Sigma DR28H

I purchased my Sigma in 1978. It was the first one sold in Schneiders music in Augusta, Georgia. I still have the original cardboard guitar case.

I am kinda rough on the frets and strings, so I use a medium gauge string. I have just recently moved to a little less medium? This guitar still has a great sound all over.

I have no complaints at all.

One of my friends is a guitar collector and he has been trying for years to get it. I may will it to him. He claims that the first run was hand built and then they moved to a more assembly line type. It sure sounds as good as a regular DR-28 Martin I had.

Wouldn't know about customer support, I have never had to use them

I only know how to play my music, original, I tend to double and triple pick alot, as I said I am a little coarse on the guitar and certain parts of the fret board show my digging in on the strings. Still all and all I couldn't live without it. I am sure I have played better more expensive guitars, but I could never get them to sound like mine.

Decent, not best grained spruce top-but it's solid. Thought it was aged toner, but after looking under the pickguard realized it was real. Laminate rosewood sides and back. Sides are beautiful, back looks kinda rough hewn-ish....barely. Sigma tuners keep excellent tune, nice neck (which came with a nice finish crack right at the heel). Didnt like the gloss poly finish so I sanded her down and put some gun stock finish and even the finish crack is almost invisible. Rosewood finger board with some frets really worn (lucky I play with mediums). Replacing the first five frets may be the only thing I will eventuall do to her...but she plays just fine now. Bare chords are even easy.

I sold a really pretty 1996 Martin HD-28 for 1500.00 cause I was afraid to pick it up as it was virtually without a mark on her. The Martin sounded better than any HD-28 I'd played, but they are still pretty "thuddy" to my ears. The previous owner had pick scratches on the pick guard hard time way down near the bridge as testement to trying to get some brightness out of her.
Back to the Sigma...well blindfolded, she sounds far better than the Martin. More like a D-28. I was shocked. Full and loud with just a tad less sustain than the Martin. I've been using Elixir Nanoweb phosphor bronze for over a year now and they are worth the $$$. This Japan Sigma (which I got for under 200.00 with a hard shell case) is way more fun than the Martin. But almost every dreadnaught is compared to a Martin. You pay a bunch for the name on the headstock and most...better yet, some...are worth the bucks. I'm gonna keep this one just cause it plays so godd and sounds so GREAT.

The saddle was way up on her so the downward pull on the pegs I think contributes to her great sound. But the action is great and low. Every Martin Ive had to shave down the saddle some or Im playing up in the clouds.
I wish the spruce top was a little more even looking (it has a sorta splochy look in the wrong light). But don't get me wrong, it's still very pretty with a dark honey color.
The truss rod adj. is easier to get to than my Martins. And just a slight loosening and she is intonated perfect.

Except for that finish crack in the heel (it looked real fresh so I think some Fex Ex guy used the box to show how far he could hurl a package). Even with the medium strings, theres no stress I can feel on the neck. Even when I place my palm on the body and push in on the neck to do some hick vibrato, it's very solid.
Best 180.00 I've ever laid out for a guitar.

Whaaaaaaaa??????????

I am darn happy with this guitar and don't feel the big buck white glove pressure of a Martin when I play her or others pick her up. She sounds phenominal to me and thats all that matters. And I can be a little aggressive with her which only broadens the smile when the groove is there. I wish it was always there...it's a mystery to me. Sometimes the notes flow, sometimes I sond like Fred Flinstone...WHY?????????
Guess thats life..sa la vie.

I purchased the guitar new during the Spring 1980, so I guess it was made during 1979. The guitar has a made in Japan stamp on the back of the head-stock. Also a cross member is stamped Sigma Guitars Made in Japan for CF Martin Co. I think I paid about $400CDN.

The top is solid (spruce, I don't know) with rose wood back and sides and maple neck. The tuners are stamped Sigma.

Iadded a fishman pickup to the bridge a number of years ago.

Sounds good.

The guitar is pretty flawless after 36 years. Can't complain. The top has darkened over the years. The finish is still in very good shape.

No problem with the tuners. It's durable

I think the warranty expired. Never needed repair.

Plunked away for years. My first guitar was a Stella (made by Harmony about 1962). Still have it. I have some electrics, but my acoustic is the Sigma. It's good and I've never needed to get it replaced.

I have a 6-string SDR 28 made in Korea, sometime between 1987-91 according to what I can find out. Very clean and no nicks, looks terrific.

Good loud sound, both at bottom at top ranges. Some occasional buzzing on strings, but is probably me

Action is pretty good for me. Not the best, but no cause for concern with this. Good quality guitar.

Tough and could withstand an amp falling on it.

