi Tony, I am not familiar with the current Sigma models, there are a lot! But my general recommendation would be a Grand Auditorium size, with a pickup, which is between a dreadnought and OM size. Then carefully check the plugged in sound to ensure it sounds nice and the strings are evenly balanced in output. If you are buying online I would want to get a really good price as it is always a gamble!
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel do you know about Guild d260ce? I'm leaning to buy this guitar after a long searching!
Thank you anyway for Ur response
Hello thank you, is DR 41 and D 41 the same model ?
HI thanks for your comment! From what I can find online, the current Sigma is called DR-41. I think this is the equivalent model to the D-41 I reviewed, which was made in Korea back in the day.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel thanks a lot
No. D-41 is a full solid-wood Martin; DR-41 is a laminated Sigma. I have both.
Not sure it's "Sigma BY Martin" now is it? Sigma is its own guitar compnay no? If I had some spare cash now I think I'd buy the Sigma J45, fabulous guitar for the money!
I think you are right. The latest Sigmas are produced by a German company called AMI in China. They don’t use the Martin name but They copy the Martin designs very closely. I think they have permission to do that. They have done well in Australia, they are in all the music shops here.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel They are super guitars too!!
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel Wohoo, just bought a Sigma DMC-1E from Mannys :)
Congrats! Let us know how it sounds.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel Hey! Just realised I missed this part out. It is actually a great guitar, had a really nice and warm sound quality with great projection, especially in the bass. Surprisingly well balanced, and for the price of 600 Aussie dollars it is definitely worth it. I had a chance to compare this to a Martin D-18 that was also in store at Mannys. The Martin did sound fuller with better dynamics, unsurprisingly, but your getting way more than what you're paying for. I also compared this guitar to my Ibanez AAD170CE, and they actually sounded quite similar.
I did have one complaint about the intonation on the guitar. Luckily, tightening the truss rod did fix this issue, as the action was set up a bit too high.
All in all a great guitar, with some minor setting up!
Will
Well, I have an Eastman, very happy with it, the top is Adirondack spruce with East Indian Rosewood.
Also, a Martin J40, Benoit dreadnought cutaway, Taylor GS Mini, and Taylor 12 string.
Mostly playing the Eastman mostly, since its smaller.
Thanks for your comment! The fact that you play your Eastman when you own high end guitars says a lot about Eastman tone.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel
This is true, I own a Martin D45 and a custom Gibson Hummingbird but I always seem to pick up my Eastman E8 which is an all solid dreadnaught. I own two Eastmans and I enjoy them both. Eastman has such a good reputation for hand-built quality acoustic guitars. There’s not a single machine in their workshop in China.
I had a Sigma. It was astoundingly good. It felt identical to my OM28 You dont hear a lot of harmonis and openness of high end guitars at street level noise. You just need a nice balanced tone. Buy a Sigma, slap a knk mini in that sucker. Its a back up, or a tough park guitar. It will gig. Save the Martin for the studio.
Thanks for your comment. I am a fan of Recording King for street guitar also. The latest Sigmas by the German company are pretty good too but they are only related to the old Korean and Japanese ones by the name on the headstock.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel It's a good point, but wherever that name goes, so far, so good.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel
Here in the UK, I’ve seen a Sigma D45. Looks gorgeous but the back and sides is Tilla wood. That has to be some kind of cheap laminate. The top is solid spruce. It’s one of the newer German ones but of course, made in China. The newer Sigmas have a different style Sigma branding on the headstock.
Guitar makers will always make their guitars with saddles on the high side for the purchaser to get it down to an action of their choosing because there is nothing that kills the sale of a guitar in a shop more than fret buzz. They will not risk that so acoustic guitar bridges are always sold a little on the high side.
That’s true. The saddle on a new Eastman is glorious to behold! And when the saddle is lowered to achieve a good action, say 3/32 inch on the low E string, high frets can be revealed. A good shop should level these, but little chance they do for online buyers. Moral of the story: we need to learn how to do our own setups 😎👍
Can you tell me what the relative humidity is where you live? The reason I ask is if your Eastman guitar needed you to lower the saddle in such a short amount of time that would kinda lead to the possibility that your guitars are over humidified and the tops have raised up. 40 to 50 % humidity is the range you really want to keep your guitars. Your guitar is not able to produce all it can by having such a low saddle. In the 70s into the early 80s there were some wonderful sounding guitars being made in Japan and they where a great bargain for a long time.
Hi David, as I type this the humidity in Sydney is 64%, which is typical. It rarely drops below 60. I know now that this is too humid for guitars - the whole sorry saga is recorded in my videos 😅. I now keep my guitars in their cases with dehumidifier packs. A nice playable action on the Eastmans did not last long sitting out in this environment 😢Regards Nick
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel Hi Nick, Yeah that is to high and is a direct cause to why you have to have your saddles so low. Another side effect of having a over humidified guitar is it will sound muffled. I find that my guitars sound and play their best is around 41% I know this is hard to do in more humid climates and putting them in their cases is great idea, you can also use uncooked rice and put it in a perforated container along with a hygrometer to track the R/H I did this when I lived in a more humid climate, those humidity packs can get expensive after a while.
Ive got the sigma om45r and its an amazing guitar… it did however lack the qaulity control of a martin.. it had a high fret and came with a very high action.
Yep these bargain holy grail guitars can need a setup 😅
Eastman sounds very nice . Sigma sounds nice also....different but nice also.
I agree with you...a great value guitar
Hey, where you bought it for 350$? in official site its smth like 1300$ or so
I found this one on eBay. Keep in mind it is a 30 plus year old guitar. Different beast to the new ones.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel oh! Still beautiful:)
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel are new ones not so good?
