Tom Anderson’s 4 the Love

[Curtis james]

I’ve been playing Anderson’s since 1999? when Shelly Write (SWF, Single white Female) was on her SoCal leg back then. Her player pointed me towards the land of quality and I landed;
Hollywood’s’ Mesa Boogie & picked one off the wall. Remember It was a light weight Butterscotch Hollow T, T1, T3 Pickups
Just by sheer luck, Tom Anderson’s shop/ factory was 25 minutes from home in Newbury Park, SoCal

They were impressive then....... But dare I say somehow, someway they are even better now?
Ive always loved their necks, and the innovative two bolt neck pockets
The quality of the build was obvious
SS Fret-work impeccable


I just installed a custom ordered/loaded pickguard with Va7 Va7r Hc1+ pickups and they are ridiculously amazing

The coolest thing that’s happened in the last 30 years with the explosion of the internet is it has allowed us to wine taste so many different guitars, Amps, and pickups
Ive had the Fralins, Dimarzios, Ron Ellis, Lolllars, Fishmans, Abby wounds, Klein’s, Gibson PAF’s etc....etc.....and they ALL have a steller reputation for a reason. Props to all

The Anderson P/u’s leave me wanting nothing......They are really, that good
I’m not going to get into the Superlative adjectives of “chimey top end glass“ or 60’s low end, and string separation or note definition blah blah

Ive read about people’s opinions about Toms pickups are sterile, or lacking feel......or too electronic.

My ears are very discerning, and its annoying at times or maybe a blessing?
I love truly dig these pickups. I have several of his Classic T’s with theT1, T3’s & TF3’, A Cobra with the H1, H3 and few others

So is this another Tom Anderson appreciation thread? ......so be it. They’ve earned it
Such a great company

Somehow, a master luthier and builder has made great guitars even; Better

 

[lennokez]

That's a beautiful guitar. Would LOVE to try a TA. I must look away from this thread now.

 

[guitarplayer1]

I bought my first Anderson in '91 and I now have 4. I sold the first one (Droptop) to buy a Classic and now have a couple of Classic Strats and a couple Classic T's.

Can't say enough good stuff about the guitars or the people behind them .... first class all the way.

 

[Curtis james]

That's a beautiful guitar. Would LOVE to try a TA. I must look away from this thread now.

Thankyou!
You owe it to yourself to at least, try one

 

[jmelm]

I’ve been playing Anderson’s since the mid 90’s when I was led by Shelly Writes’ (SWF, “Single white Female“ country charts) guitar player steered me in that direction

Picked one off the wall @ Hollywood’s’ Mesa Boogie, and was lucky enough, Anderson factory was 25 minutes from me in Newbury Park, SoCal

They were impressive then....... But dare I say somehow, someway they are even better now?
Ive always loved they’re necks, and innovative two bolt neck pockets
The quality of the build was obvious
SS Fret-work impeccable


I just installed a custom ordered/loaded pickguard with Va7 Va7r Hc1+ pickups and they are ridiculously amazing

The coolest thing that’s happened in the last 30 years with the explosion of the internet is it has allowed us to wine taste so many different guitars, Amps, and pickups
Ive had the Fralins, Dimarzios, Ron Ellis, Lolllars, Fishmans, Abby wounds, Klein’s, Gibson PAF’s etc....etc.....and they ALL have a steller reputation for a reason. Props to all

The Anderson P/u’s leave me wanting nothing......They are really, that good
I’m not going to get into the Superlative adjectives of “chimey top end glass“ or 60’s low end, and string separation or note definition blah blah

Ive read about people’s opinions about Toms pickups are sterile, or lacking feel......or too electronic.

