Very smooth playing with all the cleanliness of a true studio musician. Nice complete demo. GREAT JOB! SIRE should pay you ...if they haven't yet done so!
This has been a very rounded and encouraging review of this guitar and I value your whole style of presentation, not forgetting your artistry in playing. Subscribed.
I just bought one, fit and finish is first class and playability/set up is fantastic, nice low action and great feeling neck. It is without doubt the best value guitar I have ever bought, it feels far more premium than it’s cost would suggest. I agree with Andy’s comments re sound, again the quality shines through. I already have a Gibson 335 (which I totally love) which I keep in Europe but didn’t want to drop another 3 grand on a another guitar to keep in the US, I am totally satisfied with the H7 so in this instance, I would say this guitar lives up to the hype! Great video & playing Andy!👍🎶
@@SiddharthKarunakaran playability is pretty near, sound also, clearly the Gibson is a better, warmer and generally thicker sounding but not 6 times as good! The build quality of the Sire is remarkable for the price, whilst on a 3 grand Gibson, you would expect no less! If you buy the Sire you will not feel short changed & if you felt like swapping out the pickups for higher quality, a relatively modest investment would solve that problem and still keeping the cost to a fraction of the Gibson! That said, I’m happy with the Sire as it is!
Excellent review! One of the best I have seen. I had a friend bring his by on Saturday at a gig I was playing. I was really surprised how great it played and sounded. The only issues were where the strap is at the neck, and the frets felt as though they needed to be polished a bit.
Since these guitars were originally issued, Sire have increased the nut width to the more standard 43mm. The original version was based on Larry Carlton's late 60s 335 which had a nut width of 1 9/16".
Great review video of this guitar Andy! Excellent coverage of the various aspects of the guitar and the tones from both pups on different styles and pedal combos that are prime candidates to use with this guitar. Very positive overall based on an honest review with an experienced teacher and working musician.
Excellent review Andy, your students are blessed to have you as a teacher. I especially enjoyed your your Larry Carlton cover at the end! Showing my age lol.
Nice demo and review...like has been said it's not a Gibson 335 but for those of us who can't afford those outrageous prices..This is a good alternate choice sounds great and nice playing..
New subscriber- just found you today. Great review and great playing! Your playing makes me meek & inspired at the same time, if that makes any sense. I like the format and you covered the features brilliantly. The way you covered it will work for any guitar at any price. Well done… so cheers!!!
Thanks Andy . I stumbled across this by accident and am pleased I did. Informative and really enjoyed your playing. I have already "borrowed" some of you licks...
Fabulous review of a cracking guitar and lovely playing Andy. I recently bought an Inspired By Gibson Epiphone ES335 and almost went for the Sire Larry Carlton H7. I am extremely happy with the Epiphone, it too is a fabulous guitar and was around the same price. I know which ever one I had opted for, I would have been equally as satisfied. I am not a good enough guitar player to warrant spending an extortionate amount on a Gibson and I, personally, don't think there is enough difference to warrant the extra outlay, although I appreciate there will be those who disagree with me and I suppose if I was wealthy enough, I may have a different view ... so each to their own. All I know for sure is, in your hands, the H7 looks and sounds exactly as you would want a semi hollow bodied guitar to sound. Thanks for the upload Andy. It was very informative and enjoyable. 🙏
Great review. I’ve just the H7V (?). The one with P90s any way….. I love it. I’ve owned and currently do own Gibsons and it’s such good value when compared with them
Nice demo & playing! I owned one of these guitars for about 8 months. For what you pay for one of these, you really get alot! The only bummer about these guitars are the stock potentiometers are horrible, and the nut width is narrow just like a late 60's ES-335. I ended up breaking even selling mine, and I just bought a block ES-335.
Hello Andy, It's the first time I watch one of your demos. First thing I noticed is the usefulness of a high level of playing for the one who listens. It really helps for the choice. Another musician on RUclips explored with as much musicality as you did, the sounds of the H7 with P90. Both guitar rules and I must admit that when the choice come, I'll probably die like Buridan's ass 😅 It could be the same situation with P90 or Humbuckers Yamaha standard Revstar, a guitar I dig too. Merci, c'est un excellent test, j'aime beaucoup.
