Sigma DR-1ST CE

Solid Spruce top, laminate rosewood back and sides; 4-band eq with pickup. Hard to get rid of, because it sounds better than it costs. I bought it for $100, but wouldn't sell it for 200.

Like a full-bodied acoustic. Really nice. Plugged in, it has a natural acoustic sound with rich lows and sweet mids. Weak, but acceptable highs. I like more bass in my guitar than this offers (like a Guild D-50), but it has a classic Martin-type sound.

Fantastic action.

I've tried to destroy this thing on the road, but it only has a small crack in the finish from the base to the bridge. Solid, but not bulletproof design. If it were a Guild I have no doubt that that hairline in the finish would not be there.

Never needed.

For the price, this thing can't be beat. I was incredibly lucky that this was the cheapest guitar at the local store when I desperately needed an acoustic electric two hours before my gig started. Thing is, I don't use it much anymore, and it's just not worth selling. If I ever go broke and have to sell all my instruents, this is the one I'll keep, because it's practically worthless, but sounds great.

Actually, I purchased the DM-1st CE which is exactly the same except for the mahogany wood. I love the solid spruce top--it really makes a difference in the sound. It has good quality grover tuners, as well as quality electronics with a 4-band equalizer. It's also the first guitar I have had with a cutaway--I like that. It's a good looking guitar. However, it could use a button for the strap on the front of the body. But for $2.12 I got one installed at the local music shop. Probably its best feature is the Martin name, and in my opinion it lives up to Martn's standards.

I'm pretty new to guitars, but I have researched guitars quite a bit in my quest to find the ONE that will last me for a while. So I am certainly not an expert in this area. As far as I can tell, this is not the BEST sounding guitar I've ever played,but it is close--It is not a super mellow sound, but it is clear with a good tone. It sounds great plugged in!

I found the action to be perfect. It was nice and low, but not too low. It's a fun and easy guitar to play. It has a high glossy finish. Someone told me that a satin finish is preferable for the wood to "breathe" but that may be just a matter of opinion. The plug in is in the strap button which is nice--out of the way, unlike the ones that are under the saddle. No flaws that I can see other than a little bit of glue beside the fretboard--no biggie.

I just got this guitar, but it seems to be very well made. Very solid. Up to Martin's standards.

N/A---hopefully I never will have to.

Like I said, I'm not really experienced, and this is my first decent guitar. If it were stolen or lost, I would first dab up my crocodile tears, and then get back on the horn and order another (assuming my savings account agrees). I think it is a great guitar for the price and I would highly recomend it for beginners and advanced alike.

Bought from Musician's Friend about a year ago, probably a 2000 or 2001 model, made in Korea. A beautiful guitar to look at. Cutaway Dreadnought. Solid Sitka spruce top. Nice 4-band EQ, no label but it's gotta be by Fishman, right? Rosewood laminate back and sides. Gorgeous solid mahogany neck with a nice piece of rosewood for the fretboard. Genuine Grover tuners really keep it in tune. The neck is just the right shape and thickness. One reviewer complained about not having a strap button at the neck heel, but I prefer to attach the strap to the headstock, using one of Martin's little leather strap-button thingies.

Sounds FABULOUS plugged in to the PA. Sounds so-so played unplugged. Has a nice, bright unplugged sound, but not enough bass. If I put heavier strings on it, maybe that would help, but that's not gonna happen. I usually play this at gigs and at church, so it's always amplified when I play for an audience with it.

Factory action was sky-high. I can't rate it down for that, though, because some folks want it high for slide playing, etc. A local tech set it up for me with very low action, which I'm sure doesn't help the bass response, but allows me to play the Ab, Bb, and Eb stuff that they throw to me at church. The top looks pretty good, but they didn't really bookmatch it too well. (for $249 are we surprised?) Overall fit and finish is excellent. Frets are smooth. Finish is gorgeous. No finish flaws that I could see anywhere.

This thing is built like a brick house. The tech who set it up for me said, "I'll bet you never have any feedback problems with that, do ya?" That's probably why the unplugged bass response ain't so hot, but oh well. I expect this box to last a LONG time. I gig with it all the time, but I NEVER gig without a backup so that's no reflection on this model.

Never had to deal with them. No Opinion.

I've been playing guitar for over thirty years. I play praise music in church, and I'm the guitarist and lead singer for an Irish folk band. The Sigma fits well for church. I've had the action set a bit too low to bang away on it in the folk band without it buzzing some. I use my Alvarez as the main guitar for that. But, the Sigma sounds great when we do slow airs, ballads, and fingerstyle stuff. If it was lost or stolen I'd replace it with something else that sounded a little better unplugged, but I'd probably have to pay a lot more for it. This guitar is probably about the best A/E I could have found for the money.

