I decided to give this Sire H7 another chance after being tremendously let down by the first one I received (an open-box item that ended up having a lot of problems). The second one arrived looking, feeling, and sounding perfect, but within the first 48 hours or so, the pickup selector switch went out on me (just like it did on the first guitar) giving me no sound whatsoever from the bridge pickup. Here I was with my second H7 having to take it into the local shop almost immediately after receiving it. Is it incredibly bad luck or incredibly cheap parts and poor QC? Either way, very frustrating. The repair bill was (thankfully) covered by Sweetwater; otherwise, I'd have been out just shy of $, which would make this no longer a "budget-friendly" guitar.

Anyway, it's now fixed, and I'm really enjoying it. There's one fret (the high F note on fret 13) that buzzes and another fret (fret 20 or 21 under the B string) that catches slightly and needs to be sanded smooth. The replacement switch has cut out on me once or twice, believe it or not, so maybe there are some other electrical issues in there, IDK.

It's a beautiful guitar. Everyone says so. And it sounds nice. I've decided it's definitely worth keeping, but I would only cautiously recommend it and would remind anyone considering it to keep in mind that it may not be perfect. If you're cool with that — with possibly having to return it or get some work done on it, then yes, give it a try. Lots of people seem to have good luck with them.

The certified open box model I got had to be sent back. I hadn't noticed, but it was right there in the pictures: someone had (re?)installed the neck pickup 180 degrees opposite of the usual direction. I know that "shouldn't matter," but it was, I suppose, indicative of there being something wrong. And sure enough, the wiring was bad — the first time I switched to the bridge pickup, I got literally no signal. (Yes, I checked the volume.) After flipping the switch several times, it crackled to life but at a noticeably lower volume than the neck. Even after adjusting pickup heights, I could never get them even remotely in balance. It would have been unusable in a live setting (and hugely annoying at home).

The guys at SW offered to send me a new one for no extra charge, which was very nice, but I decided not to risk it. I'm assuming the replacement would have been fine, and I kind of regret not taking them up on it, but I also wonder what in the world happened and how this slipped through the cracks. Makes me extremely wary of purchasing a guitar without first having it in my hands.

I will say, the neck pickup sounded great — not as jazzy as I'd hoped, but really nice for bluesier playing. And the neck played well after lowering the action several turns. There were other issues, though, like volume and tone pots that were genuinely unimpressive and some sort of buzzing from maybe the bridge itself (or a loose pick guard?) — several little things like that that made me immediately regret my decision.

Like I said, customer service was good, and I'm assuming most of the H7s they have in stock are actually pretty good; however, they may not quite live up to the hype, and certainly, the one I got was a huge disappointment.

(Sire Larry Carlton H7) This beautiful guitar arrived nicely set up and ready to play. The volume and tone knobs are very responsive and give me a wide range of tones. I usually set up my amp a litte over the edge of break up. With this setting, I can back the guitar's volume knob to 5 and it will give me a nice clean tone. When I want a little dirt, all I have to do is turn up the volume knob to 10. When combined with the three-way switch the tone knobs vary the sound from ringy highs to warm-to-muddy lows. I really enjoy the sound and feel of the guitar. The beautiful tiger stripes and the nice paint job enhances the pleaure of playing it even more. I had two minor issues, though. First, I didn't like how the volume and tone knows were installed. The location of the 0 at the minimum sound setting was off. I hand to remove and reset the knobs to a point that made more sense. I.e, they were moved so that if the volume or tone were fully cut, the 0s were up near the top of the potentiometers. I ended up installing control know indicators--ones like I've seen on Larry Carlton's 335 guitar. Second, my ABR-1 bride buzzed on certain notes. There are several things you can do about this (some not very elegant). I ended up replacing the bridge and the buzz went away. I thought of reducing the star rating due to this problem. However, I didn't because I've had the same exact problem with my Epiphone and Gibson guitars. So it might be something to be aware of if you hear a buzzing that you can't attribute to fret-buzz. Overall, I'm very happy with with this guitar and would gladly suggest it to anyone looking for a good semi-hollowbody guitar and at a good price.

I saw Larry Carlton play last night in Hopewell, VA. He was playing one of these. It sounded great. I have a different model, and the quality is top notch.

The H7 is a great guitar. It plays great, with a comfortable neck that has smooth rolled edges and really nice fret work. This is my second Sire guitar—my first was a T7 FM, which I also like a lot—and the H7 doesn't disappoint. I've been playing for over 50 years and have owned plenty of guitars. The H7 stands out for its playability, sound, and great value for the price. It's a keeper.

This is a fantastic guitar for the price. It has features you cannot get on comparably priced guitars. This is my third Sire and they are all outstanding. Bone nut, rolled frets, very good tuners and remarkable stock humbuckers. Sires are superior to any other mid-range manufacturer and as good or better than guitars that cost twice as much. Insane value. They look, feel and sound unreal.

