Sire Larry Carlton S type - anyone tried one?

Kebabkid

YellowLedBetterMan said:

 

EDIT: the link with Marcus Miller was somewhat abstract too. As I understand it he was involved in the design and spec phase, publicised them for a bit and then went back to his Fender signature. Although to be fair there was a period where every bassist on TV was using a Sire - I think the one Jools Holland New Years thing all but one bassist was using a V7 or M5 Sire bass.

Toto's more recent bassist, Shem Von Schroeck, who was also in Don Felder's band, was using them. Plugged into a Gallien Krueger rig, it's one of the best and clearest live bass sounds I've heard and as an aside, the guy has a cracking voice to boot

DrJazzTap

Second hand these are going to be a steal. I'm not too fond of the colours available on the s type, I'm sure version 2 will have a brighter selection.

PonchoGreg

DrJazzTap said:

Second hand these are going to be a steal.

Absolutely. I might keep an eye out. Getting that at £300 or a bit less would be very good value for money (provided they do play nice).

Looks like their video is working - trans blue one is sold out, next stock in 3 months

YellowLedBetterMan

DrJazzTap said:

Second hand these are going to be a steal. I'm not too fond of the colours available on the s type, I'm sure version 2 will have a brighter selection.

If anyone sees one of the metallic green ones on ebay/Reverb/here then let me know and I'll get the credit card out.

duotone

YellowLedBetterMan said:

DrJazzTap said:

Second hand these are going to be a steal. I'm not too fond of the colours available on the s type, I'm sure version 2 will have a brighter selection.

If anyone sees one of the metallic green ones on ebay/Reverb/here then let me know and I'll get the credit card out.

Will do! That sherwood green looks great with the pearloid scratchplate.

DrBob

If they are anywhere near the bang for your buck that the basses are then a used, solid colour one would be verrrry tempting 

carlos

Radius 9.5" on this type of guitar is a no from me. But they look great value for money.

PonchoGreg

compound 9.5 to 12 would have been great I must say

crunchman

I'm the other way, I'd be willing to try one of these out, but I'd probably prefer to go for a Mexican Fender with 7.25" radius.

I can live with 9.5" but it wouldn't be my first preference.  12" on Fender style guitar is just wrong though.

PonchoGreg

crunchman said:

I'm the other way, I'd be willing to try one of these out, but I'd probably prefer to go for a Mexican Fender with 7.25" radius.

I can live with 9.5" but it wouldn't be my first preference.  12" on Fender style guitar is just wrong though.

I'd be curious to see what fret wire they went with. They say medium jumbo but the pics make it look quite tall, certainly taller than what I'd expect on a Fender with MJs - this could actually be a good thing as it should give enough leeway for a tech to introduce a bit of compound radius towards the dusty end.

But I'm with you on 7.25 and Fender though - feels just great in the "first half" of the neck, so to speak. I find a really nice compromise is 7.25 gradually increasing to about 10, best of both worlds for me.

carlos

12" is the standard for these types of super strats

PonchoGreg

I was checking out the Tom Anderson site to see what radius they do (12 to 14, unsurprisingly).

But (slight tangent) they should have a word with their copywriter. This is the kind of copy I would expect to see on a Chinese company's site, not a US boutique maker... (my emphasis in bold)

"Drop Top Classic offers its eye popping gifts accompanied with the class of a classic pickguard, hence the name Drop Top Classic.

But its name not only denotes a look rooted in tradition but in its intrinsic sound as well. Yes, this classy guarded guitar not only delivers classic good looks but the anatomy of the actual pickguard itself creates a more "Classic" tone, a tone to certainly please a connoisseur of the classics.

Drop Top Classic announces itself with a radiant book-matched flame or quilted maple, koa or walnut top that is actually bent (or "dropped") over a carefully chosen tone wood body create a smooth and comfortable, swooping forearm contour, and it does it all in keeping with the traditional of pickguard styling.

