This guitar has got it where it counts. I think the neck is the most important thing on any guitar, and I declare that the Sire L7 is the nicest neck I've tried on any Les Paul type guitar, and it's up there with the best I've ever tried period. From what I've read about LPs this is around a 1959 carve, nicely rounded but not the chunkiest (about .9 inches at the first fret). It is extremely satisfying to hold and the jumbo frets and ebony fretboard make bends practically frictionless. The matte back is just silky smooth, effortless to glide your hand along.The tuners are excellent and they are locking, I feel no need to upgrade them. The nut is very well cut and didn't need any lowering to make an F barre easily playable.There's a nice heft to this Sire when I pick it up. It's just shy of 9 pounds, not obscenely heavy but still substantial. The finish is a vivid gold, very sparkly and brings me to the one thing I replaced - the knobs. Instead of the amber that come stock, I think gold LP knobs match the finish a bit better. The gold is quite bright and sparkly, much more so than a Gibson or Epiphone gold, to the point it reminds me of some of the more flamboyant Gretsch finishes. It is a great contrast with the deep dark wood finish on the back.The pickups sound great, and more vintage than modern. I raised the bridge a bit to make it hotter and break up more easily but the tone is right where it needs to be for a creamy vintage humbucker sound, but with the full frequency range… read more I'd expect from an LP.So if mine is anything to go by, this guitar has the best possible dimensions and definitive features of a vintage LP, just making little adjustments like with the locking tuners, and the carve and sharper horn to make it easier to play higher frets.If you love the classic LP tone but always thought like me that classic LPs were a little too heavy, the neck a little fat, and the price a little steep... This might be for you. About 600 for a guitar this well finished, which unlike all the Epiphones I've bought, didn't require any nut surgery or extensive fretwork, is a serious bargain.P.S. this may be heretical to some, but I didn't like the look of the cream pick guard getting in the way of the finish. I removed it and found a solution to cover up the front screw hole: a snapped off toothpick with sparkly gold nail polish, with a bit of super glue on top, blends in pretty well if you find the right shade. The side screw hole isn't too noticeable so I left that alone.

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