Sigma DR28

My Dad Bought My First Guitar The Sigma DR-28 In 1979 New when I was 13 For $500 USD. It Is Made In Japan,I Have Replaced The Nut , Frets And Bridge Since Then.

I Haven't Heard A Nother Sigma Have the Sound That This One Has. ,I Play country , Bluegrass And Gospel And Couldn't Ask For Anything More For The Price.

I Can Only Play 2 or 3 Songs In A Row With My Dads Martin D-35 Because It Just Tears Up My Fingers But With My Sigma I Can Play For Hours. If I Set It Down For Anything My Neice Will Take It And Not give It Back Because It Plays So Easy.

I Have Played Live At Bluegrass Fest With It And Never Had A Problem. Have Broken A String Here And there But That's bluegrass....
After 30 Years I Still Can't Complain About It Even Playing Lead On It.Very Dependable.

Never Used Any.

I Have Been Playing For 31 Years . I Have Had A Yahama Electric, Rickenbacker Electric ( Stolen When I Was In Hospital). Now I Have A Ibenez Hollow Body . If It Was Stolen I would Buy Something Else Because I Could Not Find Another With The Sound Or Ease Of Play That This One Has.

I purchased my Sigma DR28 from a music store in new zealand some years back for $300 NZD.It was an ex buskers gat on the second hand rack.I re-strung it with SX strings and its tone quality stood out straight away!As far as im concerned nothing ive heard over the past 5 decades can emulate that sweet tone,the guitar has made in japan in the 70's,serial no.847721,mahogany neck,20 frets,spruce top.
i would have to say the quality of the spruce used in manufacture has alot to do with the tone.And of course the older it gets the better it sounds!

i play country and blues,the sound is loud and rich,the fretboard just seems to suit my style of playing.there is no buzzing,the 10 guage strings i use would make this apparent.This guitar has been kept in good condition for its age,a credit to the busker who once played it on the mean streets of downtown palmerston north.

I had to tighten up the tuning pegs a bit but everything else was as it left the factory.

A very robust instrument i have with me always,reliable,loyal to the end.

no need for warranty with these,the japs sure new what they were doing.

compared to alot of expensive gibson's and martins,it sounds fine,i reckon it surpasses these new models for tone quality.i would never part with it.

The Sigma D-28 that I have was made in Japan somewhere in the late 70's or early 80's and is built well. Spruce top and Rosewood back and sides. I am pretty sure that this model was only made for 5-6 years.

My favorite part of this review. Wow! I play this guitar beside my new Martin D-28 and the difference is almost impossible to hear. This guitar is a cannon. Hats of to Martin for having their sister company make a guitar very close to the original.

Guitars rarely come set-up the way you like them. Set-ups are generally $35. Finish is pretty good and the matching of woods were great.

I take this guitar outside a lot and seems to be holding true after several years of play.

Haven't dealt with the company. Martin is generally pretty good at answering questions.

I have played for 15 years and have owned many great acoustics like Gibson J-45, Martin D-28, Martin D-35, Gibson Songwriter Deluxe Cutaway, and Alvarez Yairi DYM95. The Sigma D-28 is very underpriced for the sound you get from this beast. Like any other guitar, the same models don't sound the same. Sometimes you just get lucky and find a great one.

Features as noted above. I wish it had better tuners even though the stock ones work fine. Some Waverlys would just look better. One of these days i'm going to put a bone saddle and nut on it. I think the originals are plastic.

It just sounds great, especially if you keep the strings changed. Nice volumn and crystal clear. I think it's gotten better over the years as the top has aged. I've played other guys Martins, etc and my Sigma's sound is as good or better than any of them. It may be my playing style, but i don't think it's quite as loud as a Martin or one of the new Breedlove drednaughts that i've played. Still, it can hold it's own in the bluegrass jam.

Nice rosewood on the back and sides. The top of mine has some irregular grain at the bottom but it doesn't bother me. The finish is fine and has held up really well. It doesn't have any special rosette work or inlays, pretty plain actually, but it didn't cost $3,000 either.

I've had this baby for 15+ years and it's holding up great. I do keep in the case when i'm not playing.

I've never had occasion to contact them and wouldn't know how if i needed to.

Been playing about 50 years..that makes me old! I bought this years ago for $200 for a practice guitar. It turns out to be my favorite. I have a 1966 Gibson, a Bourgeois Sean Watkins which is a real nice guitar, Fender D'Aquisto, etc, etc. I've looked at Martins, Santa Cruz, etc thinking i needed a better dreadnaught, but i can't find anything i like better than my old Sigma. I just love this baby and would absolutely cry if something happened to it.

let me tell you about features: you pick her up and you play her and she feels sweet and always. that's everything you need to know