Since 1991 Drop Top Classic has been the fancy, classic "S" to own.  Before this time nothing like it existed. You could say, it was an inspired revelation that started a joyous revolution, of guitars that is.

But we certainly could not stop there. Though the years, as we began to unlock the secrets of Drop Top tonalities and the vast richness lying within, we applied this depth of understanding to the realm of the Drop Top Classic."

WTF??

Greatape

PonchoGreg said:

compound 9.5 to 12 would have been great I must say

It's an extremely good compromise. 

Philly_Q

PonchoGreg said:

I was checking out the Tom Anderson site to see what radius they do (12 to 14, unsurprisingly).

But (slight tangent) they should have a word with their copywriter. This is the kind of copy I would expect to see on a Chinese company's site, not a US boutique maker...

My take from the Tom Anderson website is that it's a much smaller business than perhaps it seems from the outside.  All that stuff was probably (badly) written years ago and it needs an overhaul!

Kebabkid

Philly_Q said:

PonchoGreg said:

I was checking out the Tom Anderson site to see what radius they do (12 to 14, unsurprisingly).

But (slight tangent) they should have a word with their copywriter. This is the kind of copy I would expect to see on a Chinese company's site, not a US boutique maker...

My take from the Tom Anderson website is that it's a much smaller business than perhaps it seems from the outside.  All that stuff was probably (badly) written years ago and it needs an overhaul!

I read somewhere that they turn out less than 500 guitars a year.

crunchman

Kebabkid said:

Philly_Q said:

PonchoGreg said:

I was checking out the Tom Anderson site to see what radius they do (12 to 14, unsurprisingly).

But (slight tangent) they should have a word with their copywriter. This is the kind of copy I would expect to see on a Chinese company's site, not a US boutique maker...

My take from the Tom Anderson website is that it's a much smaller business than perhaps it seems from the outside.  All that stuff was probably (badly) written years ago and it needs an overhaul!

I read somewhere that they turn out less than 500 guitars a year.

They have been going since 1984 though.  There are probably around 15,000 of them in circulation.

Kebabkid

crunchman said:

Kebabkid said:

Philly_Q said:

PonchoGreg said:

I was checking out the Tom Anderson site to see what radius they do (12 to 14, unsurprisingly).

But (slight tangent) they should have a word with their copywriter. This is the kind of copy I would expect to see on a Chinese company's site, not a US boutique maker...

My take from the Tom Anderson website is that it's a much smaller business than perhaps it seems from the outside.  All that stuff was probably (badly) written years ago and it needs an overhaul!

I read somewhere that they turn out less than 500 guitars a year.

They have been going since 1984 though.  There are probably around 15,000 of them in circulation.

I know and I bought a Drop Top in 1991 from our old mates, Chandler Guitars

I've only just seen this demo (I thought it was the old one when the first came out). The Superstrat sounds are right up my street, too but the hollowbody is also very nice.

dindude

Bass players have been on to Sire for years, but also tend to be more open minded. Not sure I agree that these will ha e poor resell, looks like they will be very popular based on their reputation with basses. They had 10+ of every type/colour variant a few days ago and now the 335 types are sold out and the Strat types are heading that way, only the LP type seems to be a bit slower.

I’d like to try one.

Only thing that niggles me is the slight ambiguity of their operational set up, they made a fan fare a few years ago about not using OEM factories and having their own Indonesian factory but I can’t believe that is the case and couldn’t find a reference on the latest website. 

PonchoGreg

Yes I was trying to find more info on where they're made but the website wasn't helpful.

And having seen how quickly they're selling, I would tend to agree that they might not depreciate as much as I would have thought (especially if restock is spotty).

Again, I don't think they're overpriced new at all, given the specs. I'd quite like to try one in the same session as a charvel hss, and maybe an Ibanez az, but the chances of having all three available in the same shop at any time might be a tad slim... Will have a look on andertons.

ZenOvertone

Chap I know has just got one, apparently it's great apart from the laquered fingerboard, which is missing from the Andertons sales advert detail   (Bit odd as the neck back is satin finish).