Nice review. I subscribed. I have the T7 vintage and love it although I'm fairly new to playing guitar (2018). I mainly bought it to be able to do some easy fill ins when recording my own songs.
Thanks for the review, great playing and info. I am guessing that the Ebony fretboard on a roasted maple neck would be very bright! I love my H7 and t7fm
Brilliant review and fabulous playing. Loved the Room 335 piece. I suppose the question would be, would any of this have been any better on a Gibson? I suspect not much.
Great overview. How Gibson could let Larry Carlton get away to another company is a head-scratcher - _Mr_ 335, after all. I prefer the 1 5/8" nut size on my Fenders that I have - sounds like this is very similar? Thanks for taking the time, and terrific playing by the way.
Hi Andy. Searching for a H7 demo I stumbled upon your channel. And wow, the best review of the H7 so far. And such accurate and tasty playing. Hat off! One question: is the neck much thinner than a Gibson 335? Oh and Sire just released a H7 with P90's... Sounds so lush.
Thanks! It's a 'C' shape neck - slightly more narrow on the fretboard but with a fairly chunky feel overall. I've never directly compared it with a Gibson, but it's a unique kind of shape that some will like and some won't. And yes, the P90 version looks very tempting!
I have an es335 with a 40mm nut. Actually like it since I have shorter fingers; makes it easier to grab the 6th string with my thumb. I think I would also like the rolled fingerboard edges.
Best review I've ever seen for this H7 ...., I also have one it's great only issue is the narrow nut and tricky fingerings on first and sixth string due to rounded fret ends.? congratulations also for the playing....
Thanks my friend! The first clip is from a jam video I made when I first bought the guitar. Check out the full thing (and link to the free jam track) at ruclips.net/video/9xNOxgfuJAQ/видео.html
I really enjoyed your review and of your excellent playing. I have guitars that cost a smaller fortune but and however this very cheaper guitar - Sire is my favorite. However I’m thinking of having the bone nut cut down a little bit to lessen the tension/action on the lower bars. Any opinion Mr?
Thanks for a great review. I've been looking at the H7 and just got to play one the other day. Super value for money, but a couple of things bothered me. I wonder if you shared any of these: 1) The pots - I found no difference between volume 10 and volume 4 - strange. 2) The pickups. Love the neck pickup but found the bridge pickup is too twangy. I'm not a fan of rolling off the tone - gets too muddy. Also, I found in the center position (both p-ups) it lost a lot of volume and tone. Maybe my example had bad switch/wiring? 3) The nut width is a smidge small for me. I think I could be happy with this guitar but I'm gonna keep looking.
Think I used a few pedals for some of the tones - I have a HX Effects which would have been providing any modulation, delays etc, but don’t remember any specifics!
Something that turned me off from this was how narrow the nut and neck are. I'm a tall guy so I wanted the widest nut I could get. I went with the Ibanez AM93 instead, but I'm sure the Sire is good quality too
Very nice review. It looks like you have connected the amp to your computer. Is it possible for you to give a demo of the H7 in combination with a microphone in front of a combo or cabinet?
bet the pickups on the H7 sound better than the stock pickups on a Gibson 335. These less expensive alternatives literally have te same wood and components. When you pay more you’re just paying for the brand. I’d pick an H7 over Gibson any day and wouldn’t have to swap pickups!
I actually didn't like the pickup, or maybe I'm not able to understand them. They are too bright and when you bring down the highs, the overall EQ is never balanced as in either the mids or the bass gets muddy. Additionally during heavier attack stuff like funk - the top end gets too harsh. Even the distorted sounds don't sound as good as i thought it would. I'm not able to find that sweet spot so i might switch the pickups. What do you think?
@@arnavverma2122I feel the same when watching RUclips reviews that's the reason why I’ve not bought it yet, just want to get something warmer closer to the warm sound of the ES 335. Did you get new pickups?