Maybe paid too much, but good value when compared to Martin. I would probably buy a Gibson B 25 instead of this one if I were to lose it (for sentimental reasons). It's a beautiful, well-made guitar.

Not sure what year this was made, the DR-28H were first offered in 1978 for 375 us and last offered in 1993 for 725 us dollers at a guess i would say made around the early eighties coz the soild top has matured very nicly.

Solid spruce top with aging toner, rosewood back and sides, herringbone top trim, tortoise plastic pickguard, rosewood fretboard with slotted diamond inlays, rosewood bridge, chrome tuners, 1-11/16" nut width, 25-5/8" scale, this is the Sigma version of the Martin HD-28

Play soft and the clarity jumps out at you; dig in and the notes get louder without losing any clarity. Deep, resonant bass from the rosewood and great harmonics from the spruce.

Nice low action without any fret buzzing at all

Very solid guitar period.

Hav'nt had too

Overall this is an awesome guitar ive been playing for about 6yrs i also own a yamaha FG-432S solid top & that rocks as well but the sigma has a more deep, resonant bass due to the aging i think which i hope my yamaha will have in time.

Don't know date. Thought it was (as advertised) made in Japan but now not sure. (WOULD APPRECIATE SOME KNOWLEDGEABLE FEEDBACK) Solid top, Rosewood sides and Back. Can't read the middle line in logo; (Made in____) although the logo stamped on back stripe in soundhole is same as my other 2 Made in Japan Sigmas. Info obtained online through Sigma says the Dr28-H was made around 1991, but doesn't say where. Had mismatched Gotoh tuners which I replaced with Grovers. Snowlake/diamond neck inlay. Herringbone binding, Tortoise plastic pick guard. Inlaid Sigma headstock. Also has a (Martin thinline?) pickup which is pretty good through a tube pre. Braces don't look scalloped nor is the top as thin as my DM-5. Has more of a Martin v-neck than my rounder, thinner DM-5.

Loud, clear although not huge in bottom end. Very punchy for rhythm. Bell like single note leads on all strings- presently medium Martin phosphor bronze. I keep comparing this with my old DM-5. I still like the DM-5 better as an accompaniment axe. But the DR-28H is gaining on playing time. Sustain and definition aplenty.

Recently purchased. Needs partial fret job and set-up as previous owner wore out two frets with a semi-permanent capo-ing. Beautiful dark old-looking top, with repro Pre WWII herringbone details. The finish is much preferable to the DM-5 and DM12-5 I own.

This axe is still a wild-card. Can't decide whether to keep it and spend more money or sell it to someone who might get more out of it.

Basic Taiwanese dreadnaught acoustic. It has nice herringbone trim like a Martin HD 28. But don't be fooled into thinking it has the scalloped bracing. At least the one I bought didn't. I bought this on eBay after finding a wonderful SDR1228-H twelve-string. It sounded so good that I wanted to find its six string equivalent. Unfortunately, this guitar was nothing like the twelve. Now, I am not certain, but I think one difference may have been that the twelve was an SDR model while the six was a DR model. The six may not have had a solid top. Or maybe the twelve had solid back and sides. The twelve was made in Korea, the six in Taiwan.

For the money, it sounded pretty good. But it was no substitute for a Martin HD28. The fifth and sixth strings were pretty dead sounding even with new strings. Tonal balance across the frequency spectrum was good. It's just that the bass noted were more like "thuds." They didn't sustain at all.

Mediocre workmanship throughout compared to my Korean made SDR1228-H.

About the usual for an acoustic guitar.

You can't find anything about Sigma on the web. There's no Sigma site and Marting barely mentions this line on their site.

I have been playing for 38 years. I have several guitars now, including a wonderful Sigma SDR1228-H twelve string. It is the best twelve I've ever played. I had hoped to find a Sigma six that sounded as good. I was sorely disappointed. If it had been lost or stolen I would have been thankful that I didn't have to think about trying to sell it.

Not sure of the year of manufacture, 20 Frets, beautiful looking guitar,it's a Dreadnought with a spruce top , the 'H' in it's title I think stands for the herringbone type inlay all round the top and a strip dstraight down the back of the (mahogany possibly) body.Purely accoustic.The top is typical yellow spruce but the body has,as I said the most striking dark mahogany finish. The neck has 'snowflake' pearl(ish) inlay in the rosewood fingerboard.In all it is very good looking all round,great elegant touches.

It has a nice full sound,very good with fresh new strings particularly.
I played it for a long time before I discovered it really likes D'Addario stings, EJ16's I use,it 'sings' with these freshly fitted.
It has a good tonal range but can buzz in the lower register if your sloppy with your barre chords .

