Section for the review of Tom Anderson Gtrs..

Please State Model and Gear You Use....

I have three Andersons-a 1993 Hollow T (amberburst maple over basswood, HSH switcheroo, rosewood board over maple neck) that I bought used but in mint condition, a 2000 Hollow Classic (tobacco burst, swamp ash over swamp ash, maple neck and board, heavy v shape, three stacked single coils) and a 2002 Hollow Cobra (deep ocean blue burst, tubular quilt over mahogany body, rosewood over mahogany neck with cobra neck, two hums, cobra switching with fishman powerbridge). I give all three guitars 10's in every category possible-playability, sound, set-up from factory, appearance, versatility, etc., etc.

I have a Classic, sunburst with tortise pickguard. Not only is it a killer looking piece it plays wonderful and the tones are to die for. I've been through 3 "Fender" USA Stratocasters looking for strat tones and had to buy this guitar to get what I was after, go figure. I also have a PRS EG that does the strat thing with noisless Fralin pickups.

I have a red classic 05-23-01p. Right on Guitar George. I have been wanting a strat for awhile and have not been able to find one I liked. I especially disliked the idea of having a humbucker at the neck. Anything I played that has that feature felt out of balance. The humbucker seems twice as loud as the single coils-not to mention it also sounded flat and uninteresting. I was looking to trade a 335 so I was looking at "pricy" strats. I stumbled on Tom Andersons at MAE in Ft. Lauderdale and found they wiped the floor with the so called custom shop fenders. Not even close. Sound, feel, workmanship, attention to detail, superior tuning system, etc. Some of the fender relics were actually real nice but more expensive then the TA and not worth the money being asked. His name is on the thing and he honestly cares about what he does and what his reputation is like. Attributes of all good small business owners. My model has the 'bucker in the neck and it works. I can go from clean to slighty overdriven with the flip of a switch without the obnoxious volume jump or lousy tone. Best strat I ever played. I'd love to get a more traditional strat and hollow T down the road. Good stuff.

I ordered a custom Hollow T Contoured loaded w/ Anderson's P-90s for US $1685 (a fantastic price BTW) from Buffalo Brothers, Carlsbad, CA in 2000 as part of a special order through Buffalo Brothers who were seeking to secure a region-exclusive dealership arrangement w/ T.A. Sadly, after about a year and a half or so, Buffalo Brothers stopped being Anderson dealers because of some dissatisfaction on one side or the other---they still claim respect for his work, but are now dealers for Melancon and Grosh, whom BB see as directly comparable... I disagree, although I think Melancon and Grosh are very good guitars (though I think Suhr might be directly comparable).

It has 22 frets (medium jumbo, I believe---I just trusted to the Anderson standard on those)on a Madagascar rosewood fretboard affixed to a 4-bolt maple neck with the heel rounded and shaped to facilitate playing in the upper zone. As the name suggests, it is hollow, in a Tele shape, with arm and belly contouring, and it is made of swamp ash. The nitrocellulose finish is in a gorgeous yet, paradoxically, restrained sunburst with very subtle color gradations on both the front and back, and the bookmatching on the front is impeccable.

It has one volume control and one tone control, and a 3-way switch for the pups, which are Anderson's in-house soapbar P-90s, for which I chose black covers, which, with the simplicity of the Tele shape and the rich sunburst, create an elegant package for the tones therein). The neck pup is warm and full, and the bridge pup is hot and raucous-in-a-good-way. I was told that, at that time, no one had requested the P-90s on a Hollow-T, since they were associated more with shorter scale guitars and thus had been used on Anderson's Cobras. The electronics are passive, the bridge is fixed, string-through-body, albeit the bridge does not copy the Tele's use of a large metal plate, the Anderson-branded tuners are non-locking split-shaft. It does not have "tons of features", just a very sophisticated interpretation of the basics.

After having lived with it for a while, I think that the only things I would have changed in the initial order would be to have had the neck tinted, and maybe to have asked more of Anderson's advice regarding the tone regarding the combination of pups, woods, and scale that I chose; A maple top may have given me something a little brighter/more sparkly, but I do not know if I would like that better or worse, it would just be different.I do love the power of a P-90, and I much prefer single-coils over humbuckers. I wouldn't mind if the pups were quieter, but I wouldn't take the quieter operation if that meant some loss of their tonal authority. I have compared this to a P-90s loaded Les Paul, P-90s loaded SG, P-90s loaded Bluesbird, P.R.S. Soapbar Special, and a Dan Grosh Custom loaded with P-90s. I did not know exactly what my Anderson would sound like until I took delivery of it, but it was just stronger than the others, able to go from raw to refined at the flick of a switch and twist of a dial.



As single-coils, P-90s are, to some degree, inherently noisy. At first, I thought they were a bit too noisy (since they were noisier than the pups on my Strat, American Standard Tele, and '65 Rickenbacker 330). I called Tom Anderson, and spoke to The Man his-own-damn-self who was kind enough to invite to his guitarworks (approx. 75 miles from where I live) so that he could examine the guitar and we could address the issue. Subsequently, I found my perspective changing; I know believe (especially after comparisions with other new and vintage soapbar loaded guitars) that the degree of noise is not excessive, and is part and parcel of getting that P-90 tone.

The guitar has a very strong midrange that seems rich with overtones/harmonics. The neck pup is great for jazz chording,with a thick voice, while the bridge slaps my amps nasty-silly ( I play through a Top Hat Vibra-Trem 20, Top hat Club Royale 2x12, a '63 1/2 Deluxe Reverb, a Vibro-King, and a Blues Deluxe). I tend to set the volume of my amps somewhere between 4 and 7, and control their volume from the guitar. I find that backing off the volume at the guitar generally creates a more delicate/articulate response, enhanced by the manipulation of the guitar's tone knob, which has a remarkable spectrum of subtle and smooth tone colors. If any of my amps are at 7 with the guitar's volume full on, it gets really, three-dimensionally (and in the case of the bridge pup, violently) physical---NO NEED FOR AN OVERDRIVE OR DISTORTION BOX...it's all in the interface of guitar and amp. Honestly, the only effect I use with this guitar is some degree of slapback and just barely wet reverb. Any other effect would (to me) spoil its voice, which is...well, I am in love with its voice, and am always discovering new nuances to the degree that I sometimes feel inadequate and unworthy of the guitar (or of capably describing what you would just have to feel and hear for yourself). It works for blues (T-Bone and the three Kings), roots (although its twang isn't totally Tele in nature), and jazz chording.

Its action, fit, & finish are pure perfection. Again, I don't know if I'll ever realize its potential. I baby it totally, but it seems very durable and reliable, if I can judge it on the basis of its track record with recording and performing musicians that I admire. I do not know how long the warranty is, but because my contacts with Anderson Guitarworks prior to and after delivery were so positive, as I have heard from others to be typical of this maker, I do not doubt that he will address any of my future concerns in a satisfactory way. I have heard and read that Tom Anderson's attitude towards his guitars gives the original owner the equivalent of a lifetime warranty (and perhaps that was the actual warranty---the reputation of his guitars and his company is partly what influenced me to buy one after I had auditioned eight or nine). I looked up the specs on mine via its serial number on the Anderson website (a great service/aid to those looking to buy a used Anderson and wanting to verify specs and originality/authenticity) where it showed up as having an MSRP almost a grand higher than what I paid.

yr fren,
de Wulf