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2022 started something for me in terms of getting back into the joy of playing electric guitars. Towards the end of 2022, I started to find out about Sire's offering. Let's take a closer look at a manufacturer who already disrupted the market with their Marcus Miller basses. Clearly it is now time for Larry Carlton's lineup to shine!
In 2015, the renowned jazz bass player, Marcus Miller, collaborated with Sire Guitars to bring out a series of bass guitars that provided good quality instruments for relatively low prices.
Initially, I was cynical about how good the basses would be and just because a signature artist was involved did it really mean that these basses would set the world on fire? Well they did. It didn't take long before bass players realised just how well built these bass guitars were made, as they were made to the specifications of the man himself. It was a formula that worked well, bass players were happy, Sire took a share of the market.
Enter Larry Carlton
In 2020, Sire announced a range of six string electric guitars that were their first offering. The renowned American session guitarist, Larry Carlton was to be the signature artist for this range.
Larry Carlton, often referred to as 'Mr 335' collaborated with Sire to bring out a wide range of electric guitars to his specifications and once again they were found to contain features that ordinarily would be found on high end boutique guitars. To date, Sire Guitars have essentially four electric guitar styles available at two different price points between £300 and £700. What's not to love?
The main selling points for these guitars are..
- Edgeless fretboard (rolled) making them comfortable to play.
- Some of the necks are roasted maple ( H7,S7, L7 and T7 guitars) which brings about better stability for tuning and robustness.
- Larry Carlton approved pickups.
- Locking tuners ( on the L7, S7 and T7 guitars)
On further research, the lower price point guitars (S3 and T3 guitars) which cost around £300 still present a level of quality that gives Squire and Fender a run for their money.
The Captain and Danish Pete from Andertons give a good insight on their YouTube Channel about these guitars.
If you want to find out more about the different styles then click the links below:
Which ones would I like to purchase?
There are three guitars on the list that I would love to purchase, just based on what I know about them so far. It is my aim to get hold of them and review them and then depending on how that process goes the list may change, but for now I would want the following guitars.
Click the pictures below to find out more about them.
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| SIRE LARRY CARLTON T7 FM ELECTRIC GUITAR IN TRANSPARENT BLUE - £549 |
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| SIRE LARRY CARLTON S3 HSS ELECTRIC GUITAR IN SONIC BLUE - £369 |
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| SIRE LARRY CARLTON S7 FM ELECTRIC GUITAR IN TRANSPARENT BLUE - £599 |
Out of the three, I think that the top two would be the S7FM and S3. The S7FM is a 'super strat' with a humbucker that comes with the ability to coil tap, locking tuners, roasted maple neck and unlike the strat comes with the two knob volume/tone format that is more traditional on telecaster style guitars that I have always loved. The flame maple top just sets it off beautifully and so if I was really going to treat myself it would be the S7FM. I suspect that it would probably bring something more to the table than the PRS SE Silver Sky which is more expensive.
If I was to take a punt for less than £400, then I don't think I would go far wrong with the S3. It competes with the Squire Classic Vibe Strat (which I loved playing when I tried it out) but I think it is likely to bring more quality to the player.
The T7 is a beautiful looking guitar with a wide range of tones and high end features but given that I already have a Thinline Tele as well as a single cut PRS SE Starla, I probably wouldn't have another single cut guitar...but never say never :-)
So what are your thoughts?
Do you own any of these guitars? What is your experience of them?
If you don't have one, then what are your thoughts about getting one?
Please add to the discussion but leaving a comment below.
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