Korean made by Martin. , 2001 model,Solid spruce top,rosewood sides&back, mahogany neck , rosewood fretboard. Dreadnought w/ a cutaway, Grover tuners, Piezo pickup w/4 band eq. This guitar was purchased as a "blem" . It was the last one musicians friend had. The only blemish I can see on this guitar is the fact that the matching of the two halves of the solid top are not well matched. Its quite noticable ,the different colors of spruce.

It sounds great now after Iv done some major tweaking. Balanced , stringy, and quite loud acousticaly. eq provides lots of flexability when playing electricaly.

It was set up very poorly like most guitars are , never really set up to take advantage of thier full potential. I had to file the nut slots deeper , sand nearly 1/4" from the bridge saddle , and tighten the truss rod nearly 1 full turn. Before ,to play an f chord you had to be Arnold Schwartzenagger , The action was so high and the strings so far from the soundhole ,the guitar had zilch for volume. There was way too much relief on the neck. Manufacturers never put strings on properly. never enough winds and never lock them. I Installed on this guitar "de-andrea" E-Z pegs , a very worthwhile modification. The finish on this guitar is a medium heavy gloss finish which Im not sure will impede the aging process of the solid top. Finish is good,fret work very good, nice slab of rosewood for fretboard , nice neck joint , nice binding. I will install a strap button on the shoulder of this guitar. Dont know why guitarmakers dont do this as a practice. It stinks having to attach the strap to the headstock.

This guitar seems very durable and well made.

?????

even as a blem, for 229.00 , its a bargain , if your handy.

This guitar was made in Korea which is the only thing Ive found wrong with it. I have nothing against Koreans Im just an American Made type of guy. It has a spruce top, rosewood sides and back (beautiful), rosewood fret board and im not sure what the neck is made out of but it is a heavy wood for those of us who dont like that cheap next to plastic feel. It is an accoustic Electric with 4 band EQ. I havent had much of a chance to really play through an amp with it so im not going to comment about that. It has Grover tuners which are just plain old awsome. They hold a perfect tune. It has 20 frets and comes with a cheapy cable and an alan wrench for neck adjustments. Oh and its a single cutaway and you plug in your cable about 6 inches below the strap nut thing a boper.

This guitar fits my style just right although i would like to think i am still developing it. I play lots of newer rock (WAY NOT POP) mostly accoustic versions some examples are Sister Hazel, Five for fighting, and life house. I also love some older song from gods (lower case g gods) like Bob Dylan. Just for the record I also listen to alot of Hard Rock and metal but i dont enjoy playing it through a guitar. I learned on a major suckage Fender i bought for like 100 bucks then moved to electric but found out that wasnt for me so i went back to my Fender until one day I got extremely pissed off at that piece of shit (I swear that action was a half inch above the fret board) and took a 12 Gauge to it. After that moment of rage I needed a new guitar. ive been playing for almost 3 years now so I thought it was time to buy a halfway desent guitar. I sold off my electric equipment (I had a SHITY SHITY Epiphone Les Paul DO NOT BUY EPIPHONE) After my electric was gone along with my amp and pedals and stuff I bought this guitar. Wow. I payed 250 for it on sale for musicians friend and way got my moneys worth. Its sounded just a bit tiny with the new factory martin strings on it but after the strings were a little broke in (1-2 hours) it started to sound great. Like I said earlier i havent had the chance to play it much threw an amp or anything so Im not going to add that to the grade.

This guitar was set up great at the factory. The action is perfect, as low as it can get with out buzzing, which was one of the main things i was looking for. The neck is very straight with now bow at all. The finish is beautiful. The rosewood sides complement the spruce top and give a beautiful natural apperance. I found one little ding on the front of the guitar, barely noticeable and about as big as this "o" this is probably a one of a kind flaw that you shouldnt bother to take into consideration. Besides that this is an extremely beautiful guitar. so i am going to give a 10 in this catogory. O and the tuning pegs are great and everything else seems to be good too.

This seems like a strudy guitar but i havent really abuse it or done any big gigs with it. Mostly un-amped stuff at open mic coffe houses and such. I use it with out a back up mostly because i dont have another guitar but i trust it to hold up. The finish doesnt seem thin at all and i forsee a long and beautiful life for this guitar. I am only giveing an 8 in this catagory because I havent abused this guitar and seen how it holds up. I have also only had it for about 2 and a half weeks so a ten would be unfair cause i dont have too much of an Idea.