The pictures don't even come close to doing it justice. It's breath-taking in person. That and the ridiculous, high quality features. Sire just makes really, really amazing guitars. I have three now. L7, S3 and now, this H7. If they made a hollowbody I'd get one, too. Incredible value for the money. Every bit as good or better than Fender and way better than Epiphone, Squire or other mid-range guitars. Incredible.

After buying a used L7V, I was so amazed by the quality of these guitars that I ordered an H7. I was replacing an Epi es-335 pro that I traded off. That was a great guitar, but not Gibson quality. This Sire IS Gibson quality right out of the box. I haven't done a thing to it, just played it. I haven't had a guitar ready to go right out of the box, without a luthier setting it up. If you are looking for a Gibson quality guitar without the price tag, this is it.

I have owned 5 Les Pauls that don't measure up to my Sire L7V including a $ R-9. I immediately ordered this H7 and OMG, it's better than the L7V!

Great guitar that's worth a lot more than the price would suggest. Very good build quality. I've always wanted a 335 style guitar but after playing this I couldn't justify the price differential between this and the Gibson 335. Easily playable and the tone palate is very versatile with careful use of the tone and volume controls. This is not a metal guitar but covers classic rock, blues, and jazz very well. I'm a bit confused about the fret board. It looks like a dark brown rosewood with blck stripes but is super smooth like the ebony that is listed in the product description. I understand ebony has many different shades besides the jet black we're always used to seeing so I don't know. The pick ups sound very close to the Gibson Classic '57 PAF's I have on my Gibson '62 reissue I got in 1986 from Medley Music in Bryn Maur, Pa. (thanks Bruce!) I highly recommend this guitar.

This guitar is outstanding. Fit and finish are beautiful. It plays and sounds great. I look forward to the end of my work day so I can go home and get it out again. Sweetwater was very transparent in the deal and have shown great customer care. I will definitely be shopping with them again.

Got this guitar to complement my '69 175. Never thought reasonably priced guitar could be so nice. Arrived well packed and in perfect shape. Beautiful instrument, plays and sounds wonderful.

Bought this guitar because of the amazing reviews that keep piling on for Sire guitars. I was originally looking for a 335 clone or descendant that was affordable and playable. After playing multiple new Gibsons and Epiphones, I was disappointed at any price point that I could afford. I ordered the Sire H7 from Sweetwater without ever playing one and I can say nothing bad about it. The fit and finish is excellent, the fretboard is amazing from the factory, and the tone is spot on through my amps. What's not to love? Could I get more instrument for (way) more money? Yes. Could I get more instrument at this price? Maybe. Big maybe. Will it make me sound like Larry Carlton? Nope! But that's not why I bought a signature model. I bought it for the features at the price point. Well worth the money.

My Sire Larry Carlton H7 Semi-hollow Electric Guitar is wonderful. It plays like it was set up by a master luthier. Out of the 25 or so guitars I have (including one homebuilt), this one and 3 others are from Indonesia. They are all excellent, but this one is at the top of the list. Immaculate fretwork, low action, perfect nut geometry. My longing for an ES-335 is cured. If you only get one guitar, this would be a great choice. Thanks Kyle.

What a sweet guitar. Set up & playability all around is perfect. The fretwork with rolled edges makes it a dream. Tonality. it's fine, but lacks that something that makes Gibson, Gibson. My similar Gibby was a 137 Custom at a much higher price, so it's probably not a fair comparison or a reasonable expectation.

Just got my Sire Carlton H7 and couldn't be more pleased. With the help of Rashi, it got to me in what I think is record time. While I am no BB or Albert (or Freddie etc.) this guitar gives me hope. It definitely has the sound in it, I just have to figure out how to get it out of it! And, the case that Rashi suggested is perfect for it, though I have it out most of the time playing it. I believe that the Sire is worth more than I paid for it and with Sweetwater service, you can't go wrong with this. And a huge worry of mine of buying online was taken care of: it was perfectly playable right out the box.

I've been waiting for one of these in cherry sunburst for quite some time. As soon as Sweetwater got some in stock, I pulled the trigger on one. I love the fact that you can pick the exact serial number you want from the excellent photos of each guitar Sweetwater provides. There are may positive YouTube reviews about these Sire H7's that drove my purchase. I couldn't be happier! The fit and finish of these, mine at least,is spectacular overall. My H7 actually sounds and plays better than a Gibson Les Paul I have! This is definately my new go to guitar. I've always wanted a 335 style guitar but can't see paying 4 grand for a Gibson. I've tried the Epiphones and they don't cut it.