My ears are very discerning, and its annoying at times or maybe a blessing?
I love these pickups. I have several of his Classic T’s with theT1, T3’s & TF3’, A Cobra with the H1, H3 and others

So is this another Tom Anderson appreciation thread? ......so be it. They’ve earned it
Such a great company

Somehow, a master luthier and builder has made great guitars somehow; better

That’s a particularly beautiful colour and colour combo. I have virtually the same look and configuration of pickups and the pearl guard but with Ice Blue Metallic. I like yours even better

I had a very similar experience when I got my Anderson Shell Pink Strat last year (Swamp Ash body, roasted maple neck with Rosewood board), SSS. I got the VA7.2 pickups as the option but fully expecting I would put Ron Ellis or Mark Foley or some other top tier Strat pickups in there when I got it. And like you, I’m not going to say that “these are the best pickups ever”, but the desire to put in other pickups totally evaporated as soon as I played it for the first time. While not cheap and while Anderson Appreciation does exist, I still feel like their guitars are both excellent value and absolutely underrated in general because not enough people have played them.

 

[BFC]

I think some of the supposed bad rep on the pickups comes from the earlier offerings. They had their own thing and for some folks they wanted something more familiar maybe. And the early reputation has persisted longer than useful or warranted in my opinion. You rarely if ever find a TA stock with SA pickups for years now as an example. I'd bet they rarely even get custom ordered at this point. The VA, TV, TF, SC/SF, the HF/HC stuff are all great though and certainly compete in the more traditional realm. I'd put the VA7.2 up against anything single coil wise. As far as the earlier models I still think the H2+ was amazing at driving the input of an amp hard. A lot of Tom's stuff splits really well too.

 

[Lumpy Trousers]

I have a Classic with M series pickups - they're some of my all time favorite pickups - they sound more like fat, noiseless single coils than mini-hums.

 

[Curtis james]

I think some of the supposed bad rep on the pickups comes from the earlier offerings. They had their own thing and for some folks they wanted something more familiar maybe. And the early reputation has persisted longer than useful or warranted in my opinion. You rarely if ever find a TA stock with SA pickups for years now as an example. I'd bet they rarely even get custom ordered at this point. The VA, TV, TF, SC/SF, the HF/HC stuff are all great though and certainly compete in the more traditional realm. I'd put the VA7.2 up against anything single coil wise. As far as the earlier models I still think the H2+ was amazing at driving the input of an amp hard. A lot of Tom's stuff splits really well too.

Couldn’t agree more

 

[Curtis james]

I have a Classic with M series pickups - they're some of my all time favorite pickups - they sound more like fat, noiseless single coils than mini-hums.

Amazing pickups and couldn’t believe what I heard the first time I played the M’s. Like glorious fat and full goodness

 

[jmelm]

Amazing pickups and couldn’t believe what I heard the first time I played the M’s. Like glorious fat and full goodness

Yup. I have a hollow Atom with a Bigsby and 3 M’s. It’s one of my favourite and best sounding guitars, period.

 

[BFC]

Absolutely. I have an all Mahogany T Classic with M1- and TM2 with Kickback and it's fantastic. It's kind of like a Cobra Special but it has the traditional pickguard and T control plate. Actually that guitar is Sage Green Metallic with a pearl white guard just like OP.

 

[Wdgx3]

Nice TA. I like the color. Bet it plays nice!

I'd like to say that TA has great service. I bought an Guardian Angel about a year ago. It was a HSH setup. I'm typically a HH guy. I hoped to get used to the middle pickup, but never did. I had the middle SC lowered all the way down and it made some of the positions not so great. Obviously.

I decided to get a new pickguard and remove the middle single coil. Also wanted to change from the coil splits to series / parallel. I called to order the stuff and had a few questions about wiring. The lady taking my order wasnt sure about a few things and said "hold on a second, Tom's right here." So I talked with Tom for a while, super nice guy. He helped me out getting all the details right and even sent over a factory wiring schematic right away. Very helpful guy. Very pleasant experience. He even remembered my guitar and taking it to NAMM last year. Was a nice chat.

I love the everything about it. It's the best playing, feeling, and sounding guitar I've ever had. I'm planning my next. Probably a mohagany shorty something.

