Anderson Baritom Classic

This is a baritone electric guitar. It falls into the generic Stratocaster mold except that a) it has only one tone control; b) the tone control extracts, thereby setting up different pickup combinations for a maximum of 7; c) the input jack is positioned along the side rather than recessed through the top face; and d) most importantly, the neck is elongated (28.5 inches) to accomodate the baritone string gauges.

There are locking (Gotoh?) tuners, a fairly perfect shoreline gold (metallic) finish, and one of the smoothest necks I've ever felt. The body is alder, the neck is rosewood on maple. The pickups are Anderson's stock 'Vintage Classic' pickups. Strings: gauges 68,52,38,22,16,12 tuned to BEADF#B.

Speaking generically of baritones, they occupy a difficult space in the mix, not quite basses, not quite guitars. You have to learn how this instrument's range can compliment your music. Specifically in terms of this guitar, there's a chiming piano-like timbre, but at times these pickups sound undistinctive and flat. At times this guitar seems essential to me, at other times it seems an unnecessary extravagance. Should you use it as a bass, as a lead guitar, or as a rhythm guitar? It seems like the answer varies from time to time. Still, there's nothing like playing one of my standard favorites through the deep gutteral drawl of this electric baritone.

Nicest neck I've felt in a long time. A solid neck join, it's a well made guitar, no question, in all respects except for the static electricity which emanates from the pickguard when my fingers glance across it during cold months. I'm in the northeastern USA, and Roy of Tom Anderson attributes this as a reason. Apparently there's something about the dry air from internal heating systems which brings on this condition, however I have other guitars whose pickguards do not exhibit this peculiariy. Note: the static electrical pops can harm/ruin recordings in progress.

The guitar generally seems strong. I am its second owner. The previous owner was Pete Anderson, the Nashville guitarist for whom it was made. One complaint however is that I had the head of one of the locking tuners break off while I absentmindly wound it too far.

Roy represents Tom Anderson on the phone and he is as friendly as they come. Although I am admittedly unsatisfied with the situation involving my pickguard's static electricity, Roy is a nice guy to talk to and helpful in other circumstances.

A guitar this unusual has to be rated for two things: the idea of a baritone generally and the construction of this particular product. The static discharge on the pickguard is a real usability problem. That aside, this becomes an interesting instrument for doing something different with the sound. There's something to be said for novelty, such as an electric baritone - and to my knowledge this is the best constructed electric baritone guitar in the USA at the moment. Nevertheless, although it may function uniquely, it seems to have a hard time finding a perfect place to live in between the bass and the regular 6-string electric guitars. Plus, the longer neck and thicker strings make it just a little bit more difficult to solo on than the average 6-stringer.