Played a Tom Anderson Guitar Today...

[Meathead]

...second, all of my guitars play 20x better than that particular Anderson did, but they dont sound ANYWHERE near as badass as that Anderson. Anderson's are also really consistant guitar to guitar. thats one thing you pay for with guys like Tom and John, and things you worry about with Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, etc.

How do these companies always put out 'good' ones?
I'm sure Suhr's and Anderson's are all made very well, and you can expect it to play well and be setup and dressed well...but every piece of wood sounds different.
Nothing beats cherry picking a guitar, finding the ones with great resonance/sustain. I have to play a guitar to hear how it sounds before I'll drop down money for it.

Its an artform in itself. with Anderson's and Suhr's - i dont fret over it (no pun intended)

the reason why is because they have the talent of not putting together guitars with shitty quality woods in the first place. they have excellent quality control at the factory and lumber mills, and reject countless blanks before choosing ones for each build. its a keen eye for what to look for ahead of time.

the companies that dont do this and only care about making a buck build guitars made from shit blanks in the first place - hence the trial and error mentality. i agree with you in that its extremely important and to do so as much as possible. you can bend the rules here but its not a guarantee fire you'll get what you expect - the same goes for buying guitars used over the internet.....

this is not 1970 anymore, its 2010 going on 2011 - Anderson uses CNC techniques for tight tolerances mixed with handy-work for the important areas. Suhr plek's the frets (which i dislike) but some people prefer.

alot of time and effort's going into them to make sure the guitar that you order/get comes out as expected or better.

well...I'm not cutting them up, just saying I've had no luck at buying guitars before I try them.
I've sold every one off and have chalked it up to 'I must play them before I buy them'.
The two USA Charvel's that I recently owned were just dead guitars...both were fairly heavy and had almost zero sustain, no need for a pickup change, nothing would have fixed them.

 

[glpg80]

well...I'm not cutting them up, just saying I've had no luck at buying guitars before I try them.
I've sold every one off and have chalked it up to 'I must play them before I buy them'.
The two USA Charvel's that I recently owned were just dead guitars...both were fairly heavy and had almost zero sustain, no need for a pickup change, nothing would have fixed them.

i hate it when that happens. happened to me with a new SVWH jem guitar, 2007. damn thing was just a dead plank of nothing. thin sounding, heavy and shrill - nothing pickups could change. switched over to my wolfgang and BAM - theres the tone.

like i mentioned though i only trust this kind of tonal opinion to ESP custom shop, Anderson, Robin, and Suhr. thats it - nothing more, nothing less, and no one else. TBH i really only trust ESP custom shop the most out of all of them but a starting price $5,000 custom shop is up there, way up there.

i took a gamble last year and bought an ESP M-II blind from the factory. its sad to say that ESP's quality fucking sucks unless you go straight to their custom shop models made and manufactured in japan (nothing to do with china). there is really no factory location that exists that i feel 100% comfortable buying from other than the 4 mentioned.

not to be anti-US - but the "must play before you buy" guideline is even needed for them as well. especially for those charvels. i played one that was a dud in a store on a store setup - just no jiving with that guitar at all. other people i have spoken to say the same. i know alot of people sware by them on this forum, but they are getting the good planks. its why i dont talk about them at all. just one of those things.

 

[thiswaythatway]

I'm gonna go against the grain here and say if that Anderson sounded as good as you say, go back and grab it. Even as consistent as guys like Suhr and Anderson build guitars there is no guarantee that a guitar built to the same spec and woods will sound the same. However a setup and maybe minor fretwork will have that Andy playing as good as new. Plus save quite a bit of coin in the process vs. A custom order. You can always flip it and get most if not all your money back later.

well for one i would have to trade one of my current guitars to do it because i dont carry $2,300 cash every day in my back pocket. i also dont feel like nagging them down form their price to the more common $1700 price range i see Andersons at.