The only negatives I want to mention is a slight bit of grittiness to the frets when bending strings. The fretwork is very nice and can be made perfect with a little polishing, which I will have done by my local guitar guy. This is not surprising for a guitar in this price range. The other thing is, one of the tone knobs was loose and wiggly. That is no problem becaus I intend to replace the stock knobs with some nicer ones I am getting.
Overall, I love the guitar and am happy with my purchase

I took delivery today of a Sire H7 Larry Carlton in Cherry Sunburst with humbuckers and really could not be more impressed.
Right around $ this guitar easily compares with others more than double the price.
If you put it in my hands blindfolded and told me it was a high end Gibson I would absolutely believe it.
The fit and finish is fantastic.
I can't find a single thing I would consider a blemish or mistake on it.
I immediately removed the .010 gauge strings that came on it and put my customary .008 to .038 gauge and it feels great.
I used my nut files to slant the back of the nuts slots downward a bit more towards the tuning machines as I was initially getting a rattle which I couldn't find. It would appear and disappear only to reappear again.
It turns out I needed to do the same little filing, one or two passes, on the back of the bridge saddles to slant them back towards the tail piece a bit more.
With those two little steps it's near perfect now.
The instrument sings out with the kind of evenness and solidity that is noticeable after playing my Stratocaster for the last month or so exclusively.
The neck depth is rather deep which I really prefer. Deeper than my 1950s style Les Paul and certainly deeper than Fenders.
I'd read reviews about the nut feeling too skinny but it's perfectly fine.
Maybe a little bit wider than Fenders.
I have big hands and it's no problem playing open chords.
If you were interested in having one of these fine instruments
you best pre-order them and wait for the next batch as I believe
this most recent batch was all spoken for by the time they came in.
Many thanks to my sales rep Robby Resnick for his consistently excellent
service and follow through.
I don't know when any of my other guitars are gonna get a chance to be
played for a while with this semi hollow beauty sitting on the stand.
I don't think you could be disappointed with this guitar.
It makes me wonder what the other members of the Sire line are like.
If the quality is like this one they are doing great work.

just opened box, unwrapped it. admiring its beauty. was wanting to strap it on and play. adjusted strap and started playing a bit, the nut width is supposed to 1.57, which is like 1 9/16 in. it is actually like 1 3/4. which is too wide for me. so many you tube videos were saying how slim and comfortable the neck was. the rest of the guitar is awesome. just cant play a neck that big. not a big handed man. so much to my dismay, it is packed back up and ready for shipping back to sweetwater. had ordered a case and it is on its way now. i thought for sure, according to all the reviews and stats on sweetwater, it would be a much looked forward to keeper. wrong. i was thinking to have them measure it before it was shipped, but i thought, nah it will be right and what it is supposed to be. didnt work out that way. other than the neck problem, everything else was great. but cant handle the neck.

I bought a demo (floor model I guess) of this H7. There was a tiny scratch in the binding, the description I was given was spot on, and actually smaller and less noticeable than the high res photos.

This guitar plays very well, the setup was spot on out of the box. I did switch out the strings b/c they were not to my liking.

As far as fit and finish I only found one tiny spot where the neck and body come together, barely noticable.

Play-ability is excellent, it's already become one of my favorite guitars, I love the sound and would happily recommend to anyone.

The flame maple is very nice, has character.

I would buy this guitar again!

I have a Gibson 335 and I play this Larry Carlton model much more. It plays great, looks exactly like the photo (perfect finish) and is the only guitar I own out of 36 that actually can almost duplicate Larry Carlton's sound. I ask myself all the time, why is it priced so low?, then I saw a Larry Carlton interview talking about the guitar and finally get it. Very cool of Larry Carlton to do that. (and Marcus Miller on the bass side)

I've owned a 335 and a 336 and like the Sire Larry Carlton better than either of them. It's beautiful to look at, plays great and sounds better than any of the many electric guitars I've owned. At gigs I'm often knocked out by just how good it sounds. A great guitar for the price - or for any price.

I opened the box in front of a few coworkers and there were audible gasps. Not only is it stunning to look at, but it also plays smoothly, and has an excellent tone range.

As always, Simon did an excellent job putting what I wanted into my hands. Well done, sir, and many thanks.

I constantly purchase guitars from different manufactures so I can compare to the ones I make professionally. Some are outstanding and make me step up my game, others are not such a value. This falls in the average category which is a shame as I was expecting more from something that my guitar hero signed off on. Here is what I found insufficient. Compared to other guitars I have purchased from Korea, Indonesia this was average. The finish and attention to detail was a "B" except for the fingerboard which I would give a "C-" because of stain residue left on the binding. The other complaints I have would be from sweetwater, not Sire the manufacturer. They failed to list the country of origin and if you Google search it seems like you would be purchasing from an American manufacture (you are not) and they failed to list the weight ( heavy) Musicians Friends list both of the failures that sweetwater neglected. I will keep the guitar for a while and flip at a loss which I expected but my suggestion would be to save for a real Gibson 335 or a better knock off.

This guitar plays and sounds like its name carrier. Thanks to the Master Larry Carlton Sire and Sweetwater .... I would call this a working man's guitar that will give you presence tone and pleasure. It could have costed above 2 or three grand if it was made in US. It sings on my Fender Deluxe Reverb amp and records excellent. Just get one and you will see what I mean. Let me thank Brian Sheehan for his great customer service before I forget ...Thank you Brian