AMI JM-AGE aka Sigma JM-SGE Review

[McCullar]

Hey everyone! I'm new here but I wanted to try my hand at a review and figured this little budget Gibson J-45 copy, known as the AMI JM-AGE in the USA and the Sigma JM-SGE everywhere else, would be a good way to start!

Top & Body Shape:

The top is made of solid sitka spruce and has a very thin UV satin finish, so thin it's approaching "open pore" territory and is a beautiful beautiful sunburst. The guitar's body shape is of course, a slope shoulder dreadnought and this guitar is one of the only budget offerings I've seen for this body shape!

Back & Sides:

The back and sides of this guitar are made of laminated mahogany and are finished in a dark brown, almost black color with the grain somewhat coming through.

Neck:

The neck is made of mahogany and mine even seems to have some nice flame to it, it's a very comfortable low profile C shape and has the same thin UV satin finish as the body, making it fairly fast and non-sticky. Scale length is a bit shorter than an average acoustic at 24.75 inches (628 mm). And as to be expected, it does have an adjustable truss rod.

Fingerboard:

The fingerboard is made of micarta, not unlike what's seen on X series Martin's (after all, Richlite is a paper micarta brand) which I personally like as it's low maintenance and non-porous, so it doesn't absorb your sweat and push it back into your strings as many rosewood or laurel boards do. Inlays are simple dots that appear to be mother-of-pearl but are likely just pearloid plastic at this price. The frets are also smooth and have no sharp ends that need any addressing.

Nut & Headstock:

The headstock shape resembles a Gibson headstock as expected, however with a more square head and the nut is 1 11/16 inches (43mm) and made of bone. I have not any issues whatsoever with strings binding in the nut. Though it somehow feels wider than it is, even though I've checked the measurements and they are indeed accurate.

Bridge, Saddle & Pins:

The bridge, like the fingerboard, is made of micarta and is a Martin Ditson style shape. The saddle, like the nut, is made of bone and is compensated like a Martin saddle and the pins are plastic and I feel are worth upgrading from.

Tuning Machines:

The tuning machines are an M branded sealed chrome diecast style, when I reached out to AMI for specifics, they were unwilling to tell me who made them, though I suspect them to be Jinhos based on how they feel and perform, and they also weren't forthcoming with the gear ratio. All they would say was "they made for us by a factory overseas". They work well enough but I do feel it would be worth upgrading to a set of Schallers, Gotohs, Grovers or Klusons.

Electronics:

The JM-AGE/JM-SGE uses a 3-band CE304T preamp & under saddle piezo system, which is commonly used on Applause, Mitchell, and Cort guitars (which makes sense as I'm 99% sure that Core makes these guitars), your control options themselves are fine however I feel the pickup suffers from the typical plastic quack that many low-mid end piezos have. I recommend ordering and installing the Journey EP001K transducers and plugging them into the preamp in place of using the piezo pickup. The tuner works decently but I find that if your battery is at 50% or less life, it tends to tune the guitar a couple cents sharp.

Factory Setup:

The factory setup on this is actually quite perfect, it did arrive with the truss rod fully loosened which is to be expected, but once I corrected it and straightened the neck, the action was perfect, leaving me with no need to shave the saddle.

Tone:
I feel the guitar's sound is honestly fairly solid, it's well rounded and I feel it's a good choice for strumming or finger picking, though sometimes noted that are picked whilst strumming can be drowned out a bit.
Mic'd Up: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xi-...usp=drive_link
Plugged In: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12Gt...usp=drive_link
Both: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S_W...usp=drive_link

Price:

This guitar tends to retail for anywhere from $400 to $450, bringing it to what I consider to be the lower end of a mid-priced acoustic, and for that price, I feel it is a pretty solid choice that stands above much of the competition. It feels great to play, it sounds good (to my ear), looks attractive, and comes with electronics, even if I feel they aren't amazing electronics. It is made in China, as is expected at this price range, but if you don't mind that, it's a great bargain.

Overall:
My feelings on this guitar are that it's a pretty dang solid value and is worth your consideration. It's not perfect and does have a few things I think are worth upgrading, however I would happily buy this (and I did) over any similarly priced Takamine G Series, Washburn, or Ibanez acoustic. Not saying those guitars are bad, but I preferred the tone and feel of this one when I say down and compared them. Which is why it went home with me. My overall score is 7.8/10, it's a pretty solid bang for the buck! But also, if you're willing to just spend an extra $100-$150, I do feel you can buy some guitars that surpass it quite handily. So keep that in mind!

[jricc]

Hi McMullan and welcome to AGF. Thanks for your review, very informative. Cool looking Sigma J45, enjoy it!