Anderson Hollow Cobra S

I just picked up a new Tom Anderson Hollow Cobra S two weeks ago, and man is this thing an amazingly toneful work of sonic art!

Mine's in Tiger Eye Burst, Mahagony Body with Flamed maple top, African Rosewood neck, 5-way switch, pull-up thingy splits middle position (very cool) and of course the classic H1(neck) and H2+(bridge) setup.

I usually play 11-50 guage strings on my '65 strat, but after playing this thing from the factory with Elixir 10's, I'm gonna stick with the 10's on this guitar.

Well, of course this is where a "big dog" axe like an Anderson shines. The SOUND department!

I used this Cobra on my ENTIRE new record, and that includes straty neck pickup tones and Billy Gibbons-esque warm bridge humbucker tones. WOW!! This thing can do it all, and do it with class I might add!

I have used a plethora of amps in the studio and live. I use Alessandro amps almost exclusively, but have played the Anderson through Bad Cat Cub 30's, LoneStar Specials and various Fender's and Marshalls. It brings out the best in these amps, and WHEN COMPARED TO A LES PAUL, TOTALLY SMOKES IT!!! None of that boxy one-dimensional sound you can get from the muddy neck and bright bridge pickups of a Les Paul, this thing is very complex sounding. Obviously that's just one opinion.

Basically, this thing cooks!

It feels and plays like butter...I almost feel guilty playing this thing, because it plays soooooo effortlessly! :-)

I can't shoot my mouth off about the durability of this guitar, but after this summer, I will be able to post again. We have some European rigors coming up that will put this guitar up against some strain, and I'm hoping (and assuming) it will do just fine...

Can't comment on this area yet...

AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL SOUNDING AND LOOKING AND PLAYING GUITAR! Best money I have spent in a LONG time!!

Hollow Cobra S built in November of 2003.
Model - Hollow Cobra S
Body Finish - Dark Cherry Burst with Binding
Body Wood - Flamed Maple Top on Mahogany
Neck Wood - Rosewood, Rosewood Fretboard
Neck Finish - Gloss Headstock, Satin Back
Nutwidth - 1 11/16 in
Frets - Heavy
Back Shape - Slimmer Cobra
Hardware - Chrome
Tuners- Locking
Bridge - Vintage Tremolo
Pickguard - None
Pickups - H1- H2+
Switching - 5 Way, Pull on Tone Knob splits middle position
Strings - .010-.046 Elixir strings
BFTS (Buzzy Feiten Tuning System) Standard hard shell case included.

Perfect for rock, blues and some country. Use with a variety of amps and its forte seems to be with amps that are just being pushed into overdrive status. Works okay with clean settings but generally prefer Anderson single coil-equipped guitars for that (also own an Anderson Classic and an Anderson Hollow-T Contoured Classic). These particular humbucking pickups though serve this guitar well...not too powerful and hence not too muddy sounding. Pull switch for middle pickup to split to single coil...subtle effect. Five-way switch adds versatility especially when considering this is a two pickup model. Especially enjoy the light weight of the hollow model and the rosewood neck (not just the rosewood fretboard). The former adds to both the physical ease of playing and the tone, due to its light weight, and the latter adds a sublte smoothness to the tone...with both the hollowness and the rosewood neck the guitar has a strong, natural resonance.

Great action and the Fetein system is a must for keeping the guitar intonated all the way up the fingerboard. Locking tuners help in this regard as well. Paint is beautiful, controls work perfectly and smoothly...typical Anderson high quality.

Everything is as new, after approximately 18 months of ownership being purchased new. Nitro paint is of course a bit thinner but with proper care should be fine...it's never been a problem with two other Andersons.

Great company to deal with. They answer any question about their products, no matter how "trivial", and respond quickly to any general inquiries or needs. They've thrown in an extra strap for no charge too. Have dealt with the owner in private e-mail about an amplifier-related subject and this exchange showed not only his love for the guitar in general and his company, but also his respect for fellow players and owners of his guitars.

Main electric guitar used. Matches up well with various amps and various styles of music. With the experience of YEARS of playing, hundreds of gigs, playing countless guitars and owning a few dozen, it can be said that this is as good as the electric guitar gets...another gem from Anderson.

