NGD Sire Larry Carlton L7

[T-Bay]

My new Larry Carlton arrived safely from Thomann today. Initial impressions are very positive-
Setup - frets are all nicely and level, nut has been cut well. String height is high for my personal taste but I like a low action. 8/10
Pickups- decent sound and matched well to each other. Not as meaty as some Gibson LPs ones but as good as any I have played on an Epi and better than most. Controls work nicely, tone gives a reasonable range across their rotation 8/10
Neck shape - very personal but this feels good to me. I like skinny necks and don’t want a baseball bat, this feels chucky enough to be solid but not too fat. The neck to body carve is miles ahead of a standard LP for access to higher frets. 9/10
Hardware - tuners are some of the smoothest I have ever had the pleasure to use, bridge arrangement looks very well made. 10/10
Finish - the top is gorgeous with a beautiful piece of flame veneer. Wood throughout is excellent and finished well. The satin finish on the neck is perfect. If that was everything it would get 10/10 BUT the binding on the neck has tiny marks from both fretboard and a bit of colour leach from the main body. It also fails to match the quality of the rest of the guitar. Neck blocks aren’t the best either, so overall drops to 7-8/ 10

Overall it is amazing value for money and plays very well straight out the box. I think a model like the T7 without the binding on the neck would be even better. Are Andertons right that it’s comparable to a £2k Gibson? Nah, course not but it gets closer than it should based on price alone. I would give it 8/10 overall but a little tweaking by Sire would sort those minor issues.

[ezbass]

Nice.