Sigma DM5

The one i have is 35 years old. It was my dad's first guitar. His parents bought it for him when he was 14 years old. Like him, i have learned to play on it, and started when I was ten. The guitar has been played at weddings, funerals, choral concerts, open mics, and campfires from maryland all the way to Florida. It has probally the best sound, in my opinnion, of any guitar on the market today. If you put a set of light gage, marting elixer strings on it, it will make a world of differnce in the tone and sound quality. I give it a 10.

I believe mine was made in the very early 1970's. I'm not sure where. Not too many features on this guitar...bare bones acoustic, which is the way I like it. It came with a hard side case.

This guitar suits my music style very well. I play a little bit of everyting and this guitar handles it very well. It's very loud, especially when strumming. It's got a great warm tone that no other acoustic guitar I've ever owned has had.

Well, for a 30+ year old guitar everything is still in it's place. I guess I have to give it a pretty good score for fit. It's a little beat up, I got the guitar from my father.

This guitar can take anything anyone can dish out I think. Mine has withstood international flights and 30 years of playing, partying, teaching, and other stuff. I believe with the proper care my great grandkids will be able to enjoy this guitar.

NA

I've been playing guitar for about 7 years now. I own a couple of Strats, a Tele, an Ovation, and this Sigma. If this guitar was stolen I'd have to hunt down the guy who took it! This guitar has a LOT of sentimental value to it. It was my father's first guitar and he's gigged with it for a while...lot's of special meaning in it.

I work in guitarshop in Sweden and I exchanged the guitar with a new nylon string China guitar. The former owner had put nylon strings on so I had to change strings. I will have to glue the bridge becuase its about to come loose.
The neck is good and the frets too. The tuners have to go and the bridgepin too.
At first I wanted to sell it as used but after som work with it I will have it myself.

Ive compared it with the other guitars I have in the store (Martin, Taylor, Guild....) and I think that it sounds really good.
It has alot of bass and the sepatation between the tones is Ok.
It misses some brightness yet. Its really loud.
Consider the price I paid I have to give it a 10.

The tuners arent that fun but they do what theyare suppose to do.

Since the guitar is at least 20 years old and has never been repared until now, thats ok. And yes I would use it on a gig without backup.

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Ive been playing active for 10 years now, and since I work in a guitars shop specialized in acoustics I own alot of guitars. But its always fun to get surprised-

This is the same Japanese model reviewed by others. I bought it for my girlfriend (wife, now) around 1987 new for around $165 or so I believe to replace her Nagoya that I broke the headstock off of.

I think this guitar has a wonderful sound, quite loud, bright but full and deep and pretty easy playability. I replaced the saddle and had the intonation adjusted which always makes a HUGE difference. Without adjustments, most guitars will sound like crap. I probably need to replace the bridge pins as well.

Saddle and bridge pins replacement will help the sound. The appearance is good, but nothing special in woods and finish. It plays and sounds better than its average appearance.

It's pretty durable and resists nicks and dents and stays in tune pretty well.

I demo A LOT of guitars regularly and have been playing on and off for 30 years. I have spent a lot of time in the last two years checking out acoustic guitars and I say you have to spend a lot more money to beat these guitars for sound and playability. The best value I have found in any acoustic. THey sound pretty much just as good as the comparable Martins. It sounds a lot better than most of the Takamines (most are lame), Gibsons (hate 'em), Ibanez, Washburn and other mid-range guitars. But I got Taylor on my mind when I come up with the $ for a fancy one.

This is a basic 6 string acoustic guitar with black pick guard. I've owned mine since 1985 and the serial number starts with S80 so I'm guessing its either 1978 or 1980. I have no idea what type of wood this thing is made from. I paid 80$ for it and the person whom I bought it from had paid 100$ 2 years prior. He had wanted to upgrade to a 12 string and used the money to buy a new Takamine. We still keep in touch and the 12 string was ready for the trash about 15 years ago. He's always impressed at how well this guitar has stood up over the years.

The guitar has a nice tone but it isn't as loud as other guitars. When I'm jamming with others on acoustic I'm often out-gunned. I suspect this is because the soundboard is thick and very riggid.

Fit and finish of this guitar is very good. Its pretty much impossible to get perfect intonation on acoustics and this one is no exception. This was not an expensive guitar when new.

Full marks here. This guitar has been camping, gigging, yachting (don't ask), partying, jamming and visited 3 continents travelling in the baggage compartments of aeroplanes. I use 13-56 strings on it and its still fine. I will say that when left in the rain it did go out of tune though. Yikes! It dried out nicely and tunes up perfectly still. If you are looking for a brutal guitar for a good price (assuming you can find one for a good price) I'd recommend this guitar.

Who knows? Never had to call upon them.

Have to rate as 10 because I'm not aware of a lower cost guitar that has held up like this one.

