Larry Carlton S7FM TBL 2nd Gen

Very happy with this guitar. I think it will appreciate in value now the cat is well and truly out of the bag (pandemic notwithstanding). Time will tell if there are problems with the countersunk jack, how the tremolo holds up etc. but I'm struggling to find any flaws. I wasn't sure I'd like the feel of a lacquered maple neck but I love it. The pickups are good, tremolo much better than I expected, rounded frets and intonation are great too. You can really wail on it. Tuning heads are good. I had no set-up work to do when I got it (unlike every fender guitar I've bought) which was a nice change. It's been a dream to play and sounds fantastic with my rig (Essentials being an Orange Amp, JHS Spring Reverb and GE-7 EQ pedal), I'll be using it to record. There is great tonal variety. It makes me play differently which is probably what I love most about it. I've gigged with a telecaster or Les Paul for 15 years solid and feel I now have a very versatile gigging guitar in the S7 that offers enough tonal variety with the HSS configuration (I wanted something to straddle the single coil (more towards the strat end of the spectrum than the tele) and humbucker worlds and it certainly does that. The best compliment I can give the S7 is that it will now be the guitar I take to gigs. Whether it proves to endure as a workhorse like the tele, time will tell! Early days but worth a punt for current price for sure.

Just a plug: Will be using it to record next Jeykll & Jeykll EP if anyone is interested in hearing it in a studio mix.

This great instrument inspired me to write a review for the first time in my life, because I feel that this really needs to be heard by as many guitar players as possible.

I have a large collection of electric and acoustic guitars, including the Schecter Nick Johnston model, but this guitar simply surpasses all the models I know so far in this and slightly higher price range. After watching countless videos on YouTube, after detailed analysis of prices, quality, materials, sound and content, I decided to take a shot and buy a Larry Carlton S7FM TBL 2nd Gen guitar and obviously made the best move in my life.

What is it that makes this guitar such a good instrument? The answer is quite simple:
1) Perfect neck, neither too thick nor too narrow – you know those situations: you get a D-shaped guitar and it's too narrow; then you buy a C-shape and realize that it feels like semi-hollow jazz guitar to you; then you start experimenting with the U-shape, but you are unpleasantly surprised when it's too bulky in your hands. The neck of this guitar is so captivating "at first impression" that you simply cannot stop thinking about it and you become a real "addict" to it. It's a perfect combination of classic and/or vintage style/feel with the shredding possibilities, which makes it unique on the market.
2) Brilliant pickups in all 5 positions. Again, you know the story: humbuckers are great, but single coils are bad. Or you start splitting the humbucker and suddenly you have twice the quieter sound. This guitar has none of that. Everything works perfectly, and the pickups can comfortably compete with the most popular Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, Fender or any other brand - and they will still win! It's fascinating how Sir Larry Carlton succeeded to such an extent with these pickups because they have medium output which, however, "eat for breakfast" practically all three or four times more expensive and hotter pickups without any problem.
3) Push-push function for coil splitting: unlike the push-pull function, this is a real boon and a huge relief. It has probably happened to you that during a gig you quickly want to split humbucker, but the pull function gets stuck or is difficult to perform sometimes with sweaty or sticky fingers. There is none of that here and push-push has proven to be the real deal.
4) Beautiful appearance, something similar like buying a car: you want a car with good performance, but you also want that car to look nice, that is, the way you like it. From the roasted neck with lacquered fingerboard to the flame maple top, front and back the guitar looks like the most beautiful guitar you'll ever own. It is clear that attention was paid to the smallest details when building this guitar.
5) Excellent weight: the guitar is just so heavy that you feel that its wood literally sings because of it, and on the other hand, it is not so heavy that your shoulder falls off during long gigs.

Without further ado, since I've been playing guitar for 44 years now, no instrument in my life has ever impressed and pleasantly surprised me like this one. Until now, I have owned guitars worth from hundreds to several thousand euros, I had two guitars with my name and signature as custom handmade (Stratocaster & Les Paul), but in my case this is the best thing I have ever seen, held in my hands or played - and I'm sure I won't be the only one, hence every customer after buying this guitar will say at least something similar to me. If you are a "Strat type", you will literally dream of this guitar and never want to be apart from it. :-) Personally, I'm sure I could sell any other guitar and part with it, but not this one!

As soon as it is back in stock at Thomann, I am buying a Larry Carlton Sire T7 and I know in advance that it will be a great purchase. There is no end to my happiness even now, because I have never spent money on a better instrument in my life, that is, I have never been happier when I spent money.

Thanks to Sir Larry Carlton and of course thanks to Thomann for delivering the perfect instrument!

The guitar is quite great for its price range. The features on the guitar is rather impressive in my opinion, especially the lock-in-tuners.

Con's:
- The first string kept breaking from one of the first times i tried the guitar, and in the 2-3 week period that i have had the guitar, ive broken 3 E-strings. It always happens from the bridge.
I used some sandpaper and polished the stringslot in the bridge, and so far it seemed to work :)
- The intonation on the guitar is not the best, and i had to do a lot of setup work to make it better, it is still not perfect - but it does work allright.
- There was also a bit of string buzzing (even with a quite straight neck).

With a bit of trial and error with intonation-work and polishing frets and string-slot the guitar is working supricingly well. I will use it for teaching my guitarpupils, and for the purpose it is a fantastic guitar :)

This is a fabulous guitar, and the only reason I didn't give it the full five stars in the quality department, was the fact that both the volume and tone knobs were crooked on receiving the guitar? I tried to get them on straight, but with no luck, they persisted in being wobbly when turned for some reason? In the end I bought two new ones in matching cream with abalone inlays in the top to match the fret markers. These went on perfectly straight and are no longer wobbly knobs, and they look good too! But that was the ONLY little fault with this nstrument, otherwise it is perfect. It looks grat, sounds fantastic, and is a dream to play. I'm really glad I bought it, and it has made a lovely addition to my collection.

Bought my LCS7 FM TBL after reading professional reviews and considering the bargain price. One year on I am still blown away by the quality, looks, performance and playability. Build quality is up their with my superb 2016 Fender USA Ash Telecaster Elite. I paid £569 for the new Sire S7 and it has been my best buy in 30 years. If you are considering a high end Ultra or Avri check this out and if you can rise above the headstock snobbery thing then just go and buy one. They really are that good. Roasted maple neck, stunning looks, custom shop style neck with rounded edges and rolled fret ends, locking tuners, solid trem performance, HSS and push push coil tap, Flamed Maple with edgebinding, contoured body, varying height string post tuners so no string tree. No catches and no regrets, a quality pro instrument which never fails to impress, you will not be disappointed.