Is Sire the new boutique guitar slayer ?

[Unwound G]

It seems Sire guitars and basses are entering the arena where Suhr, Xotic and Tom Anderson thrives but with a better price point and yet getting the same quality components.  Some of my builds cater for this market as well but since I offer more personalized choices, I am not in direct competition.  Sire may be just the reality check for these high priced boutique makers.  Whadayu think ?

 

[Rick]

Never got onto my radar as I thought they only made basses.  Will pay attention now.

 

[bagman67]

Well, I think there's always someone who wants a piece of the top boutique makers' business, but getting the brand recognition and credibility is always a tough thing to overcome. Makers who already have a long history and reputation for well-made, attractive instruments - whether earned or achieved via adept marketing tactics - are hard to displace.  If Sire can lasso some prominent players to endorse them, that'd go a long way to building credibility.  Even so, there are well-known companies building very good instruments that nevertheless lack the cachet of Surh, PRS, et al.  Cort, Yamaha, etc. come to mind.  Westone had Trevor Rabin as an endorser at the the height of Yes's 90125 peak and that brand went by the wayside, as have many others.  CNC manufacturing has made it easy to deliver a playable instrument to the market so beginners have an embarrassment of options, and let's face it, guitar players (and all humans) have lots of psychological baggage they carry around concerning what a "good" or, lord help us, "cool" instrument is.  I wish them the best of luck.

 

[stratamania]

Sire already have Marcus Miller, and have a line of Larry Carlton guitars. However it took a long time due to Covid before any became available and they were gone quite quickly. I had thought about getting one but none available yet after the initial batch.

Though I don't think they are in the same arena as those other makers stated. They do seem to be offering reasonably priced instruments but the reviews I have seen suggest that the attention to detail is not there to compare to more expensive makers.

 

[Wolfie351]

Looks like one step up from Epiphone to me.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but someone in the market for a Suhr or Tom Anderson isn't going to give a production line, low price point MIA guitar one single thought.  If anything is a boutique guitar slayer, it's those companies that allow full customization on inexpensive MIA guitars.  Balaguer, Halo, etc

 

[swarfrat]

Yeah, Sire is definitely gunning for the bang for the buck angle, not chasing cork sniffers.  Larry and Marcus are both phenomenal players but (and this is by no means intended as any sort of dig), both are known for achievements sufficiently in the past that their brand name power is no longer near what it was in their prime.

Honestly, if I were going to spend coin on a mid priced guitar Sire would be on the short list, or would be if I didn't have this pervasive DIY, obsession with outlier features that makes Warmoth so compelling.

 

[BroccoliRob]

wow they're really breakin the mold with those giitar designs. Next time try some #Real innovation. like a emergency hot dog that instantly heats up when you crack it like a glow stick or road flare.

lol jk I'm sure they're fine.

 

[swarfrat]

It's difficult to overestimate the preference of guitar players for those 50's future designs. I guess they were right back in the 50's that that's what guitars of the future would look like. But now it's because they're vintage

 

[zebra]

IMO, Part of boutique is quality parts, part of it is proper set-up, and "tonewoods" is just marketing.  I can see there being a niche undercutting manufacturers peddling over-hyped parts while still maintaining high standards for setups. 

Otherwise and maybe unfortunately, set-ups are a very personal thing...Personally, I'd rather not pay for a great factory set-up, play a guitar for a while, get my string gauges on it, let the neck settle - then pay for a decent set-up.  But that's also why I don't buy new guitars, and manufacturers don't ask me....so I'm gonna stop talking now...