Anderson Drop Top T

This is my forth Anderson. (I have two Drop tops and sold a Cobra to get this) Just like the others, this guitar is amazing. It has a flamed maple top on mahogany with a full rosewood neck. I had it made with the Cobra 5-way switching with an H1- and an H2+. I had it done with the fixed bridge.

This guitar is much fuller sounding than my others. (The others are Basswood) Not as much upper midrange in this guitar. You can drive this guitar into your amp harder than with basswood. Sweet, full range sound. The single settings and the split middle give you a fuller classic tele sound. The front humbucker and rear humbucker settings are just rich and full with no outstanding frequencies. It doesn't do the strat sound very well. If you want that sound get a drop top classic in ash or alder. However even basswood does a fair strat sound with single coils. Not this guitar.

Tom makes the best guitars in the business...for me. Some people don't like their feel but as far a fit and finish, they are top notch! They are the only guitars I play if that says anything.

I've had my first Anderson since 2003 and gig it without backup and have never had any problems. (Only self induced...See below)

Roy and Tom are always available to answer your call. I have spoke with them both and have always had positive experience. Recently had to send one of my guitars back due to a friend plugging in an AC adaptor into a DC pedal. It fried both the pedal and my volume pot. Sent it in and they fixed it fast. They charged me...It wasn't their fault, but I've been a great customer. So I don't really know how I feel about that. But they are tops in quality.

Tom Anderson guitars make me want to play. Great looks, incredible fit and finish, and they fit well in my hands. Expensive, but worth it. Makes gigging more enjoyable. Thanks Tom!

This is y first Tom Anderson. I ordered directly through the factory according to my own specs. It's a Drop Top T with a gorgeous quilted maple top, cajun red in color (which greatly accentuates the highly figured quilt top) and binding on a mahogany back. The neck is maple with Indian rosewood fretboard. I have a H-S-H configuration with the Anderson Switcheroo and a Floyd Rose bridge. My specs was to have this be my main all-styles guitar, covering from the twangy tele-type sounds all the way to Gibson Les Paul heavier. It does it all amazingly well!

This is by far the best soundng guitar I've even owned. I own a PRS Custom 22, an Ibanez S 1991 modified with different pick-ups and split switches and a Samick Blues Saraceno TV20 also modified with different pick-ups and powerbridge and Fernandes sustainer. They all sound great, but the Drop Top T is by far the best of them. The switcheroo specifically allowes me to choose any combination and variation of the pick-ups I want, either in series or parallel, and the stock pick-ups sound great in every situation, wether clean, with a bit of overdrive or fully saturated distortion from my BiValve.

This is, in my opinion, where this guitar stands lots of steps ahead of any other guitars. The folks at Tom Anderson do know their stuff when it comes to setting up their guitars. Right out of the box this guitar is ready to rock live. No need of adjustments of any kind. It's like you took your best guitar to the best tech and went to your gig. No finish flaws of any kind, perfect in every sense.

This is a pro guitar, no doubt about it. Aside from having a broken string during a gig, I wouldn't even bother having a back-up guitar. The construction is flawless and seems made to last for decades with usual care.

The folks at Tom Anderson are great. I dealt with Roy from the very begining, explaining to him what I was looking for and getting answers usually the same day. We've exchanged probably over 50 e-mails during the 5 months it took for the guitar to be ready. Great stuff!!!

This is not a cheap guitar by any means, but every penny spent on it was well worth it. If you have a chance, save up your money and have one made. When I decided to buy an Anderson, I was tempted to buy a used one, but opted to have one made for me. I can tell you from my own experience it was worth it and I'm extremely happy with the end results. Tom Anderson has this saying at the end of each of their e-mails: "Happy Playing" - that is exactly what you'll get, tons and tons of happy playing, endless freedom to express yourself and an instrument trully capable to inspire you to come up with your very best. Like I said, if you can, buy one!

This is a followup to my earlier review. I forgot some things that are important. When my dealer (Chris @ Mass Street Music, yo Chris!) was starting my order I had him ask if it would be possible to get a neck with some figure to the maple. They said they don't do that because they feel that figured woods are not as stable and may not allow full adjustability in the future. That is why Tom Andersons use clear maple woods for the necks. If that's true I'm fine with a plain neck. I also wanted to discuss how the woods they offer add certain characteristics to the sound. For the full rundown on that consult their website. The sound is why I ordered mine with an alder back. I wanted a bright wide sound with good strong fundemental to the notes. That's exactly what I got with the solid alder body and flame maple top. My other Tom is a hollow drop top T, ash top on chambered ash body. They do sound different and I prefer the solid body for the stronger fundamental but I love the hollow one too so it's never going to be sold. The hollow one is a little more "slappy" but still great. They are both wonderful. The moral is, go for the sound and whatever cosmetics don't interfere with that. Another thing, the hardtail Fishman power bridge sounds great as a normal bridge and seems less likely to break strings than the old style bridge that they used to use.

