Sigma Crossroad Series | SDM-10E - Natural

This Sigma is part of their gorgeous and highly desirable new Crossroad Series.  This range really looks the part for someone who cherishes a beautiful, classic style.  Featuring all-solid construction, LR Baggs Pickups and Softshell Cases, the Crossroad Series offers fantastic value for money and a strong, desirable vintage-aesthetic.

The SDM-10E is a 14th fret joint dreadnought, a classic shape that will excel at strumming.  Whilst fingerpicking on dreadnoughts is certainly possible, they can really put other body sizes to shame when a strong bass and louder volume is required.  This is why they are often the choice of bluegrass musicians.  The top is solid Sitka spruce, an excellent all round choice that is commonly used for the top of acoustic guitars.  The back and sides are solid mahogany.  Spruce paired with mahogany is a classic pairing that has been used for a long, long time - with good reason.  Even expert players are torn between rosewood and mahogany back and sides on a guitar due to them both sounding great in different ways.  Sigma have offered each of these new Crossroad Series models in two different back and sides incarnations so that you can find the tone that suits you best.

The neck is a dovetail joint - a classic construction method that allows for excellent transfer of energy between the body and neck.  The neck is made of mahogany and is a low profile - designed to feel comfortable for people who don't like a chunkier neck or find them cumbersome to play on.  The fingerboard (and bridge) are Micarta - this gives an awesome dark look akin to ebony and really helps this series look fantastic and classy.  The scale length is 25.4" (645mm) - which is in the standard acoustic range - and the neck width at the nut is 1-3/4" (44.5mm).  The nut and saddle are made of bone.  The material chosen for the nut and saddle really does make a difference.  In this case, bone is a classic choice and will function well in the all important transfer of the energy of the strings to the body of the guitar.

The tuning machines are made by Grover - a solid choice due to their expertise in this field.  The butterbean knobs and open-gear appearance looks fantastic and again adds to the vintage appearance.  The pickup is an LR Baggs EAS-VTC - this stands for Element Active System-Volume, Tone and Compression.  The pickup has a Class A preamp and analogue compressor that is designed to aid with keeping the plugged-in tone natural and steering it away from the sterile tone that an amplified acoustic can suffer with.  The tone and volume controls are mounted inside the soundhole for a discreet appearance and the battery life on a single 9-volt battery is 1000 hours!

The guitar comes with a Soft Shell Case that is designed to fit this guitar perfectly.  This case is a great balance between being more protective than a soft gig bag and less heavy than a hard case.  It will offer great protection for carrying the guitar around and will protect it from bumps and knocks.

The finishing touches come from a subtle satin finish and D'Addario coated phosphor bronze strings (.012-.053), an excellent all round choice for balanced tone and feel.  The coating will help them to stay fresh and new sounding for longer.