second, all of my guitars play 20x better than that particular Anderson did, but they dont sound ANYWHERE near as badass as that Anderson. Anderson's are also really consistant guitar to guitar. thats one thing you pay for with guys like Tom and John, and things you worry about with Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, etc.

it is not worth it to me to pound more money into a top of the line guitar to get it to play good when the frets are not my preference, the fret size is not my preference, the trem is not my style, no locking nut, and it played terrible. no telling why it played terrible, the action seemed reasonable, but damn was it an elephant to wrestle. the guitars i own i never had to second guess anything and knew what they needed work wise to play decent. The anderson still kicks every guitar i own in the ass tone wise. so im concerned, and with spending this kind of coin i dislike having concerns. its not worth giving up one of my guitars to gamble.

i wont be one of those regretful guys that hate they let "that one" get away. the Anderson was great, but its not "my" guitar.

because it did sounded so phenominal, i got the serial number and looked up the specs - so i know what to design mine around when the time comes.

more money? yes. peace of mind? yes.

Forget about what it played like. When i got my Cobra in the action was all out of whack and the neck needed a truss rod tighten. It played terrible when it showed up, an hour later it RULED. One thing about almost every Anderson I've played is i can set the action so damm low and i don't get that much buzz or notes that fret out. Great frets jobs are nice.

 

[thiswaythatway]

...second, all of my guitars play 20x better than that particular Anderson did, but they dont sound ANYWHERE near as badass as that Anderson. Anderson's are also really consistant guitar to guitar. thats one thing you pay for with guys like Tom and John, and things you worry about with Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, etc.

How do these companies always put out 'good' ones?
I'm sure Suhr's and Anderson's are all made very well, and you can expect it to play well and be setup and dressed well...but every piece of wood sounds different.
Nothing beats cherry picking a guitar, finding the ones with great resonance/sustain. I have to play a guitar to hear how it sounds before I'll drop down money for it.

Its an artform in itself. with Anderson's and Suhr's - i dont fret over it (no pun intended)

the reason why is because they have the talent of not putting together guitars with shitty quality woods in the first place. they have excellent quality control at the factory and lumber mills, and reject countless blanks before choosing ones for each build. its a keen eye for what to look for ahead of time.

the companies that dont do this and only care about making a buck build guitars made from shit blanks in the first place - hence the trial and error mentality. i agree with you in that its extremely important and to do so as much as possible. you can bend the rules here but its not a guarantee fire you'll get what you expect - the same goes for buying guitars used over the internet.....

this is not 1970 anymore, its 2010 going on 2011 - Anderson uses CNC techniques for tight tolerances mixed with handy-work for the important areas. Suhr plek's the frets (which i dislike) but some people prefer.

alot of time and effort's going into them to make sure the guitar that you order/get comes out as expected or better.

The two USA Charvel's that I recently owned were just dead guitars...both were fairly heavy and had almost zero sustain, no need for a pickup change, nothing would have fixed them.

My Charvel was kinda like that, but so was a $2400 Suhr i owned a few years ago.

 

[Meathead]

...second, all of my guitars play 20x better than that particular Anderson did, but they dont sound ANYWHERE near as badass as that Anderson. Anderson's are also really consistant guitar to guitar. thats one thing you pay for with guys like Tom and John, and things you worry about with Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, etc.

How do these companies always put out 'good' ones?
I'm sure Suhr's and Anderson's are all made very well, and you can expect it to play well and be setup and dressed well...but every piece of wood sounds different.
Nothing beats cherry picking a guitar, finding the ones with great resonance/sustain. I have to play a guitar to hear how it sounds before I'll drop down money for it.