@@rstm_abrv no not yet, my recent realisations are that the cleans are good at the middle pickup position with both the volume knobs at 8 and the tone on the neck at 9 and tone on the bridge on 2 - this way the eq is balanced atleast for clean playing in jazz subsidiaries. This setting definitely dosent work for pop or other styles hence not so versatile - playing clean pop music at higher tone levels does help. When it comes to gain tones, the pickups have a limit. After a point, no matter how much gain you put in your signal, the distortion tone won't push up but becomes more harsh and muddier. Max it can handle is a overdrive at higher gains. For example if i run the same overdrive preset on a Les Paul or tele, it's gonna respond better with more warm distortion and better overtones and it would just feel right but note those guitars are more expensive but worth it. For me at the moment, this guitar is suited to be a clean jazz guitar and unfortuantely not the ideal for other genres. It's a great practice guitar with good playability. I only say good because i find the fretting in the hire frets a bit congested to play which kills the notes a little bit. Before this i was playing the epiphone broadway which was entirely hollow, interestingly that guitar turned out to be more versatile. In addition to it being the warmest and better jazz guitar, it funked very well and rock and rolled strongly, even wahed quite well. The only thing it didn't do was bend or play extreme pop or rock music which is not something I'm interested as well. I haven't changed the pickups yet but i will be going with either the gibson pickups or fishman fluence or custom. I need the sire to be more versatile, if it can't be more versatile then it probably wasn't the best investment. Consider the epiphone broadway/ Gretch/ Les Paul gibson
Very smooth playing with all the cleanliness of a true studio musician. Nice complete demo.
GREAT JOB! SIRE should pay you ...if they haven't yet done so!
I bought one yesterday, the same one, love it so far.
That was the best guitar review I’ve ever seen! Your playing ability showcases the guitar perfectly. Whow!!!
This has been a very rounded and encouraging review of this guitar and I value your whole style of presentation, not forgetting your artistry in playing. Subscribed.
I’m picking up one of these tomorrow and after watching this can’t wait to try it out. Thanks.
Thanks Andy.
Most comprehensive and unbiased review I've seen.
Really appreciate it.
I dig the tasteful musicality in all those different styles, mate. Awesome playing. Keep on groovin'!
I just bought one, fit and finish is first class and playability/set up is fantastic, nice low action and great feeling neck. It is without doubt the best value guitar I have ever bought, it feels far more premium than it’s cost would suggest. I agree with Andy’s comments re sound, again the quality shines through. I already have a Gibson 335 (which I totally love) which I keep in Europe but didn’t want to drop another 3 grand on a another guitar to keep in the US, I am totally satisfied with the H7 so in this instance, I would say this guitar lives up to the hype! Great video & playing Andy!👍🎶
How does it compare to your Gibson?
@@SiddharthKarunakaran playability is pretty near, sound also, clearly the Gibson is a better, warmer and generally thicker sounding but not 6 times as good! The build quality of the Sire is remarkable for the price, whilst on a 3 grand Gibson, you would expect no less! If you buy the Sire you will not feel short changed & if you felt like swapping out the pickups for higher quality, a relatively modest investment would solve that problem and still keeping the cost to a fraction of the Gibson! That said, I’m happy with the Sire as it is!
Excellent review! One of the best I have seen. I had a friend bring his by on Saturday at a gig I was playing. I was really surprised how great it played and sounded. The only issues were where the strap is at the neck, and the frets felt as though they needed to be polished a bit.
The “is it heavy” jam is great!
Fantastic review, for which I'm grateful....I'm ordering a lefty based on this, thank you
Man, what a terrific demo! And great playing too.
Wow! Great demo and playing. Super enjoyable vid. Thanks
Outstanding review! Lovely playing as well.
Best review I have found by far. Answered all my questions, I'll get one.
Since these guitars were originally issued, Sire have increased the nut width to the more standard 43mm. The original version was based on Larry Carlton's late 60s 335 which had a nut width of 1 9/16".
Great review video of this guitar Andy! Excellent coverage of the various aspects of the guitar and the tones from both pups on different styles and pedal combos that are prime candidates to use with this guitar. Very positive overall based on an honest review with an experienced teacher and working musician.
Brilliant review Andy and fantastic playing on 'Room 335'....subbed.
Beautiful playing! Really made it sing!
Great playing excellent information. I was scratching my head over this and you have proven to me .. that I will buy this. Again excellent stuff.