It suits every style as far as I can see but i mainly play country and when i do it sings like hank and johnny and gram all rolled into one. It's as rich as Bill Gates and as full as me after carne asada in el charro. it's not big on variety but it's sexier than a haute cuisine whore. if i were allowed to take one thing to that damn desert island it would be my sigma martin guitar

the action makes my fingers hurt but love, as they say, hurts. an overweight friend fell on it a number of years ago and cracked the body but said cascade had no apparent effect on the sound. go...and figure

i';ve played live and if there are any flaws they are as follows: a buzzing on the high E and a thinness if tuned below concert pitch; that could be the strings though. the finish is a number one and i imagine i'll be buried with this guitar pretty much as she is now. in terms of dependability i would trust her with my entire next of kin...including the ass holes. she is a solid citizen with no need of back-up

customer support? what in the hey is that?

i've been playing for about 20 years and own a 196something red telecaster re-issue and a v sweet yamaha spanish boutght in 1974. somewhere in the world is my small bodied fender and my broken hofner semi and some kind of solid electric what some cunt stole. i also own bongos and a bodhran (which is on some kind of tour of its own).

if someone waas fool enough to steal my guitar and smart enough to get away with it i think i would seek out a vintage martin or have a guitar made (presuming my screenplay sold for a million dollars or there abouts).

i love my signma martin though she is a hard mistress betimes. m,y favourite feature is the melancholy ring she gives when i pick her up and stroke her having foolishly neglected her for a time.

she don't compare to nothin and i chose her because a very wise man said he'd throw ion the case if i would just buy the guitar and quit looking at the inferior products.

See the other reviews for these details. I will quote another review from an English website about this guitar:

This is a dreadnought based on the Martin D28 with a solid spruce top and rosewood back and sides. It was made in Korea by Yamaha to a Martin design. There is certainly nothing wrong with Yamaha's fantastic stand-alone acoustics, so this collaboration was bound to be a winner...it is.

Whatever the heritage, it's a beautiful guitar, the full non-cutaway square-shouldered Martin outline is the classic dreadnought shape. The spruce top and rosewood back and sides look fantastic through what appears to be a very thin gloss laquer finish, certainly pretty. The subtle cream bindings set it off a treat. It has a mahogany neck with a Martin-style spade headsock sporting a Martin-like Sigma logo. It has a very dark stained rosewood fretboard and a lovely smooth low action. Almost electric-like in it's ease of playing. That's strung with Martin Heavy strings.

There is something I love about about this guitar that I cannot really explain. I don't know much about tuning tops, bracing patterns or many other acoustic structural peculiarities, but if you tap the body of this guitar, pretty much anywhere, you get a LOUD resonant "POCK!" sound, that is entirely different to other acoustics i've played and owned. It seems to be contructed quite lightly somehow very stiffly?! does that make sense? The solid top looks to be a decent thickness, but I get the impression that the rock-hard rosewood sides are really quite thin. I don't know if this is the reason behind this perceived structural resonance, but it certainly has something tangible that my previous solid-topped, mahogany-sided Tanglewood acoustics didn't.

It has a detailed and warm sound when strummed with a light pick, that is unbelieveably flattering to the player. Even the most basic chord shapes and hamfisted playing styles sound beatiful, musical and complex. It is also great for fingerpicking although it's not the loudest guitar in the world when played this way. It generally has a wonderful balance of warm bass and sweet treble whether picked or strummed and it never sounds harsh even when you really dig in. There is no hint of that boomy, boxy, nasal sound that can result from overenthusiastic strumming. It's sweet, warm and detailed and with such an easy action and satisfyingly perfect intonation all over the fretboard it's hard to put down. In fact this guitar goes almost everywhere with me. I love it.

Pros - great sound, great player, handsome but unfussy looks came with a fitted hardcase. Cons - none.

I've never come across another one of these - does anyone else have one? Do you love it as much as me and my friends love this one?

This was a used model I found on Craig's List. The owner was too overweight to reach the neck properly!

I play with bare fingernails or a flat pick. This thing rings like crazy with either appraoch. Great sound for very little money.

The tone was a bit constricted so I took it over to Thin Man Strings in Alameda (CA) to get the braces shaved. BIG DIFFERENCE!!! Not quite like a real MArtin D-35, but darn close.

Flawlessly mint. The previous owner couldn't really play, so it lived ints case the last decade. All details perfect. Gorgeous gloss finish.

The action was a bit high, so the nut is getting grooved in to lower the action. I carved a bone saddle for it, which helped the sparkle and solidness of tone. I am getting the frets hones down a bit to make up for the hump as the neck joines body, and a few problem buzes around the fretboard.

It seems like it's bulletproof!

No support. Not needed anyway.

On the whole, this guitar beats the D-28 Sigma I reviewed previously. It is definitely the budget version, and they may all need bone saddles, deepr grooves in the nut and some neck work. But all told, a tenth of the cost of the Martin version gets you a close match to the deluxe product. This will eventually get a pickup in it and be a road use guitar, to keep the nicks and possible theft away from my more expensive models.
The solid bass, sparkling trebles and perfect intonation make this one a winner.

I bought mine in 1983 at "Baltimore Bluegrass" for $338.00 s/n 010207
made in Japan. 21 total frets, Sigma tuners. Looks like Rosewood sides and back Spruce top, Mahogany neck, scalloped braceing. Martin says the neck is dyed not ebony.