I want to say first and foremost, this is the best guitar I have ever played or owned. The best part is, it's not a specialist. It sounds great for lots of styles. The only limit tonally is the fact that I have a tele type bridge pickup. I don't need or care for a humbucking bridge pickup sound anymore. It's number is 02-13-04N.
Now the particulars. It's a Drop Top T, light desert sunset with binding, gorgeous flamed maple top on and alder back, rosewood fingerboard with beautiful stripes (I got lucky), painted headstock with the logo in a sort of offwhite (I much prefer this over the natural headstock with the black logo but that is subjective), '62 roundback neck shape with slick satin finish, 1-11/16" nut, heavy stainless frets, buzz feitened of course, gold hardware with fixed Fishman power bridge, HO1 humbucker at the neck, TD3 stacked hummer at the bridge, 5 way switch, vintage voicing and my string guages that I like; .010, .012, .016, .030, .042, .052. I like the B & G strings light enough to do double string bends and the low E heavy enough that it doesn't go sharp when you smack the open E. It came with a nice hardshell case but I'll be using a leather gig bag. For me it has the features I want so I'll give it a 10.

I like to play blues, jump blues, jazz standards, a little Danny Gatton type stuff and then in pickup gigs, old R & B and old rock'n'roll. I don't do classic rock, I played it when it was new and I'm not interested anymore. My main amp is a new Randall combo with modular preamp. I use the clean module and the Top Boost module. It sounds great with this amp. I've also ran it through my tweed Deluxe with a Celestion Century, my AC/30 reissue with blues, one of my 1957 Bassmans and a few other amps. It sounds wonderful through all of them. I'm not real crazy so far about the piezo bridge sounds (no piezo sounds good to me, though), I just ordered it with that "just in case", and the humbucker mode of the bridge pickup doesn't sound too good. Perhaps only in comparison to the other switch settings that are PERFECT to my ears. It would be useful in a club with noisy wiring where you were waiting for the count down and needed to start a tune with the bridge pickup. The bridge pickup, in single coil mode, has plenty of output with wide open, crystalline highs, a combination of strat and tele. The neck humbucker is just the best. It splits to single coil wonderfully and the full humbucker sounds are quiet, full and very sweet. Roll down the tone pot a bit and it definitely does the smoky jazz thing. This guitar sustains like you've got a compressor on. I've never heard better. I pride myself on good bends and vibrato and this guitar lets me do these things to my satisfaction. Ignoring the piezo sound and the bridge in humbucking, I'm going to give it a 10 for sound. I won't be using those tones so I'm not going to hold it against it. These were "just in case" options that will be used for specific purpose but not as my usual sounds anyway.

If you've ever seen a Tom Anderson guitar you know that action, fit and finish are the best. The neck pocket is perfect and so is every other aspect of this guitar. There are ZERO flaws.

This guitar will be an heirloom someday, it's that strong. The finish is very thin but also very hard. My other Tom has acquired less wear than my Fenders and Gibsons, perhaps because the finish is so hard. I treat them all the same, as nice tools of the trade. I'm sure this one will hold up the same.

I have dealt with them in the past on my hollow Drop Top T, that I'm never selling, and they have really been great. Roy will make you happy. I never asked about the warranty. I know they'll take care of me so it's a moot point.

I've been playing in bands for 33 years. I own lots of Gibsons, a couple of Fenders, two Tom Andersons now, basically a big variety of vintage electrics, acoustics, lap steels and lots of tweed and blackface amps. If this guitar were stolen I would immediately order another. If later I got it back that would be great because then I would have three! This guitar, to me, is the perfect blend of beauty, functionality and utility. I don't need anything else in a guitar. I'll buy more vintage guitars when I want to but that will be just for fun because this guitar has it all going on. If you can, you might as well order a Tom Anderson. You won't know how good an electric guitar can be until you live with a Tom for a while. You'll save money in the long run. I have no desire for a PRS, Gibson, Fender or any other guitar now, I'm just so satisfied! I'll continue to look at others, and I'll probably buy some, but that will be more for fun than serious use.

2001, Flamed maple top, Alder backed solid body. Pickups are H1 neck, SA1 middle and H3 in the bridge. Floating Floyd Rose trem. Locking tuners to make string changing a little easier for me. 62 roundback neck profile with 1 11/16th inch nut. Heavy frets. Maple neck with a Madagasgar rosewood fretboard. Nice fireburst finish with matching headstock. Gold hardware. 5 way switch with master splitter and a pull pot to add the bridge pickup. The H-S-H configuration makes this a very versatile guitar.

