Unbelievable acquisition on Ebay as the only bidder on this wonderful Martin-Sigma DM-19 acoustic guitar. Just the right tone for the country/bluegrass type music I play. It will end up being the workhorse around all the campfires.
And here's a great night photo of where we play once a week in the evening.
4 comments:
Hey..Nice guitar. I bought one of those in 1980 new, and still play it. I have the original case.
They're Sigma's version of the Martin D-19 . I had the choice of the two, when I decided that the Sigma was a better bargin for $230,
vs the Martin for $800. I now own a Martin HD-28, And Guild JF30-12 built in R.I.
The Sigma sits in our living room looking as good as the day I bought it. It was for a very long time my only guitar.
I get a lot of comments on how good it looks for the year. My oldest son loves to play it, and he always says, "this is a year older than me".
Well enjoy your eBay purchase. Take care of it and it will last forever. I think I saw that on eBay when it went for $219...I said, I should have bid on that.
Great Guitar...what a deal!
Jam-on Doc.
Later,
Somebody in Maine
Lovely venue where you play. I'm writing for a favor. I'm trying to price a 1987 Guild guitar w/one nick in it. It's a D-15,serial # D150514. Let me know if you have any ideas. It was bought for $450 in 1992. Thank you!
I forgot to leave my email about the '87 Guild, thewinwingroup@gmail.com. Thanks again!
Hello, my name is Zack, and I tried to comment on your post on the Guild forum, but the admin is pretty inefficient. Anyhow, I own a Gibson J-40 with the "top-loader" bridge. There is nothing wrong with it, really. The issue has to do more with the neck: if the guitar needs a neck reset, you will have to lower the saddle to get it to play correctly. When you do that on a pinless bridge, you lower the angle at which the stings ramp over the back of the saddle, and this can decrease sustain and power. That said, I have a '71 J-40 with strings that run almost flat over the saddle, and it is the loudest and most dynamic guitar I have ever heard. Too loud sometimes, when I am strumming (it drowns everyone else out!), and with a very defined fingerpicking tone. People don't like the top-loading bridges just because they were a less expensive appointment. Often you will find J-40s with replacement bridges with pins. This is a pretty bad idea. The J-40 has double-x bracing, which sounds like crap on other models because it's so stiff, however the J-40 is a long scale length for gibson, so it carries it off, and part of the reason why is that pinless bridge. It eliminates the need for a big old block of wood underneath the top, to support the string ends, so all in all you get a top suspension that is well matched to this guitar's high string tension. Having a giant block of hardwood glued underneath the most critical part of the top, and also glued to the bracing, just to support the string-ends is a bad idea for all guitars, but it's tradition, and it's the only way to keep a pinned bridge from yanking right up off the top.
Unlike every other old Gibson I've seen, J-40s never seem to have detaching bridges, because more of the string tension is pulling parallel to the top, rather than yanking straight up like a pinned bridge. You will also get less belly bulge with this design.
Anyway, it's a Gibson with more volume than a Martin, a particular "shout", and a thumpy attack due to the freer-moving bridge.
I hope that helps,
Zack
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