Sigma In the USA

[gmr]

My Sister bought a used Sigma/Martin dreadnaught back in the early 80s. It was actually a really good sounding, good looking guitar. I guess the Sigma line came and went, and seems to have been resurrected by a German company. A couple years ago I saw some indications of a new Sigma Distributor for the USA. It was short lived and seemed to never come to be. I just recently learned that the German manufacturer of the (resurrected) Sigma brand is coming to the USA with their guitars under the Name AMI. Has anyone heard any details about this? There is a website with models offered but no dealer details.

[Paddy1951]

I believe St. Louis Music has the rights to the Sigma name in the USA. It did/does market a line of Sigma guitars. It is kind of hard to tell what they are doing with the line presently.

AMI markets the Sigma line in Canada, Europe and elsewhere. The guitars are similar but not the same. They appear to be built by different makers. I speculate that the SLM versions are built by the same Chinese builder the makes at least some of the current Alvarez guitars. The AMI guitars are made to a different spec or by a different builder.

The last I had heard, the AMI versions were beng marketed in the USA under the Kindred brand.

[lowrider]

This is really big news;

https://www.ami-guitars.com/about/

Sigma makes nice guitars. I have an OM-21 that I got at CC marked ''used'' but it still had the plastic on pick-guard. I got it for a song. If they keep their pricing reasonable, they will be a nice addition to the low and medium price guitar market.

Notice that they dropped the Sigma script headstock badge in favor of a block letter AMI badge that resembles the original Sigma block letter badge.

(I removed the pic. It was huge)

Here's the list of their models;

https://www.ami-guitars.com/guitars/

[Beakybird]

My l early 80's Sigma sounded like plywood. I'll reserve judgment, however. It would be unreasonable to bear a grudge for 35 years.

[dave999z]

Very interesting. Great development.

Sigma/AMI just revamped its lineup this year, unfortunately removing most rosewood options, and discontinuing the super cool vintage line. Probably for CITES and costs reasons.

These AMI models for the US are the exact same as the Martin-licensed Sigma models in Europe, just with different headstock logos. Too bad they don’t have the rights to the Sigma name and script logo in the US. But “AMI” is a lot cooler than calling them “Kindred” IMO.

And yes these have nothing to do with the “Sigma” guitars sold in the US by St. Louis Music, which I think co-owns Alvarez. St. Louis grabbed the SIGMA trademark for the US when Martin stupidly let it lapse, but the St Louis Sigma guitars have no affiliation with Martin.

[gmr]

I am 🤔 BG the same thing as you, Lowrider. When I found the AMI site, I started looking for some reviews and demos and happened upon an Anderton’s Review/comparison between the Sigma SG5 and a Gibson Hummingbird. The SG5 held it’s own in fair fashion. I have side by sided a Gibson Hummingbird and the Epiphone Hummingbird Pro. The Epi did not do a very good job of approaching the tone and dynamics of the Gibson. The Sigma in the Anderton video came much closer, very close comparisons, at times during the review. I have played a couple of really great sounding Gibson Hummingbirds recently. A Hummingbird was never really on my radar but they have a big dread dynamic with the comfort of the shorter scale which suits me well. Another high end guitar is not in my plan anytime soon but these moderately priced AMI models seem to have potential to be a measurably better option than what I have found from the Epiphone pro models. Looking forward to seeing more information on these coming AMI guitars.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VCvBbgVLFIo

[lowrider]

Well, I don't think that AMI has any affiliation with Martin either. They just own the rights to make legal copies. Mine is a wonder;



I know it's not a real OM-21, but since I don't have a real one, this one fills that slot for one-tenth the price.

[dave999z]

The right to make legal copies is the point. Martin decided that the quality of AMI’s guitars are worthy of the Sigma trademark.

[gmr]

I guess the Sigma as a brand name is tied up somehow here in the USA. I did manage to have a very small amount of correspondence with the folks from the sales team of the new US distributor. Unfortunately I was not able to find out where, or even IF any of the AMI models are in US music stores yet. They did tell me they could arrange to sell me a guitar through a shop in my area but did not say where that might be, nor if anyone near me will be carrying these guitars in their stores. I was just in Paris, and found out I was just about a five minute walk to at least two Sigma dealers there. But I was there on a Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, and music stores are closed two of those three days. We were on a very tight schedule, so I would not have been able to be near the shops during their open hours anyway. It sure was a bummer to walk by those shops after they were all closed up Tuesday evening!! There really isn’t even much video to be found on the particular models I am interested in. I am hoping they will soon start showing up in stores here in the US soon.

[merlin666]

Originally Posted by gmr

I guess the Sigma as a brand name is tied up somehow here in the USA. I did manage to have a very small amount of correspondence with the folks from the sales team of the new US distributor.

The AMI Sigma guitars were called Kindred in the U.S., but I can't find their website anymore. This might have taken its place:

https://www.ami-guitars.com/

[gmr]

Yes, that is the website for the USA distributor of AMI guitars. Not a lot of detail on the site yet. No dealer listing, no video demos, and email correspondence has been pretty slow

[gmr]

As an update, I received an email today with a list of a few guitar shops in my vicinity that will be carrying these AMI (Sigma) guitars. One is very close by and should be getting some models in the next few days. Looking forward to giving these guitars a test drive...

[L20A]

To muddy the waters even more. I used to have a Sigma Martin USA copy of a Martin D-35. It was a great sounding guitar. Looked just like a Martin D-35.
It was probably built sometime in the late 80's,
So what does Sigma Martin USA even mean?
Was it built in America?
I would guess it was the predecessor to the Shenandoah?

[bluesfreek]

The original Sigma/Martin branded guitars were manufactured in Japan and then inspected and set up in the USA. Then they moved to Korea and finally China. Martin gave up the line and name in 2007.

Some of the older models were hit and miss. I owned an 80s DM2 which was all laminate and very nice to play and sounded like a well made all laminate guitar. I did a lot of busking with it. I eventually sold it for more than I paid for it.

I now own a 2017 Sigma 000M-1ST which features a beautiful sold spruce top and laminate mahogany back and sides. It still has the Martin style script logo. I love this guitar from the moment I picked it up in store I bought it from. I tried comparable Yamaha's in the same price range and they were not even close in terms of tone and playability. It is my main guitar. I busk with it, jam with it and would certainly play gigs with it. It's one loud and very "woody" sounding little guitar. Nicely balanced tone and perfectly setup from the factory. Maybe I found a rare gem? I let a well known local singer/songwriter who owns a Martin OM-28 try it one day and now he wants a Sigma like mine for when he goes on tour.

I know they aren't widely available in the USA but if you can find them go try one out.

[00045]

AMI is the German CF Martin Distributor since decades and now since a few years they got the Sigma name