New ones are good too. They are very popular here in Australia. If you can play some you could judge for yourself. but lots of very good quality brands to choose from these days.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel found new one for 650$ and 850$ for dr-45, dunno which one to choose, can’t find difference between them ;(
I’m from Ukraine , so it’s hard to try it in real life atm, and I need new guitar because it’s very boring here without electricity heh ;)
Love my alvarez md60 bg
Yeah that Eastman has big sound, but honestly the Sigma has a warmer refined less booming sound. That abalone inlay has alot of pretty green too, nice guitar.
You’re right the Eastman produced more bass but there was some magic shimmer going on with the old Sigma. Age, and I think a really nice bit of spruce. I said in the video the rosewood might have played a part but in retrospect the wood inside was not rosewood.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel
Not sure what your thoughts are but it’s often said that as long as the top is solid then the back and sides are not so important. It’s the top that produces the loudness and sustain as it vibrates and the bracing inside determines its sound, forward shifted X bracing for example.
Both beautiful....amazing how we keep looking for better and better, then we pick up one we didnt pay much attention to and its the one! Kind of like behaviors in the raging hormone days of relationships growing up.
Yes I know what you mean. There are guitars and gear I have sold that I did not appreciate at the time. And in recent years I have begun to appreciate the need to give guitars time to age and mature in sound.
nice
Eastman all day!
I keep going back to them 👍
I have a DR-35. 40 years after I bought it, sounds great. Use it mainly for bluegrass.
I'm guessing that has the three-piece back like the Martin?
Has the 3 piece back
I have a Cort that looks exactly the same.....but it sounds very cheap
They can smother a guitar in abalone and it won’t sound any better 😅
In my opinion a martin DX-1 sounds a little more mellow.
It looks pretty weird though :)
Hi there, yep even the cheapest Martins are good sounding guitars!
Eastman sounds great but that breaking is terrible I would hope Eastman Would correct that under warranty at least if it was new and if it wasn’t I wouldn’t buy it in that condition knowing that a neck reset would be on the horizon
I think Eastman / Gladesville Guitars would have honoured warranty with that lifting neck, but I didn’t end up going through the hassle of taking it back and arguing my case. I did email Eastman directly and they replied with generic info about keeping guitar in case, etc. Humidity has been very high is Sydney Australia this summer it is true, but I think these modern skinny necks do not hold up at all well. See my other video how I sold this E6D. I was very honest with the buyer about the action and saddle height.
I have a 00028 sigma it's over 50years play's and sounds lovely , would not part with it.
I have both a D-41 and a 1970 Japanese DR-41. While the DR-41 does sound brighter, it's NOT a solid-wood Martin. It sells for about $700 to $800 Cdn but the 1970 Japanese model was the best of the Sigmas.
Yep, the original Japanese Sigmas are regarded as better than the later Korean ones.
All solid wood guitar?
This is an older Korean made Sigma, 30 plus years old. Solid spruce top, laminated rosewood back and sides. The veneer on the inside of the body was not rosewood. Still sounded quite good! Regards Nick
I have a 1970 Japanese Sigma DR41. It has rosewood laminated back and sides with a solid sitca spruce top.
That's a Sigma DR41 whereas the Martin is the D41.
I guess the extra letter avoids total shameless copying 😀
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel The "R" = rosewood. D= dreadnaught
looks like the DR 7 sigma
There is a current Sigma model that has similar specs to this old Korean Sigma. But they are actually different companies. The new Sigma brand is German and make the guitars in China, with permission to copy all the Martin designs.
A real Sigma would be a better guitar for comparison....The Japanese stuff is amazing, building to Martin's exact drawings..
I owned an early Japanese Sigma with a zero fret. It was auditorium- ish size. It was nice but it was not a Martin. Maybe a bit less not a Martin than this Korean beastie 😂 Have you been down the Morris rabbit hole? They are also not Martins. K Yairi, now they might be contenders.
My quest for off brand holy grail vintage guitars with laminated back and sides continues …
Check out a 70s solid top Yamaki! Something truly magical about those guitars when you find a good example. The solid top models are designated with an S. don’t know if you’ll be able to find one in Australia but over here in Canada there are quite a few floating around. I own one as does my father and they are both brilliant guitars. I purchased mine for $250, and now I’d say they’re worth about $500 here in Canada, but severely underrated in my humble opinion I’ve done a few videos on my channel featuring them. Most of them had cedar tops, but some have spruce
Hi Lucas, I have seen some Yamaki guitars in Australia but have not owned one. I do like the older Japanese guitars. But my favourites have been Eastmans and now a Yamaha LL16. Thanks for your comment! I watch your channel too 👍🔥
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel ah thanks for the sweet words on the channel man. I thought I had seen your name around the channel before so this makes sense. Really dig your videos and happy to hear you have found a nice Yamaha acoustic. I’ve been really curious to try the upper end Yamaha‘s like the LL16, FGx5 etc. Yamaha just makes great stuff. Thinking about doing a review on a Revstar One of these days as well if I can get permission to film in a store that has them. I’m very intrigued by those guitars
Micarta fretboard.
Are you thinking the Eastman has a micarta fretboard? The specs say ebony and the wood grain was evident to confirm that.
@@turrafirmaguitarchannel the sigma has a micarta fretboard
Hi Brendan, the current Sigmas may well have the micarta fretboards, but this older Korean Sigma definitely had real rosewood fretboard and it was pretty too - a nice reddish hue to it.
Wow i love this! I think that it could be of use to research a service such as P R O M O S M.
Sound luke chinese ceapson
Rip off ad Beck Bad setti g bd guitare