SIGMA Guitars

[Sigmania]

Just wanted to start a thread to document some of the more interesting Sigma guitars out there.

Would welcome comments on who made what. It is all more than a little mysterious as Martin has historically been very secretive about overseas contracts.

I've read plenty of stuff out there about Sigmas that I know is wrong. Like all Sigmas have laminated bodies. Or all Sigmas were made by Tokai.

I’m hoping to instead see what other members have been able to learn over the years through their experience.

For example, I was told by a Sigma collector a while back that the paper label Sigmas with gold metallic print on the label, where it says “CF Martin & Co”, were made by Terada....

No one else has said that to me, and now I can't find his contact information, but every one of these guitars I have seen have been high end and very well built.

I can’t find any information about these guitars on line and nothing about Terada making Sigmas so hopefully someone reading this may know something about it.

Also, the ones with these labels seem to primarily be in Japan. Maybe they were never made for export?? They would have been stiff competition for Martin guitars, laminate or not.

Again, if anyone knows anything please share.

 

[Sigmania]

I believe this style paper label with the floral border and gold lettering for “CF Martin & Co” (see first picture) is from the period where Terada possibly built some Sigma guitars?

My belief is that Terada made these in the late 80s and early 90s, though that needs to be verified

Very well built.

This one is marked as a SIGMA S00045V. So SIGMA version of a Martin 000-45 with Jacaranda back & sides.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sigma-Gui...-/265199797212?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

 

[Sigmania]

Here is another of what I believe is a Terada built Sigma.

This one is labeled as SD45J, the Sigma version of a Martin D-45 with Jacaranda back & sides. Seller, Ishibashi Music, states body is laminate.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/373602703305?hash=item56fc74d7c9:g:f00AAOSwy29guNbX

 

[Sigmania]

And here is an SEC 2000J. I believe these may have been made by Tokai? Would love to hear from other members if this is correct?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/373602702844?hash=item56fc74d5fc:g:HcsAAOSwRtNguNbF

 

[Sigmania]

And another I believe Terada built Tokai. An S00028EC.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324365547613?hash=item4b85b1785d:g:yJMAAOSwuDBfp3Zk

 

[Sigmania]

I am wondering if the case with the previous guitar was a mismatch? The label on the case looks a lot like a Cat's Eyes type case label? Which is a Tokai build. The label on the guitar looks like a Terada build. Wondering if they got switched?

Compare with this Cat's Eyes label.

 

[Sigmania]

And to go with the above guitar, a Terada built (?) Sigma S00028V.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265199439010?hash=item3dbf1e4ca2:g:Fo0AAOSwVEBgy6c5

 

[Sigmania]

And this one, listed as a Sigma SEC28, that also has the case that looks like a Cats Eyes case....

This guitar seems to not have the paper label, so maybe it is a Tokai build?

I love this guitar. Sad to see the clouding in the finish. I don't know how to reverse that.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144064839710?hash=item218aef001e:g:0MkAAOSwO3JguuQh

 

[Sigmania]

And this unusual Terada built (?) Dreadnought. The owner is calling it a "Clarence White model" which is a first for me to see a CW/Tony Rice model made by Sigma. I do see the enlarged sound hole. Would love to know if that was done in the factory. Amazing piece if it was.

Additional info from the web site:

HD-28LSH, Serial #S073037

TOP: SolidSpruce
BODY: Rosewood
FINGERBOARD: Ebony
HEAD INLAY: AbaloneTorch
BodyPurfling: Herringbone

http://hakueda.web.fc2.com/vg/gvg.html

 

[Sigmania]

And an earlier Sigma from the mid 1970s. A Sigma DT22 with flamed maple back & sides, maple three piece neck with diamond volute, and abalone inlay logo with SIGMA symbol (or sideways M). Purple label.

I once owned this guitar but sold it years ago.

FWIW, Wikipedia says the body wood is Asian chestnut. Obviously wrong.... This is clearly maple.

And here it is being sold again on Reverb....

https://reverb.com/item/3378921-sigma-dt-22-1972-natural-figured-maple

 

[Sigmania]

Another guitar I once owned, a Sigma S2000.

So it has an “S” model number but does not have the paper label with the Martin logo in gold. Instead it has the football or oval brand on the inner brace that says Made in Japan.

I was told when I bought it that it was a prototype and was used at guitar shows to show the workmanship, etc.

I eventually sold it due to the clouding in the finish. Seems others from this period have that issue. Not sure if it can be fixed?

 

[Sigmania]

Here is another Sigma with the paper label with the metallic gold ink.

It is a guitar I once owned. An SMC-68.

Maple body. Cutaway. Oval sound hole.

 

[guitar hiro]

Never owned any Sigma guitars but they look fantastic; they must be great guitars if they were made for CFMartin.