 

[gdane4]

My first TA:

My #1 gig guitar. Solid rosewood neck. HF1+/HF3+ pickups. Even Taper + 0.050” neck. Mmmmm

On deck at a wedding gig a few years ago:

 

[Curtis james]

Nice TA. I like the color. Bet it plays nice!

I'd like to say that TA has great service. I bought an Guardian Angel about a year ago. It was a HSH setup. I'm typically a HH guy. I hoped to get used to the middle pickup, but never did. I had the middle SC lowered all the way down and it made some of the positions not so great. Obviously.

I decided to get a new pickguard and remove the middle single coil. Also wanted to change from the coil splits to series / parallel. I called to order the stuff and had a few questions about wiring. The lady taking my order wasnt sure about a few things and said "hold on a second, Tom's right here." So I talked with Tom for a while, super nice guy. He helped me out getting all the details right and even sent over a factory wiring schematic right away. Very helpful guy. Very pleasant experience. He even remembered my guitar and taking it to NAMM last year. Was a nice chat.

I love the everything about it. It's the best playing, feeling, and sounding guitar I've ever had. I'm planning my next. Probably a mohagany shorty something.

All dressed up with the new guard

OMG.....

 

[darchirnoj]

2019 Tom Anderson Classic Shorty HSS
Swamp ash body with roasted maple neck
Solid body and super light weight at 6.6 pounds.
Sounds loud and clear like a piano unplugged.
Plugged in....sounds like an absolute monster.

 

[mikesch]

90630427_10158169645900539_5765847669071151104_o.jpg

• mikesch
• Aug 20, 2020

Picked up this Angel at the Mesa Boogie store in Hollywood during NAMM one year. Skipped a day and headed to Hollywood to visit Mesa, GC, etc, and this one followed me home.

 

[Curtis james]

90630427_10158169645900539_5765847669071151104_o.jpg

• mikesch
• Aug 20, 2020

Picked up this Angel at the Mesa Boogie store in Hollywood during NAMM one year. Skipped a day and headed to Hollywood to visit Mesa, GC, etc, and this one followed me home.

Now we’re talkin’

 

[Curtis james]

Bump

 

[2020jan08]

I’ve been playing Anderson’s since 1999? when Shelly Write (SWF, Single white Female) was on her SoCal leg back then. Her player pointed me towards the land of quality and I landed;
Hollywood’s’ Mesa Boogie & picked one off the wall. Remember It was a light weight Butterscotch Hollow T, T1, T3 Pickups
Just by sheer luck, Tom Anderson’s shop/ factory was 25 minutes from home in Newbury Park, SoCal

They were impressive then....... But dare I say somehow, someway they are even better now?
Ive always loved their necks, and the innovative two bolt neck pockets
The quality of the build was obvious
SS Fret-work impeccable


I just installed a custom ordered/loaded pickguard with Va7 Va7r Hc1+ pickups and they are ridiculously amazing

The coolest thing that’s happened in the last 30 years with the explosion of the internet is it has allowed us to wine taste so many different guitars, Amps, and pickups
Ive had the Fralins, Dimarzios, Ron Ellis, Lolllars, Fishmans, Abby wounds, Klein’s, Gibson PAF’s etc....etc.....and they ALL have a steller reputation for a reason. Props to all

The Anderson P/u’s leave me wanting nothing......They are really, that good
I’m not going to get into the Superlative adjectives of “chimey top end glass“ or 60’s low end, and string separation or note definition blah blah

Ive read about people’s opinions about Toms pickups are sterile, or lacking feel......or too electronic.

My ears are very discerning, and its annoying at times or maybe a blessing?
I love these pickups. I have several of his Classic T’s with theT1, T3’s & TF3’, A Cobra with the H1, H3 and others

So is this another Tom Anderson appreciation thread? ......so be it. They’ve earned it
Such a great company

Somehow, a master luthier and builder has made great guitars somehow; better

Love the color.

 

[cosmic_ape]

I have a Classic with M series pickups - they're some of my all time favorite pickups - they sound more like fat, noiseless single coils than mini-hums.

The demos for these pickups are so few and far between. Your description sounds like something I would like!