I think it was bought in 1976 Sorry to say that a sigma is probably not worth much of anything.
Sigma was the overseas factory produced version of Martin Guitars distributed in the States. While made to martin qualifications, they were a factory produced version and not as expensive or sought after as their hand-made cousins.
It's a fine quality guitar (assuming it is in good shape) and should serve you well. Play it and enjoy it. I disagree that it's worth little - it has two things going for it: A cult following of early Japanese guitar buyers, and the wood is aged, assuming it hasn't been repaired. True, bluebooks ignore Sigmas, but my 1970 Alvarez hummingbird copy isn't, er... worth much, but sounds good enough that it's worth $500 or so.
I'd say it's worth probably $300 top end if it plays well and stays in tune, due to the wood age. Spruce and the chemical in the finish chemically bond over time, improving tone and increasing volume - weather the now-illegal original Martin process or not. It could gain some value, and historical benchmarking if the early japanese guitar market does well - not good odds, but not a horrible longshot either. Basically, if it sounds good enough to record with, a guitar is worth at least $300 in today's market.
I DO agree that it's worth keeping to play, if you play at all. I also agree that now isn't the time to sell it, but it is worth SOMETHING, and it probably won't go down. Even old silvertones sell in nostalgic markets. I believe that Sigma was made in Japan and it was an inexpensive copy of the Martin Dreadnaughts. My friend had one. Plywood back, maybe two piece,but it sounded nice. It won't demand the money a Martin or Taylor would,but They might be worth several hundred dollars if it's in good shape.. I've had two D-28's that had to be worked on because they sounded like crap. So Name isn't everything. |