I ordered this guitar to replace a PRS custom that was my all around, do anything guitar. I have to admit that I had my doubts about how the single coil was going to sound since it wasn't mounted in a pick guard and how the high output humbuckers were going to sound when they were split. I can't believe it but it is amazing how good this guitar sounds. The T body shape with an alder back adds bottom end and the Floyd adds a little top end to balance this guitar out perfectly. The humbuckers split wonderfully and the single coil sounds great. There is not a bad sound in this guitar. I never expected it to sound this good. It can do it all. The high output humbuckers remain clear when split and are not muddy at all. I truely can't imagine a style of music that this guitar wouldn't sound good playing since the split humbucking sounds are so good. This will become my main guitar I'm sure.

I made a very good decision to get rid of the PRS custom and the wait (about 6 months) was worth it. After I got it I immediatly sold my brand new PRS Singlecut to buy a Cobra. I have never heard a Cobra but I'm that sure it will be great and that I will not regret selling the singlecut.

I hear that Tom play tests every guitar they build. I guess since it has his name on it he makes sure it meets his standards. Evidently his standards are very high and I'm glad. I'm pretty picky and I looked it over good and it was perfect. They do great work. I ordered it set up for 10's and it was set up great right out of the case. It rings and resonates great, especially for a bolt on neck guitar.

I've owned a classic for about 4 years and it's held up fine so I don't think I'll have any problems with this guitar either. I would not use it without a backup because of the floating floyd.

Color and sound are subjective but Roy at Anderson tries to explain things in detail. If you register the guitar they will send you a T-shirt or a guitar strap. This is my second Anderson and they sent a note along with the strap thanking me for registering my second guitar. They actually keep up with their customers which I thought was impressive. Also, the warranty card comes with a stamp already on it which I thought was a nice touch. They have always been helpful and polite with me. They will exchange pickups too if you want to try something else. I did it (through a dealer) with my classic after 3 years. I have personally never dealt with a company that cares as much about the quality of their products and the happiness of their customers than Tom Anderson Guitarworks.

I've been playing since 1982. I have been a loyal PRS player since 92 but I have changed camps in a big way. When I first got both of my Anderson guitars, I pulled them out of the case, strummed a chord and immediately wanted another one. I have never felt that way about any other guitar. Like I said above, I had a beautiful (10 top and birds), 5 month old PRS singlecut that I immediately sold without reservation to order an Anderson Cobra. And I liked the singlecut too. However, after experiencing how versatile this guitar is and how wonderful it sounds and plays, I just know that the Cobra will exceed my expectations as well.

This Drop Top T was made on 2-25-98. The body has an exceptional quilted maple top on alder. The finish is Anderson's Cajun Red with a natural binding. This finish gives the top an amazing 3D look to it. The neck is rock hard maple with a Madagascar rosewood fretboard, black headstock,satin back with 1 5/8 neck, hevy frets and .030 oversized. Buzz Feiten system is standard. A fixed bridge with strings through the body and grover tuners rounds out the hardware. There is a three pickup configuration on this guitar consisting of SD1R,SD1,TD3 at the bridge. There is a 5 way switch with a master split switch.

I play new country and classic rock styles through either a '65 deluxe reverb, '66 Pro Reverb or '59 Bassman RI depending on the venue; this guitar can cover most anything thrown at it.
While the TD3 bridge pickup doesn't have the true twang and bite of a good tele it comes pretty close and has a great sound all of its own. The SD1 pickups have great strat tones that I am very pleased with. The neck pickup is fat and throaty and the "out of phase" positions are rich glassy and superb.
but as we all know tone is subjective thing. What one person finds to be "fat" is muddy to another.

This is where Anderson guitars excell. You would be hard pressed to find a better made instrument. Fit and finish are superb! I have closely inspected this instrument and could not find any manufacturing flaws! No small sanding marks, no minor imperfections in the finish, the best fret finish you can find. Try to find this type of quality on a custom shop Fender; it isn't there!
Setup on the guitar was great and the thing plays incredebly fast and smooth. The anderson is the best playing guitar I own and I currently have 12.

The guitar is so well made that I know it will stand up well over the years. The problem I have is a fear of dinging it up when I bring it to gigs. The finish is very durable and there have been no problems. The two strap buttons on the guitar are great for either adjusting playing position or stabilty when you lean the guitar against and amp. ( I always use a stand though)
You can depend on it and I often play without a backup instrument.

I hve not dealt with Anderson directly but they have a reputation of having great customer support.

I have been playing guitar for 27 years and have owned many guitars over that time. If this Anderson were stolen I would get another. In fact I am presently looking for and Anderson Cobra. While they are expensive guitars, the quality and playability is second to none.