Great job ,one of the best demo about the h7.wonderful playing and great sound 😉👍
Sit up straight teacher man! 😮 Thanks for the review. About to hit the buy button
Great video Andy, well put together, liked the format. sensible comments, great playing, liked the LC touch at the end.
Thanks for the review. Love your style and technique of playing. Would be great to see some lessons.
Lovely review. Great range of sounds demonstrated. Fantastic, accurate playing . Thank you Andy 🎸👍
Great playing, great review. I have a T7 and L7. Both have the same quality that you talk about on this H7.
Brillant demo and guitar player the ending song is top! Need to try the H7 . Thanks
what a great video! thank you andy
Good work, Andy! Keep it coming, you're playing in very professional fashion, in a good way! Like your style. Thank you!
Excellent review Andy, your students are blessed to have you as a teacher. I especially enjoyed your your Larry Carlton cover at the end! Showing my age lol.
Best review ever!!! Thanks mate! 👍🏻
best demo I've found, like the playing at 8:13
Great playing, brother. And, such a beautiful guitar.
Nice demo and review...like has been said it's not a Gibson 335 but for those of us who can't afford those outrageous prices..This is a good alternate choice sounds great and nice playing..
Excellente démo comme je les aime!! Merci beaucoup!!
Killer sound, killer playing! New subscriber here.
Great demo and playing!
New subscriber- just found you today. Great review and great playing! Your playing makes me meek & inspired at the same time, if that makes any sense. I like the format and you covered the features brilliantly. The way you covered it will work for any guitar at any price. Well done… so cheers!!!
Beautiful playing. Right on.
Really enjoyed that review, and really nice playing 👍🏻
I’ll be getting one of those as a result of hearing that, so many thanks.
loved that last jam....
Thanks Andy . I stumbled across this by accident and am pleased I did. Informative and really enjoyed your playing. I have already "borrowed" some of you licks...
That guitar has such a sweet sound. Great demo
Great demo Andy. The guitar sounds and looks good.
Thanks Bijan!
Wow, that‘s great playing!
Sounds great, excellent playing!
Fantastic review, just pushed the button on one of these. Smashing playing BTW
Great demo and playing, enjoyed it.
Fabulous review of a cracking guitar and lovely playing Andy. I recently bought an Inspired By Gibson Epiphone ES335 and almost went for the Sire Larry Carlton H7. I am extremely happy with the Epiphone, it too is a fabulous guitar and was around the same price. I know which ever one I had opted for, I would have been equally as satisfied. I am not a good enough guitar player to warrant spending an extortionate amount on a Gibson and I, personally, don't think there is enough difference to warrant the extra outlay, although I appreciate there will be those who disagree with me and I suppose if I was wealthy enough, I may have a different view ... so each to their own. All I know for sure is, in your hands, the H7 looks and sounds exactly as you would want a semi hollow bodied guitar to sound. Thanks for the upload Andy. It was very informative and enjoyable. 🙏
A Sire isn’t a Gibson, but better than a new Epiphone IMHO.
My Sire L7 is wonderful. I can't imagine another LP-stye guitar replacing it!
Nice playing! Best examples i have heard. Thank you 😊
sweet guitar, sweet playing! Thanks for the review!
Great review. I’ve just the H7V (?). The one with P90s any way…..
I love it. I’ve owned and currently do own Gibsons and it’s such good value when compared with them
Great review.. Looks good and sounds good. What's not to like? Impressive playing Andy..👏
Cheers Alan!
Nice demo & playing! I owned one of these guitars for about 8 months. For what you pay for one of these, you really get alot! The only bummer about these guitars are the stock potentiometers are horrible, and the nut width is narrow just like a late 60's ES-335. I ended up breaking even selling mine, and I just bought a block ES-335.
Yeah, its modeled after Larry's old 335. Hope you are loving 335.
Looks and sounds great but then you are one of those people who can make anything sound good
Brilliant, Andy!
Amazing playing.
