Sigma TB1

A built in tuner would be nice, but I suppose that's unrealistic for this price range. Otherwise, a 4-band EQ is better than most, and the finish on mine (I have the red color) is gorgeous. The Grover tuners are nice too. Overall, looks great and not as clunky/nerdy as most acoustic electric guitars.

No noise at all, very good sound variety when plugged in. I'm using it with a vintage, off-brand amp from the 70's, and it sounds great! The sound is bright compared to a bulkier guitar, but I love the thin body design and it can sound warm enough with the right settings.

It's a well-made guitar, which is obvious as soon as you lok at it. I love the feel of the body. very comfortable to play sitting down.

Seems excellent in terms of reliability/durability. No complaints here.

I have never communicated with the company. They do have a simple, well-organized web site.

Basically, I love the way it looks, and the quality is unusually good for the price. It does not sound or feel like a true Martin (the parent company). I was hoping that it would, but obviously for a $300-$400 guitar, that would be pretty far fetched. No problems with fret buzz, noise, etc. It's not a top-of-the line guitar, period, but the value is excellent.

This guitar was purchased in march of 2000. I think this guitar was made in Korea. The sigma is a 20 fret guitar with an "ebonized" fret board. The guitar is capable of being amplified via piezo (i think.) The body style is a smaller acoustic style with a cutaway and full binding (neck and body.) And grover tuners.

To be honest i have never plugged it in, i have only used it acousticly. The sound wasn't too shabby but for $314.00 i dont really care much.

Ok here is where i want to really voice my opinion. In my opinion this guitar's string tension was unbearable. I bought it under the notion that as an electric player there would be some period of adjustment, but having since played higher quality guitars i realize that the string tension on this guitar is abnormal. The finish was a cool black (i liked to see my reflection in it.) The action was a little high for my taste but thats kinda personal. What i really enjoyed about this guitar was the body size and shape. I like the thinner profile and the shape of the guitar along with a cool looking cutaway.

Ok round 2. This guitar probly couldnt stand a 1.0 earthquake. Withen 2 months of having this guitar the bridge started lifting. After realizing how screwed i got for the price of this guitar, i was even more shocked that the bridge started lifting. I made no adjustments and even had it tuned down 1/2 step! so the quality on this stuff in my opinion is definitly sub standard.

Unfortuly Sam Ash only has an uncondition 14 day return policy (but i think they have an extended warrenty. It is my own fault that i didnt get the things i needed to send it away.

I have been playing for about 8 years, i own a gibson les paul standard, a fender american standard strat, and a westone guitar. Along with a line 6 flextone plus, a 7? 100w Marshall JMP head, and a 1960a cab. In my opinion this guitar taught me that you get what you pay for, and a cheap attempt to sink my teeth into the acoustic realm left a bad taste in my mouth. I am now playing a guild F47 ce and find the acoustic world much more gratifying. Ultimately upon close inspection of this instrument i see it fit for a beginning to intermediate level guitar for students. Remember you get what you pay for!

Korean made 99 model. Thin body with cutaway. 20 frets, bound neck
and body. Features "gold" grover tuning machines and active electronics with 4-band EQ. Black gloss finish. Spruce top and
mohogany back and sides. For what the price of this guitar is I think
the grover tuners are a nice touch.

Considering that this guitar is a thin body if you are looking for
that full deep drednaught sound look elsewhere. I would not recommend
this guitar unless you have a good acoustic amp/effects to improve the
sound. Actually unplugged it is alright if not very loud. Plugged in
it has no bass and the highs are without sustain.

This guitar came well set up, the action was just right for me. No fret buzzing, comfortable to play. The finish really looks good but
with a few minor flaws which I think you find with most Korean made
guitars. One of the tuning machines was put on crooked which annoys
me but does not affect the sound.

I would not use this guitar live except as a backup because of the sound. It does appear to be well made and I will have to wait and see
how long the electronics last. Only has the bottom strap button which
is the cord jack and looks solid.

Have not had to deal with Sigma and no warranty card or info came with
the guitar.

I have been playing 15 years and use my guitars mainly to write
songs with. I prefer acoustics and this looked like a good deal.
I don't hesitate to send a guitar back and I decided to keep this
one so that says something. If I was going to replace it I would
probably go with a Yamaha APX or Epiphone PR5e as both have better
sound and electronics for just a little more money.

Year Made: 2000
Where Made: Korea
Construction: Spruce top, mahogany back and sides. "Ebonized" fingerboard with "gold" tuners.
Pickup: Acoustic/electric with pickup and a four band slider EQ system.
Finish: Gloss Black (natural available)
Tuners: Closed
Neck/Scale: Medium frets with mid-size neck (width) and semi-flat backside. Fairly comfortable. Reminds me of Martin DXM neck. I play a Fender Strat for my electric so I like a Strat-like neck. This is close enough to be comfortable.

My style: I like acoustic blues (Keb Mo, etc.) as well as Classic Rock so I was looking for a particular sound. Sadly, this guitar just didn't get it, but it did provide a decent sound.

Overall the guitar is fairly "tinny" sounding. It is especially "bright" when played with a really thin pick. Played finger style (not long nails, but finger tips) it is a more mellow sound.

Now this is likely due to the "thin body" design. This is in fact thinner than the dreadnaught style guitars and anyone purchasing a thin-body should expect a brighter sound. For me, though, I didn't expect one nearly as bright as this guitar provides.