Its an artform in itself. with Anderson's and Suhr's - i dont fret over it (no pun intended)

the reason why is because they have the talent of not putting together guitars with shitty quality woods in the first place. they have excellent quality control at the factory and lumber mills, and reject countless blanks before choosing ones for each build. its a keen eye for what to look for ahead of time.

the companies that dont do this and only care about making a buck build guitars made from shit blanks in the first place - hence the trial and error mentality. i agree with you in that its extremely important and to do so as much as possible. you can bend the rules here but its not a guarantee fire you'll get what you expect - the same goes for buying guitars used over the internet.....

this is not 1970 anymore, its 2010 going on 2011 - Anderson uses CNC techniques for tight tolerances mixed with handy-work for the important areas. Suhr plek's the frets (which i dislike) but some people prefer.

alot of time and effort's going into them to make sure the guitar that you order/get comes out as expected or better.

The two USA Charvel's that I recently owned were just dead guitars...both were fairly heavy and had almost zero sustain, no need for a pickup change, nothing would have fixed them.

My Charvel was kinda like that, but so was a $2400 Suhr i owned a few years ago.

Exactly...not knocking any builder...and Anderson's look awesome. But for me, to drop over 2-3 grand on a guitar build without actually knowing the tone of the guitar until it's done, but I have to buy it no matter what...I can't see wanting to do that with any company...regardless of how nice they look or play.

Just saying...that's why I'll keep on cherry picking Fenders or EBMM in music stores. I never see used Suhrs or Andersons there unfortunately.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Here's the 2 i have now.

 

[Meathead]

Here's the 2 i have now.

I do love the way they look...damn that bottom one looks like it would taste good if I licked it.

 

[AmpliFIRE]

Anderson's are just amazing guitars...I've played/owned a bunch and they never disappoint

 

[JesusToneFreak]

I am so glad I checked this post yesterday ! I traded this guitar over a year and a half ago on a Les Paul and regretted letting go of it ever since . I own 2 Anderson Cobras now but this blue burst with rosewood neck always had a great tone . Turns out it had wid ride after i traded it in, the story goes "a bunch of bloodz gang members came in the store and somehow created enough diversion to walk out with 12 guitars stuffed in various places . A police report was filed but nothing came of it . Some months later this Anderson comes back in the store from a guy who bought it in an Asheboro,NC pawn shop ! Of course the police were called and the poor guy has to give up the guitar
SO, one of you guys find it back in the store, make a post about it and I just happen to read it ! The price was 1999 with no case and it was already pulled for another sale which hadn't gone through yet . After talking to the manager a deal was struck and after an hour of looking, we found the case ! The bloodz didn't take that .I just want to thank you all for keeping this forum going, because when we share what's happening , everyone knows what's going on . I just restrung the andy and she plays perfectly, by the way ,it has a personalized top. put together by Tom himself . Thanks for all the info . Bill

 

[glpg80]

thats lucky. insanely lucky actually.

congrats on getting the guitar back. ill build one simillar to it someday with my own personal touches

and yes that guitar center is not in the best location. alot of gang affiliation and overall a bad town to be in to begin with.

cool story, im amazed all of this happened on rig-talk. just goes to show how much of a staple to music this place really is

No problem on the information Bill - glad i could help you out

 

[diagrammatiks]

I bought and sold several Andersons. I never got used to the necks. They were just too skinny for me.
That amber quilt top I'm sure I could get used to though-wow!

What are the neck profiles similar to? I've never had the opportunity to play a high end Strat based guitar like an Anderson or Suhr etc. I'm not a fan of thin/shallow profiles...

they'll make whatever neck profile you want.

...second, all of my guitars play 20x better than that particular Anderson did, but they dont sound ANYWHERE near as badass as that Anderson. Anderson's are also really consistant guitar to guitar. thats one thing you pay for with guys like Tom and John, and things you worry about with Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, etc.

How do these companies always put out 'good' ones?
I'm sure Suhr's and Anderson's are all made very well, and you can expect it to play well and be setup and dressed well...but every piece of wood sounds different.
Nothing beats cherry picking a guitar, finding the ones with great resonance/sustain. I have to play a guitar to hear how it sounds before I'll drop down money for it.