Fantastic review Andy! New subscriber with me! Great playing 😊😊
Hello Andy,
It's the first time I watch one of your demos. First thing I noticed is the usefulness of a high level of playing for the one who listens. It really helps for the choice. Another musician on RUclips explored with as much musicality as you did, the sounds of the H7 with P90. Both guitar rules and I must admit that when the choice come, I'll probably die like Buridan's ass 😅
It could be the same situation with P90 or Humbuckers Yamaha standard Revstar, a guitar I dig too.
Merci, c'est un excellent test, j'aime beaucoup.
Nice review. I subscribed. I have the T7 vintage and love it although I'm fairly new to playing guitar (2018). I mainly bought it to be able to do some easy fill ins when recording my own songs.
Sounds wonderful - I think the latter models have wider nuts
Thanks for the review, great playing and info.
I am guessing that the Ebony fretboard on a roasted maple neck would be very bright!
I love my H7 and t7fm
Brilliant review and fabulous playing. Loved the Room 335 piece.
I suppose the question would be, would any of this have been any better on a Gibson?
I suspect not much.
I love mine! Fantastic!!
Great review, beautiful guitar!
What a player.
An excellent review thanks! Liked and subscribed!
Great overview. How Gibson could let Larry Carlton get away to another company is a head-scratcher - _Mr_ 335, after all. I prefer the 1 5/8" nut size on my Fenders that I have - sounds like this is very similar? Thanks for taking the time, and terrific playing by the way.
Gibson doesn’t own Larry Carlton, like Fender doesn’t own John Mayer
@@ralex3697 But if they treated them a little better they might have them as endorsees - that was my point.
Well done!
Thanks
Hi Andy. Searching for a H7 demo I stumbled upon your channel. And wow, the best review of the H7 so far. And such accurate and tasty playing. Hat off! One question: is the neck much thinner than a Gibson 335? Oh and Sire just released a H7 with P90's... Sounds so lush.
Thanks! It's a 'C' shape neck - slightly more narrow on the fretboard but with a fairly chunky feel overall. I've never directly compared it with a Gibson, but it's a unique kind of shape that some will like and some won't. And yes, the P90 version looks very tempting!
@@AndyWattGuitar Thanks for your reply. Keep up the good work.
Loved this review and especially the clean sounds (not a fan of overdrive).
Nice melodic playing.
Very informative demo.
I have an es335 with a 40mm nut. Actually like it since I have shorter fingers; makes it easier to grab the 6th string with my thumb. I think I would also like the rolled fingerboard edges.
Sounded fantastic in all variants bar overdrive.....but that's why I'm keeping my zakk wylde with EMG actives.
Nice playing
Best review I've ever seen for this H7 ...., I also have one it's great only issue is the narrow nut and tricky fingerings on first and sixth string due to rounded fret ends.? congratulations also for the playing....
Thanks! It's certainly quite a different neck/fretboard feel to any of my other guitars, quite enjoy the rounded edges now I'm used to it 😎👍🏻
This so nice🥺it really cures me
Could I ask what’s the background song at the beginning?
Thanks my friend! The first clip is from a jam video I made when I first bought the guitar. Check out the full thing (and link to the free jam track) at ruclips.net/video/9xNOxgfuJAQ/видео.html
your playing is awesome
Quality playing, and an excellent review Andy. Torn between the H7 and the H7V (P90s). Going to have to find somewhere to give them both a go!
merci pour cette vidéo ,je reçois la mienne jeudi j'ai hâte de la jouer j'ai déjà une Gibson 40 ans d'âge une es 347 s un régal je la joue d'assis
I really enjoyed your review and of your excellent playing. I have guitars that cost a smaller fortune but and however this very cheaper guitar - Sire is my favorite. However I’m thinking of having the bone nut cut down a little bit to lessen the tension/action on the lower bars. Any opinion Mr?
OMG u are SO good!!!!! aaaaaaaah.
Thanks for a great review. I've been looking at the H7 and just got to play one the other day. Super value for money, but a couple of things bothered me. I wonder if you shared any of these: 1) The pots - I found no difference between volume 10 and volume 4 - strange. 2) The pickups. Love the neck pickup but found the bridge pickup is too twangy. I'm not a fan of rolling off the tone - gets too muddy. Also, I found in the center position (both p-ups) it lost a lot of volume and tone. Maybe my example had bad switch/wiring? 3) The nut width is a smidge small for me. I think I could be happy with this guitar but I'm gonna keep looking.