Not a clue

The only problem I have with this guitar is the little ding I mentioned earlier but the rest of the guitar totaly makes up for it and im sure that that ding was a rare happening. I way recomend thios guitar for anybody who wants a high quality guitar but like me has a low quality budget. After playing this guitar I would have easily payed up to 600 dollars for it if i couldnt get it cheaper. The only reason i wouldnt pay more then 6 is because I could get a real American Made matin for that. The only reason Im so against anything not american made is my Epiphone (imation Gibson) i used to own but this Sigma is really starting to change my mind because after all it is a wanna be Martin. hmmmm theres a line here that says "Anything else you'd like to share?" And there is. It is....My girlfriend is very very hot and im sure your will be to if you pick up this guitar.

The Sigma DR-1STCE is a Korean made Sigma, with a cutaway at the bottom of the guitar to allow access to the high frets, and a built-in pickup system. It has a solid spruce top, rosewood back and sides, chrome tuners, and a natural finish. I ordered it on-sale from Musicians Friend, and although I was kind of leary of ordering a guitar through the mail, I figured that if it was messed up when it got here, I would just send it back. When it got here I was pleasantly surprised. It came and was in perfect shape, thanks to the packing job by Musicians Friend. It came with a 10ft cheapy guitar cable, and nothing else, except some Silica Gel (Mmmm...that was tasty stuff! Do they really have to write 'Do Not Eat' on the silica gel? I mean, who orders a guitar, and then thinks, 'OH, they sent me a tasty treat to sample while I play!')
I was very pleased with the guitars finish, and configuration.

I play lot's of acoustic duet club dates, and my songs are from The Eagles, to Eric Clapton, to Sting. I usually just plug the guitar straight into the PA, but if I use an amp, I use a Line6 Spider 112, 50 watt. The Sigma has a bright, full, balanced sound, and does everything that I want it too. I bought it after reading the two responses that were before mine on this board, and they didn't sound too happy with theirs. That's not the case here, though. I couldn't ask for a better guitar in the $250 price range.

Action: Well, the action is a bit high for my tastes. Not too high, mind you, just a bit so that I have to work a little to fret. If you are reading this and considering purchasing a DR1-ST, I wouldn't let that disuade me from buying the guitar, though. It's not that much. I thought about having it lowered a bit, but the guitar isn't an extremely loud guitar, and lowering the action would probably lose some of the energy and brightness. So I decided to keep it just like it is. It really isn't that bad, but if you are used to only playing electric guitars, then it will take a few minutes to adjust to the higher action. That would probably be true on anyone going from electric to acoustic, though. The finish is perfect, with no glue showing, and no loose parts. The guitar finish is beautiful, and there were no buzzing frets or anything, and the neck was adjusted perfectly from the factory. They do include a sheet to tell you how to adjust the neck if you need to, but I personally like to leave that to the pro's.

This guitar has stood up well to my live playing. See, the reason that I bought it was that I've been playing my Taylor 515B out in the clubs. One night we almost had an 'accident' in the club concerning a knocked-over chair almost hitting my Taylor. I decided to get a cheaper guitar that plays decently to use, and keep my Taylor at home. The Sigma has filled all the requirments that I had, and surprisingly enough, it sounds really good. It's not quite as easy to play as the Taylor, but hey, the Taylor is a Lemon Grove guitar, hand signed by Bob Taylor himself, and Bob built the neck. Considering that the Taylor is a $2200 guitar, and the Sigma is a $249 guitar, the little differences in the playability are unnoticeable. In fact, the differences are so small between the playability of them, that I would recommend the Sigma to someone who wanted that 'expensive guitar feel' on a budget.

Never dealt w/them.

I've been playing since 1977, and have several acoustics, including the aforementioned Taylor, a Fender acoustic, a Blueridge acoustic, and several Carvin Electrics. I took a chance with buying a guitar through the mail that I hadn't played, but I was very pleased with it, and would do it again. I needed a guitar to play the bar scene with, that wasn't too expensive, but sounded and played like a great guitar. I got everything that I wanted in the Sigma DR-ST1CE. I did add some Schaller straplocks to it, but other than that, it's just the way that it came to me from Musicians Friend. My only bitch w/Musicians Friend is that they want $120 dollars for the case for this particular model, which is half the cost of the guitar. I think I'll see if I can make some other cheaper case fit.
In the final summary, if you want a good guitar, and don't want to spend a lot of dough for it, buy the Sigma DR-1ST CE.