Great thread you have created. 8)

 

[Sigmania]

Thanks. I would love to get more information, especially on those paper label models with the gold Martin logo on the paper. I'm starting to think that there is a strong possibility they were not exported, or that if they were it was in small quantities. Would love to know more.

The Sigmas we most commonly see in the US are definitely budget models, designed to not compete with Martins and offer a budget alternative (laminated bodies, etc.).

However, there were some that were great guitars. Some had solid bodies, although it can be really tricky to tell because Japanese luthiers were so good at matching grains, the inside and outside grain can look very similar even on a laminate guitar.

 

[Sigmania]

I wanted to also say a word about laminate guitars.

My understanding is a big reason many Japanese guitars were made with laminates, besides the cost, is how they respond to changes in atmospheric conditions.

Japan is on an island. Changes in humidity between indoors and out. Cold and warm.

Solid pieces crack or shrink more easily as a result of atmospheric conditions.

Just throwing that out there since I had heard that elsewhere.

 

[mdvineng]

Makes sense to me. I never was in the "it has to a solid top" brigade nor the "nitro" camp.

 

[Sigmania]

I assume you mean “solid top” re: Les Pauls? One of the best guitars I ever had was a 1981 LS120 with a veneer flame top. Amazing guitar.

With acoustics the top makes a big difference since the sound travels through it and out to the listener. All of the ones I posted have solid spruce tops. The back and sides filter tone and throw it back out. Veneer bodies can sound amazing.

There’s something I can’t put my finger on when the whole thing works.

I once had an early James Goodall guitar. I loved the tone of that guitar, but I was getting string buzz and the action was super low. I had it set up by a local luthier and when I got it back it wasn’t the same guitar. The mojo was gone and I sold it soon after. I don’t understand it.

For me, I know it when I hear it. How the guitar responds and resonates. I have described it as though it almost plays itself. But it’s fleeting, and maybe it’s my imagination.

I had it once with a 1930s Martin D18 I was looking at in a guitar shop. I still regret not finding a way to buy. And I have it with my LS100S.

Maybe it’s all just my imagination. 8)

 

[mdvineng]

I was referring to acoustic guitars. Woods are so variable and affected by local weather conditions too! I heard good and bad with both solids and laminates. You just have to go by sound and feel and if it suits you, grab it and run 8)
I did a setup on two acoustics for my ex Prof that I worked with until retirement in the middle of last year. The Tokai middle range model was laminate top, the other was a Martin D28 with a solid top and broken but repaired headstock (he bought it cheap in Canada because of that break) the Tokai was the better overall finished guitar and the neck and playability was way better, even after setup. I managed to get the Martin closer to the Tokai in setup, which is what he asked for. Slight difference in tone and the Prof prefered the Martin for tone and the Tokai for playability. The Martin neck wasn't as nice as the Tokai and its shape restricted the setup being closer to the Tokai. I liked both sounds but preferred the feel of the Tokai but I'm no acoustic player at all, so what do I know. Both guitars were from the mid 90's era.

 

[Voidoid56]

Interesting post, interesting brand.

When I grew up in the 70's, Sigma was a quite a common cheap guitar brand here in Sweden. Lots of acoustics, but also many Japanese-made electrics, your standard copies of the usual suspects, Strats, LPs, SGs etc, almost as often seen as Ibanez and Aria.
But when I started taking an active interest in MIJs about a dozen years ago, I found very little info about Sigma electrics, and what little that came up mostly concerned the weird, early-70s, apparently Tokai-made semi-copies of Teles, SGs and P-basses which were also sold under the Ampeg brand (Big Stud etc) for a while. If not, the guitars concerned were almost always sold in or posted from Sweden.

I looked into it closer, and it turns out that Sigma (usually in caps, along with the sideways M sigma symbol or in an oval) was used as an importer brand by Swedish guitar manufacturer and distributor HC Levin during the 2nd half of the 70s and until they folded in 1982. And yes, there's a CF Martin connection there, Levin having been acquired by them in 1972 (apparently mostly to get at their stock of woods). It seems they borrowed their parent company's brand for their own importation of low-end/mid-level Japanese guitars for the Swedish market.

The origin of the guitars is a bit murky. So far, I haven't been able to get a really close look at any of them, but I see no real evidence of any Tokai connection. I'm not sure if that's even to be expected if we're talking say 1976-82 or so. I've seen some possible Fujigen builds, some seem more likely to come from low-end specialists like Kiso Suzuki or Matsumoto Union/Chushin, but I really can't say.

Some pics of the guitars I'm talking about. All are from Swedish sources.

 

[Sigmania]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing all of that!

And yes it’s very murky. But what you shared is more information about the electrics than I had heard up until now.

I posted in another thread an Ampeg Big Stud side by side with a mid 70s Tokai. Extremely similar headstock and multi lam neck.

Thanks for moving the ball forward. Maybe someone else will have another piece of the puzzle and come along soon.

Thanks!