That was outstanding. Can I ask whether you used any pedals or just changed the tones from clean using your amp settings?
Think I used a few pedals for some of the tones - I have a HX Effects which would have been providing any modulation, delays etc, but don’t remember any specifics!
H7 hands down
Great. Can you share the chords before the solo that starts at 11.03...
Trying to better at guitar :)
Something that turned me off from this was how narrow the nut and neck are. I'm a tall guy so I wanted the widest nut I could get. I went with the Ibanez AM93 instead, but I'm sure the Sire is good quality too
What's about to put Bare knuckle "mule" on it ?
Better than Epiphone Sheraton?
Very nice review. It looks like you have connected the amp to your computer. Is it possible for you to give a demo of the H7 in combination with a microphone in front of a combo or cabinet?
bet the pickups on the H7 sound better than the stock pickups on a Gibson 335. These less expensive alternatives literally have te same wood and components. When you pay more you’re just paying for the brand. I’d pick an H7 over Gibson any day and wouldn’t have to swap pickups!
The problem is the thick poly finish.
I actually didn't like the pickup, or maybe I'm not able to understand them. They are too bright and when you bring down the highs, the overall EQ is never balanced as in either the mids or the bass gets muddy. Additionally during heavier attack stuff like funk - the top end gets too harsh. Even the distorted sounds don't sound as good as i thought it would. I'm not able to find that sweet spot so i might switch the pickups. What do you think?
Nah, stock Gibson pups are far better. The Sire offers great bang for the buck, but it’s simply not on the same level
@@arnavverma2122I feel the same when watching RUclips reviews that's the reason why I’ve not bought it yet, just want to get something warmer closer to the warm sound of the ES 335. Did you get new pickups?
@@rstm_abrv no not yet, my recent realisations are that the cleans are good at the middle pickup position with both the volume knobs at 8 and the tone on the neck at 9 and tone on the bridge on 2 - this way the eq is balanced atleast for clean playing in jazz subsidiaries. This setting definitely dosent work for pop or other styles hence not so versatile - playing clean pop music at higher tone levels does help.
When it comes to gain tones, the pickups have a limit. After a point, no matter how much gain you put in your signal, the distortion tone won't push up but becomes more harsh and muddier. Max it can handle is a overdrive at higher gains. For example if i run the same overdrive preset on a Les Paul or tele, it's gonna respond better with more warm distortion and better overtones and it would just feel right but note those guitars are more expensive but worth it.
For me at the moment, this guitar is suited to be a clean jazz guitar and unfortuantely not the ideal for other genres.
It's a great practice guitar with good playability. I only say good because i find the fretting in the hire frets a bit congested to play which kills the notes a little bit.
Before this i was playing the epiphone broadway which was entirely hollow, interestingly that guitar turned out to be more versatile. In addition to it being the warmest and better jazz guitar, it funked very well and rock and rolled strongly, even wahed quite well. The only thing it didn't do was bend or play extreme pop or rock music which is not something I'm interested as well.
I haven't changed the pickups yet but i will be going with either the gibson pickups or fishman fluence or custom. I need the sire to be more versatile, if it can't be more versatile then it probably wasn't the best investment.
Consider the epiphone broadway/ Gretch/ Les Paul gibson
Do you think alternative music or grunge could work
What exactly is causing the downward bend problem pls?
Nice review and playing. I don’t do distortion but just ordered one. Will any 335 case fit it?
Thanks! I would think any 335 case should be OK, I just use a Tourtech ‘semi-acoustic’ padded gig bag 👍
@@AndyWattGuitar good day.. thank you.
Sound NICE 👍🏽 ✌🏽
I suggest Sire pays you back the money you spend on this guitar because of this fantastic demo/review.
Wow awesome review brother! Sire needs to reimburse you for acquisition cost! Only wishing you would have shown the back. Otherwise bravo!!!🙏🙏🙏
Could listen to you play all day. Are you in a band I could listen to? My H7 is on order. Have you found the pots a problem at all?
Thanks! I have a few live band videos coming to the channel soon actually - stay tuned. No problem with the pots on mine 👍🏻