The action I find is a little high compared to some of the more expensive guitars around.There is a slight finishing flaw on the neck up between the E/A nuts,a drip of the 'varnish?' or whatever was used has hardened and therefore is permanent , though it is not noticably obvious and does not stand out. The rest of the finish is quite frankly,beautiful .Honestly better than some costing 6 times as much!.

I have had this guitar from new ( approx 14+ years, certainly 10 at least), and it is still in excellent conditon, it also holds it's tuning well.

N/A

I've had it 14+ years , when I bought it I chose it purely because it had a lovely tone,even better than some more expensive models I tried.(and it still does,in fact it seems to have improved with age,or has my playing !).
I have never really been fond of the height of the action although you do get used to it.
For the same money ,if I lost it and could replace it , yes I'd have another.I would like to hear a pickup on it,though and am considering having one fitted.
( I'm hankering after a Taylor or Larrivee at the moment, but hope to keep this one whatever ).

Sigma DR-28H made in Taiwan 98/99. This is a basic, no bells and whistles acoustic quitar. Solid spruce top, laminated rosewood back and sides (I think). Mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard and bridge. It has a beautiful finish, clear gloss of some sort. The back and sides really look nice with the natural grain and gloss. There is a pretty looking strip down the back. This guitar was $800 (Australia) but it was in stock for more than a year so I got it for $300. I played it for about two minutes and handed over the finances.

This is why I bought the guitar (apart from the gorgeousness). The first thing I did when I got it home was throw out the 11/52 strings and put 13/56. I,ve finally settled on D,dario or however you spell it. I like to play country-ish/bluegrass/blues/classical. When I first tried it, it took my breath away where should I start, you can play sweet balads on it and it tinkles and whispers if you want or it can have a thunderous roar if you like. It has a nice balance of bass/mid/top with the right strings for example if you play blue moon with muted bass lines with a pick(heavy) and play the lead notes with fingers it sounds nice unlike most cheap ones. It has a great sound for fingerpicking eg. classical gas is really nice on it. It lends itself nicely to tommy emmanuel as well eq country wide or the hunt (needs work on my part)

The action was very nice but I straightened the truss rod a little( it bent a little with the bigger strings surprise surprise) and the nut is cut too deep so that lower E buzzes if you're too enthusiastic but F,G etc are fine. As I said before this is a gorgeous looking guitar except that it's too rectangular at the top but so are all dreadnaughts

there's nothing to be unreliable

I have been playing for about 7 years and I needed a steel string as I said before and I couldn't have done better. I honestly don't know if I would have paid full price for it but I didn't mind paying the price I did at all. The only thing I have played that sounds better than this is a Maton for $2000. I forgot to mention the tortoise shell pickguard which also looks nice. I think I need a case because I dont like to travel with it because it might get scratched.

i'm not exactly sure what year this guitar was made i'm guessing around 1986. it was made by Sigma guitars in japan , not one of the cheap one made in taiwan . it has no pickups , ar electronics of any sort , it is strictly an acoustic guitar . the fingerboard is rosewood , top is spruce almost matchboxed , siedes and bottom are mahogany , bridge is ebony . the guitar is a classic drednaught design . it has 20 frets .

this guitar suits my music style , almost perfect . except for when i try playing jethro tull songs (ovation). it has the most full sound i have ever heard in an acoustic guitar , very deep bass and sweet highs , its sound is bright especially after you put new strings on , it really enjoys , the medium gauge strings . i have tried alot of guitars and i have never heard one that has the range or bright sound of this guitar .

this guitar is a simple and elegant drednaught design , with special touches in all the right places . scince it is a sigma guitar and not a martin the top is not exactly a perfect bookmathed ,but is darn close . it has mother of pearl inlay up the fretboard , and on the headstock . it has a herring bone inlay around the top , rosewood finger board, ebony bridge, spruce top , mahogany sides and bottom .

this guitar has been played for 8 years and it is a rock solid performer . the finish is amazing and there is no extra glue showing anywear, the machineheads turn smoothly , and the frets clean up easily .

i have never had to use the customer support , so i have never looked into it .

i have been playing guitar for the last 3 years scince i got this one , my dad played it for 8 years before he gave it to me , he bought this guitar originaly as travelling guitar,that he could beat up , (and wouldn't have to bring his old gibson with us) he mainly used this guitar as an everyday playing guitar , and always said that if he ever heard a better sounding guitar he would buy it .he gave it to me and still hasnt bought a new one . if this guitar were stolen , i would flip out , because it is ireplaceable to me , i have played some of sigmas newer guitars and they sound like shit .