As I said, it is really bright when played with a super thin pick. When you play with a medium or heavy pick the sound is deeper. Still not boomy like some dreadnaughts can be, but definitely not as bright as it can be.

Some of the songs I play require fingertip picking and the guitar sounds okay with just that. But it gets pretty quiet so you definitely need the amp. Of course, when you add an amp you've substantially changed the dynamics of the whole system. Use a good amp, not just a regular electric guitar amp.

I strongly suggest something like the Fender Acoustisonic Jr or similar acoustic oriented amp. I've played the guitar through a Peavey Bandit (which is a great "grunge" and electric blues amp) and was disappointed. Again, it was brighter than I liked.

One area that the guitar does stand out in when it comes to sound is when you use a "slide." I was pleasantly surprised that the guitar had just about the right sound for many acoustic slide bits.

With that in mine I should add that if you are looking for a comfortable guitar with a bright sound then this is probably it. Overall I'm happy with fit/finish and other areas, I just had to get used to the brighter sound. I originally bought the guitar to be a general use guitar (to replace a dreadnaught that was stolen) and so I wasn't prepared for the sound. Once I accepted it and moved the guitar to a more specific role then it worked out well.

While we're talking about sound it might be important to note that I bought this guitar mail order. I live in a very rural area of Kansas and there are no Sigma dealers near me. I am familiar with the Martin line and like it, so I decided to take a chance on the Sigma.

When I chose the guitar I carefully looked for a dealer who had a liberal return policy. That way, if I didn't like the guitar, I could return it with minimal hassle. For me, it was smarter to buy the guitar mail order than it was to drive over 5 hours to find a Sigma store. If I had sent the guitar back it would have cost me about $12 for shipping. The drive to Wichita would have cost more than that, and I wouldn't have been able to keep the guitar for over a week to test it out.

The company I used (Musicians Friend) allowed my return 10 days after I got it (I think their policy is even more liberal than that, but 10 days is about right to truly check out the guitar). This meant that I had a chance to really play the guitar (other than in a store with a salesman standing over my shoulder) and also saved a 5+ hour trip.

If the guitar was a bit disappointing in the sound department it more than made up for it in the fit and finish department. I was truly impressed with how well it felt.

I'm assuming this guitar came straight from Korea. There was no sign that it went through the Martin factory, though I've heard rumor that some Sigma guitars do. In either respect I was very pleased with overall fit and finish. In fact, the guitar is beautiful!!

The gloss black finish is immaculate and the gold tuners really add to it. That's the only reason I'm keeping the guitar. The sound was disappointing, but the overall appearance makes up for it.

What this means is this, I use the guitar for specific songs (those needing a brighter sound) rather than as a "standard guitar" that I originally intended. I've since bought another full size guitar to get my "traditional sound" and use the TB1 for songs that require a brighter sound.

Straight out of the box the guitar was acceptable. The finish was almost perfect (though I'm sure I'll find something later to grip about) and the overall feel of the guitar was very nice.

I did have trouble tuning the "b" string. For some reason it just didn't work using the standard tuning methods. I eventually changed strings and have had little problem with tuning since. My guess is that the original strings are relatively cheap and fitting the guitar with a nice set of Martin strings has made a difference.

I noticed a slight "dip" in the center of the neck toward the body. Not a "bow" or "bend" since this runs parralel to the neck. This is more of a "curve" in the middle of the fretboard as if that area had been hollowed out a bit.

It's not really noticable when playing, and only when the light hits it just right do I really notice. But on occasion I'll be playing and notice the "dip."

I must remind anyone reading this that the TB1 is not an expensive guitar. In fact, I paid only $199 for the guitar brand new. And for that price I will NOT expect perfection.

The long and short of it is that for $199 this is a GREAT buy!

I've played the guitar "live" a few times. It seems to hold up pretty well, but must be mic'd. In even a small forum (2 or 3 guitarist) you will find the guitar a bit quiet.

The reliability seems to be pretty good. It holds the tune pretty well and hasn't shown a lot of signs of stress.

One BIG complaint I have is that there is NO strap button on the neck side of the body. There is a strap button on the other side (which also serves as cable input port). This is common for Martin guitars and I absolutely hate it. I hope Martin reads this!! Put a damn strap button on the neck side!

I don't play a lot professionally (just weekend gigs every now and then) so this guitar will not likely see a lot of road use. But for what I paid -- and for how I play -- it does seem to be a good enough guitar for the road.

Haven't deal with Sigma or Martin directly about guitar problems. I did deal with Martin when I was researching the guitar. Sadly, the guy I spoke with wasn't much help on the guitar. I think, though, that I just got a dunderhead. The other times I've spoken directly with Martin I've been pleased.

I strongly encourage Martin to make a website for their Sigma line. give us some information on the guitars so that we can make good decisions.

I played a bit over 20 years ago. I then got out of guitars and didn't get back into them until about 6 months ago. I'm a novice player but really not too bad. I usually hold my own in jam sessions and have played with several small groups.

That gave me some good background when it came time to buy a guitar. I already had a nice Strat that I played a lot but needed an acoustic. As I said earlier, I originally wanted something that had more of a mellow sound. But I just didn't find a dreadnaught that I liked. The price from the dealer caught my eye so I bought the guitar. I don't regret it, but had I played it before I might not have chosen it. I would have gone for the dreadnaught instead. But then I wouldn't have an excuse to buy another guitar! <grin>