I play rock and folk and its great with my crate amp and Dean Markley pickup or just plain un-plugged. It sounds very good.

In my opinion it was perfect---I've taken it back to Steve several times and he assures me it's ok---no flaws.

It has played live--the hardware is fine--the finish has some minor cloudiness from temp. changes due to traveling but otherwise I need no backup ax. note: its spent 90% of its time in a hard shell case and gets played daily. Has original strap buttons and bridge pins

never tried---just went to dealer and they were great

I started in 1970 while in Vietnam.---DW drums--Martin D-28--Fender Strat--It's tough but I'd have to let it go...

Well I bought my DR-28 New in February of 1980. I wish I still had the receipt, but oh well. It has only gotten better with the years. I bought it at the House of Thomas in what was once the Meadowvale Town Centre in Mississauga Ontario Canada. It has a few little dings and that's about it. I paid about $500 Canadian at that time with the origional case. The serial # is ES22477. If anyone else has any info please let me know.
It has a solid Sitka spruce top and Cherry wood sides and back. I don't think it has the best sound in the world, but it is brilliant in it's projection and overall sound quality.
The neck is solid mahogany and it has mother of pearl finishings with a solid black pick guard.

I am by no means an accomplished guitar player, but from what I have heard from other guitars, the only ones that would come close to it in the price range were Yamaha guitars of the same era. I would put it in the 2 to 3 thousand dollar price range of new guitars now.
The sound is rich and a tad short of full and brilliant. But just a tad. It projects amazingly and is a great guitar without amplification.
The reason I bought it? Well simply put, it was in my price range and I was told it was a Marin import from Japan and that was good enough for me.

The only flaw that I didn't notice when I bought it was a small crack beside the neck on the top. I was concerned but I took it and had it checked out and it is superficial and it only shows up in the winter when the air is dry. Which brings up another neat fact. I never used any humidity devices(except in the first year then gave it up).

I don't know about live playing, but I think it will hold it's own. I have used a good Carnauba wax on this guitar and except for darkening a wee bit and the few dings, it looks brand new. It is solid and reliable and I have knocked it over a few times without any problems.

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I can't say there is anything I don't like about it except I have heard wonderful sounding guitars but then again it is a $400(US) guitar. I wouldn't sell or trade it for anything. What is it worth now? I would probably pay about $1500 for a new guitar that sounded and felt as good as this one. And just so everyone knows, Sigma guitars was established in 1970. It says so right on my guitar!!

Sigma DR-18 made about 1983 in Japan or maybe Korea. I bought it in new that year in Pomona California. Solid spruce top. Laminated rosewood back and sides. Mahogany neck. Gloss finish. hard to tell from a Martin D-28. Nice looking but crappy tuners. Listed for $500.

I mostly flatpick. Bluegrass, country, old time, some Irish, Norwegian etc. Soud clean but very poor low end. Intonation good. Decent in the higher registers.

Good setup. Good action. Nice top. Excellent workmanship

Very solid guitar. Would survive Niagara Falls. Lewis and Clark could have taken this one along. I would have bused the thing up but didn't have the strength

Tried to get some help once or twice to get new frets. Impossible. The company doesn't seem to exist

Playing 58 years. Trade guitars often. Own or have owned D-28, Gibson J-45, Telecaster, Gretch, Ibanez, Taylors, SS Stewart, and a whole bunch of cheap 30's and 40's junk. I bought the Sigma for a backup one day when I was desperate. Lost or stolen I would say good riddance. It won't stay in tune. I think a set of Grovers might help. Scalloped bracing moght improve the tone. I like it's looks.

The Sigma DR-28 is patterned after the Martin D-28 features a solid spruce top, laminated rosewood sides and back, and the standard Sigma/Martin thinline headstock, double fret makings on the 7th and 12th frets, and has a tortoise color pickguard.
I purchased "BlueBook" info online. It said the DR-28's were made in 1990. It originally retailed for $650.00, and the features listed were Rosewood and scalloped bracing. If you are looking at this model I hope this review helps, because there is virtually no info about this guitar on the web.

I love the sound of this guitar, it's very full and warm, and even Bar-chords in any position ring loud and clear. I'm currently using Earthwood strings and love their pleasant overtones. The combination of the strings and guitar is a good match. Individual notes stand on their own from the guitars own natural resonance. This guitar sounds as good or better than guitars costing twice or three times as much.

I bought this guitar on ebay, which is a dicey way to buy a guitar for obvious reasons. However, this guitar is almost 15 years old and has barely been played and is in mint/near new condition So... I took the chance on buying it. When I got it I discovered a bump on the fingerboard around the twelfth fret, and any note fretted near there had a major buzz. Normally, I would have cut my losses, because the re-fret costs almost as much as I paid for the guitar. But the overall condition of the guitar was so good I made the investment. Now it plays and sounds like a dream.

So far so good!

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The DR-28 gives a near Martin Sound at a fraction of the price.
In fact I just played a 1972 Martin D-28 (at Guitar Center) which was selling for $3200 and this guitar sounds better and has better action. If it were lost or stolen I would replace it, but finding another in near new condition would be hard. So please don't steal it!