Bought mid-70's for #70. Typical simple dreadnought type. Has all same features as new. I had the action professionally lowered, but apart from that it hasn't needed any attention at all.

By the way, I think the "M on its side" ont he headstock, which my guitar has, is actually the Greek letter SIGMA. Could be wrong though!

Serial no. is 73071490.

It has a nice bright sound, and has sounded great on various recordings I've used it on - specially for lead work. Acoustically however, when I hear others play it I sometimes think the mid to low end range can boom a little. I use it for fingerstyle and it's fine for that.

As I said I found the action high and had it lowered. Fretboard is are now starting to wear down a little, but that just makes it all the better IMHO. It's been played more or less constantly for 25 years after all!

The finish is a bit lived-in now, but the guitar has been in the back of vans, knocked over, dropped, you name it. It has a crack on the bridge, but it doesn't affect tuning. I have used it live and it stayed in tune pretty well. It's pretty solid!

Never had to.

I've been playing for 30 years, and this was the first guitar worthy of the name I ever owned. I've had many others since, but now that my gigging life is - sadly - over, I've come back to owning just this one. It's never let me down and I'll never, EVER part with it, until I pas it on to my kids. I don't know if I can say it's as good as a Martin, but it's the best acoustic I ever owned. Has sentimental value too...my Dad bought me it, and paid off the #70 on credit for a year. If you get the chance to snap one up - do it. You'll never regret it.

70s jap made and inspected by Martin and co. before being released for sale...Sigma is owned by the CF Martin co. I have a Korean and a jap made version..both are excellent,and well played and aged.Quite a simple dreadnaught,but thats how I like em

Suits me fine..Its got a rich full sound,and I tend to pick a lot,but when I strum,the sound fills the room,I use them miked up with a soundhole mike on stage...cant beat em

Both have never been touched and the factory setup is fine....tuners are smooth and they stay in tune,my jap one has an "M" in mother of pearl sideways on the headstock...these ones are much rarer and very sought after,Ive been offered lots of dough for iot but would never part with it...great low action with no buzzes...I use xtra light on one,and medium on the other

Been gigged and gigged and still no problems,been all over the US,and I use both all the time..very dependable

Never a problem with them....they give a lifetime warranty on ones made after 1984...so they are confident...but they are CF Martin after all...with a reputation to protect

Been playing pro now for 20 yrs.....have a gibson j200,and old epi cabellero,another sigma sdr28(beautiful) and also a sigma grand concert...The older ones cant be beaten for sound as they mature...would compare to a martin at 3 times the price

Made in Japan approx. 1979. Solid top.

Like others who own Japanese DM-5, DR-28H, DM12-5, I am happy to have had this guitar is my main baby for writing, performing for the past 25 years. It is a mellow fellow. For loud, distinct lead lines (and punchy rhythm) I've been playing a recently acquired DR-28H which has sustain and definition to die for. Fortunately I didn't have to die, only shelled out $300.

But the lowly DM-5 has soul. Just about everyone who's played it either wanted it, wanted to borrow it for a session, or wanted to find one like it. I, like another reviewer here, caution seekers to be careful. Not all (even made in Japan) Sigmas are the same. The plywood Korean models are to be avoided. But you might just luck out and get one as good as this. Look for scalloped (hand carved) bracing and oval shaped logo on back center stripe in sound hole.

I don't like the shiny polyurethane finish. I long ago took super-fine steel wool and dulled the finish on the top. Was professionally set up and action has been the same for 20+ years. Neck is thinnest, most playable acoustic I've owned. Bottom line: This was the bargain basement acoustic, the one the Guitar Center dude handed me when I said, " cheap." It looks like a Martin, plays and sounds as good or better than most Martins on the market today.

Been around, surved many air baggage trips.

Playing for 40 years, 25 of those on this guitar.

Made in Japan,mid 70's. It has a spruce top with rosewood back and sides.It came with cheap die cast tuners that I replaced with better quality ones. The headstock has the word Sigma with a sideways M above it. It is the only one I have seen with that style.

I love this guitar! It has a warm, beautiful tone that is'nt even matched by $1000 dollar Martins. I always get comments from other musicians about how good it sounds.

Well, I got it used from a professional musician, so it has a few battle scars. The spruce top has aged to a really nice dark color.

For as old as it is, the finish is great. The action needs a lot of tweaking to stay where I like it.

I had it repaired about a year ago when my two year old grabbed the strings and fell back while I was playing. He cracked the bridge. $35 dollars later I was back in business.

I have been playing for about ten years. I also own a Squier Stratocaster(not bad for the price) and an Ampeg ADAB1 bass guitar(original, not the repro) . I would love to find another DM - 5 like mine so my brother in law would quit harassing me to sell mine. It may not be worth much in cash, but it's valuable to me.