Its an artform in itself. with Anderson's and Suhr's - i dont fret over it (no pun intended)

the reason why is because they have the talent of not putting together guitars with shitty quality woods in the first place. they have excellent quality control at the factory and lumber mills, and reject countless blanks before choosing ones for each build. its a keen eye for what to look for ahead of time.

the companies that dont do this and only care about making a buck build guitars made from shit blanks in the first place - hence the trial and error mentality. i agree with you in that its extremely important and to do so as much as possible. you can bend the rules here but its not a guarantee fire you'll get what you expect - the same goes for buying guitars used over the internet.....

this is not 1970 anymore, its 2010 going on 2011 - Anderson uses CNC techniques for tight tolerances mixed with handy-work for the important areas. Suhr plek's the frets (which i dislike) but some people prefer.

alot of time and effort's going into them to make sure the guitar that you order/get comes out as expected or better.

The two USA Charvel's that I recently owned were just dead guitars...both were fairly heavy and had almost zero sustain, no need for a pickup change, nothing would have fixed them.

My Charvel was kinda like that, but so was a $2400 Suhr i owned a few years ago.

Exactly...not knocking any builder...and Anderson's look awesome. But for me, to drop over 2-3 grand on a guitar build without actually knowing the tone of the guitar until it's done, but I have to buy it no matter what...I can't see wanting to do that with any company...regardless of how nice they look or play.

Just saying...that's why I'll keep on cherry picking Fenders or EBMM in music stores. I never see used Suhrs or Andersons there unfortunately.

you aren't buying the right guitars. Ya cherry pick the fenders and ebmm at music stores that's necessary, if you order a guitar from Tom he'll tap it it himself.

He's not making nearly the number of guitars that the other guys are. The last run of 7 strings he put out was only 23 guitars. Each one was just as good. He won't turn a crap piece of wood into a guitar, and he won't send you one if it isn't the exact same amount of good as the others.

 

[kmstudio]

I have 11 Andersons and now I won't be able to concentrate until I have one like that in my place! Just awesome!
Do you mind sharing the born-on date so we can check the specs?

Thanks -- it's an awesome guitar. Here's another pic!

 

[JesusToneFreak]

Here's a pic of this Andy and her build sheet . I am glad she's home !

/i/Users/badaxe4u/Desktop/DSC02990.JPGmg]

 

[reverymike]

I have 11 Andersons and now I won't be able to concentrate until I have one like that in my place! Just awesome!
Do you mind sharing the born-on date so we can check the specs?

Thanks -- it's an awesome guitar. Here's another pic!

No problem, I'll look it up when I get home and post it here. It's a '93, but I can't remember the month/day.

 

[reverymike]

Here's the born on date of the yellow Drop Top. 8/6/93.

Model - Drop Top
Body Finish - Translucent Yellow with Binding
Body Wood - Quilted Maple Top on Basswood
Neck Wood - Hard Rock Maple
Neck Finish - Satin Finish
Nutwidth - 1 11/16 in
Frets - Heavy
Back Shape -
Hardware - Chrome
Bridge - Sunken Kahler Steeler
Pickguard -
Pickups - SL1R SL1 H2+
Switching - Switcheroo, Series/Split, Vintage Voicing

 

[LP Freak]

Here's my Drop Top.

 

[glpg80]

bumping an old thread for tom anderson awesomness - i still think about this guitar daily - i should have bought it

 

[Ventura]

The Cobra S in my avatar...

Danyeo, that is certainly NOT any kind of guitar in yer avatar dear friend.

 

[jcj]

bumping an old thread for tom anderson awesomness - i still think about this guitar daily - i should have bought it

My classic is my favorite guitar.

 

[King Loudness]

I love my Drop Top T. It's an '05 and a truly awesome ax. I'm currently having the EMGs swapped out for Anderson pickups and should have it back next week!

W.