Anderson Grand Am

I have a 1990 Grand Am. It has a solid lacewood body with a sunburst figured maple cap. It is a 25.5 inch scale 22 fret bolt-on. The neck is hard maple. Fretboard is rosewood of some type. It has a Schaller double-locking trem and locking nut. Pickups are H/S/S standard Anderson. One volume and one tone knob, plus the standard four switches for the pickups. It has everything you could want. It intonates so well I don't even think you need a Buzz Feiten System with Andersons.

I play classic rock down to folk and acousticy country. The Stones, Zep, Who, Hendrix, Knopfler down to Dylan, Mac, Beatles and PP & M. This baby covers everything(I even dabble in jazz). But I never tried thrash or crunch, this guitar will do them. The single coils are light and airy. But for punch, bite or growl the humbucker is rangy...full, rich textures and long, long sustain. The trem will let you go ballistic like a Jeff Beck. The guitar has a rich palette of sounds that run the gamut. It can't quite duplicate the Les Paul Custom sound (not it's job)but I find it limitless at mimicing most guitars....except the sound is far better defined, balanced and full. I only play at home now with a Kustom 12 Combo tube, 12W or a Fender Chorus 20W. Sounds terrific, but different with each amp. I prefer the Kustom( which I modified slightly). This grand am sounds great with every amp I've heard it on.

Well, it's a handcrafted Tom Anderson. In other words...couldn't be better. Everything is the finest. The neck is heaven, straight yet and buttery. Peerless. I've had no problems like the other reviewer did. No one IMO does frets better. Mine are 12 years old and going strong. Everything was perfect when I got the guitar three years ago, and it's perfect now...great low action without any buzzing. The most remarkable thing is the neckwork...it is such that you don't have to pressure the strings down to the frets, you simply lay your fingers on the string and it plays! Effortlessly! You need no pressure. This is a neck to die for...of course everyone says that about Andersons. The incredible finish makes the guitar a true work of art. A subtle front binding sets it off. Very visually virtuous!

I don't play live anymore, but I know several musicians that play Andersons live. They hold up. Gold hardware will wear. This guitar is about 13 years old and looks rather new.

I've called just for some info and these people are so accomodating. Their reputation is tops.

I've played over 40 years. Folk to rock to hard rock to country to bluegrass, a little jazz, you name it. I currently have a Martin acoustic, 1992 Anderson Droptop, 1987 Stat Plus, 1997 Fender Telesonic, 1986 G & L ASAT, 1978 Les Paul Custom and a Schecter Strat. I much prefer older or aged guitars and believe they sound better. The two Andersons are the best of all my axes...better quality, worksmanship and results. The Grand Am is harder to string than the Droptop, but I prefer it...to all the guitars I own. They are discontinued and getting very hard to find. No one wants to let them go.

OK...Not sure if I am correct about calling my TA a "Grand Am", but for some reason that sticks in my mind from the day I bought it new back in '89...Born on 5-30-89, it is made of solid lacewood; Australian, I believe. The finish is an incredible, translucent, blood-red and with the grain, looks in some places like snakeskin...
The hardware is that gold-plated kind that wears with time. It has the H2+ at the bridge and I believe, SD-1's in the other two positions. It has the switcheroo configuration which I have grown to like and can switch easily playing live; and let me tell you, this guitar has seen many years of playing live. I play top-40 covers for my living and this guitar has seen it all!...Amazingly, it has stood-up very well.
There was an occasion where the small "turbo switch" broke one night at the gig and I had to do some quick soldering during break-time. I ordered a replacement switch and was back in business several days later.
The neck on this guitar is a highly-figured "birdseye maple", with rosewood fretboard. The birdseye is great-looking, but not very stable...I will never buy another guitar with this type of figure again. It is probably my greatest complaint about this guitar; I didn't know any better when I bought it. The neck has at times caused me much grief in that it will ever-so-slightly flex-around depending on the temperature and humidity of the room it is in; causing the feel to change and in conjunction with the "Floyd Rose" floating trem, well...need I say anymore....Overall, I love this guitar and still use it to this day. It covers all the tones I need and does it beautifully. I can put-up with the tempermental wood in the neck. Never carry a back-up guitar. If a string breaks, the band keeps going and I fix it on the fly. When a string-break does occur, it is always at the saddle and I just un-lock the nut, pull-down more string, and re-set it. Usually takes less than a minute. This would never happen if I wasn't so cheap and change the strings every week like I should.
Oh well...
The guitar would receive a 10 from me, but gets a nine because of the issues with the "pretty, beautiful, highly-figured birdseye maple" neck...Nice to look at, but not for "everyday in the trenches" type
of use or work.

Sounds great regardless of what is plugged into...I used to use a Fender Tele; after buying and using my TA, I never looked back. There's not a Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, (or anything else) that compares with the overall quality of Anderson guitars. Take it from a guy who has owned them all (including vintage Fender Strats; '57, '59, '62, etc.) Whoever thinks these old guitars can compete or sound great, forget it! I would rather have several Andersons than one $10K, overpriced vintage Fender. To me, those guitars are old and useless pieces of crap.

The only guitar, and I tell everyone who is interested, that the Andersons are the ONLY guitar you can buy "off the shelf/wall" and take it to work that night without dickering-around with setting it up or what-have-ya...Every TA I ever picked-up played just about perfect.
Perfection always came later after you spend a little time tweaking things like string height, neck-tension, trem-springs, etc., which has always been minimal.

Playing one and only TA steadily every week, several nights a week for 13 years and still going strong!!! Even the painted finish still looks new. As mentioned earlier, the gold finished hardware hasn't stood-up well and looks crappy, but what would one expect?... This guitar was made for playing.

Customer support at Anderson is just like the instrument they build; First-Rate!...I am fortunate to live within driving distance to Newbury Park, Ca. and have been to the shop on multiple occasions. Mostly to just stop-in and say hello and let them know I still use their product daily. It didn't hurt that VHT amps was just around the corner from them and I would go there to get my 2150 power amp tuned-up at the same time.

Pretty much said everything I wanted or needed to say about Anderson guitars. Do we really need to know how long I have been playing? Ok, since 1962....And I use Mesa/Boogie, VHT amps, and TC Electronic rack stuff...
If I had to purchase a replacement instrument, without hesitation, it would be another Anderson...any of them...