Made in 2002 in the USA, serial #03-28-02P.
24 3/4" scale length.
Shaded cherry edging with binding.
Lightly flamed koa top, mahogany neck and body.
Rosewood fretboard with dot markers, 12" fretboard radius.
Matching headstock, satin finish on back of neck.
1 11/16" nut width, heavy frets, slimmer cobra neck profile.
Buzz Feiten tuning system.
Gold hardware.
Vintage tremolo.
Gotoh locking tuners.
Anderson H1- pickup in neck, H2+ in bridge position.
5 way switch, 1 volume, 1 tone control.
Tone control can be pulled to split middle position.
Truss rod access at neck.
Came with hardshell case, Elixir nanoweb .010 - .046 strings.

The cherry shaded edge looks way better in reality than how it appears in the Anderson catalog and website -- you've just got to see it in person to appreciate how beautiful it is. The "slimmer Cobra" neck shape isn't as slender as the neck is on an Ibanez RG570 -- it's C-shaped and chunky, but not super chunky.

As you'd expect from a dual humbucker, mahogany-bodied, 24 3/4" scale guitar, the tone is fat, warm, and rich, with plenty of sustain. You can get six sounds out of this guitar -- neck HB, neck HB split, both HB's at once, both neck and bridge split at once, bridge HB split, and bridge HB. The split HB tones are weaker in output, not as spanky as a Strat, but still pretty nice to have in addition to the full humbucker tones. I also have a USA Hamer Studio (a great guitar). In comparison to the the Hamer, the koa top on this guitar gives a slightly darker tone and the hollow chambers give slightly more highs and lows and a better clean tone. This guitar sustains really well for a guitar with a trem (the trem is set up to rest against the body when not in use and doesn't move until you bend about a whole step on the B string).
My problem with this guitar as well as my other 2 Tom Andersons is that it seems to not be properly grounded, as the guitar hums whenever I'm not touching something metal on the guitar. Other than that, I'm really happy with the way this guitar sounds.

The quality of the workmanship is excellent, almost flawless, except for a couple of things. The intonation on the G string was off, causing notes on that string above the 14th fret to be really, really sharp. I found that to be true on my other 2 Andersons as well. Intonating using the Buzz Feiten Tuning offsets seems to cause this. In order to relieve the extreme sharpness, I found that I had to adjust the G string flatter at the 12th fret than what the Feiten tuning offset calls for. Oh well, no system of tuning is perfect. The other problem I already mentioned above -- the guitar hums whenever I'm not touching anything metal on the guitar, so it's not grounded properly -- which is also the case with my other 2 Andersons, by the way.

This guitar is built solidly and will easily withstand years and years of playing.

Never needed support for this guitar.

This is a seriously awesome guitar. The guitar sounds fantastic and plays so effortlessly -- it's sheer pleasure. And, the lightly flamed koa top looks absolutely gorgeous. I've been playing for almost 17 years now and I used to own a Yamaha Strat copy, an Ibanez RG570, a Steinberger Spirit, and a Fender American Series Strat. Currently, I also own an Anderson Hollow T Contoured, an Anderson Hollow Drop Top, and a Hamer Studio made in the USA. I can't say that this guitar is better than the others I currently own, but it's light years ahead of the guitars I used to own. I love the way this guitar sounds, plays and looks.

I do not own one of these guitars but have played several and agree that the workmanship is top notch. Just an "FYI" the McCarty problem with the hardware turning green, is probably due to the fact that the McCarty PRSs come standard with nickle hardware, your Anderson probably has chrome. The two finishes age very differently. Tarnish, even green is to be expected with nickle hardware. (No I am not endorsing PRS, although I have owned and sold three of them.) Just wanted to share my experience. Enjoy your axe!

This is a brand new 2002 (dob-4/12/02A) made in the USA Hollow Cobra S (cobra in a strat body). It has 22 nicely crowned frets, standard cobra switching (5 way plus push/pull to combine the single coil split on both humbuckers), HO2 and HO1- passive pickups, maple top over mahogany body, mahog. body, rosewood board, spertzel locking tuners, fishman power bridge specially made for Anderson guitarworks, vibrato bar, matching headstock, buzz feiten tuning system, and lastly comes with case. As with all cobras, it has a shorter gibson scale making bends a lot easier. The maple top is tubular quilt (oval tubes), the color being deep ocean blue burst. Very, very nice top, it cost me a little extra. Absolutely no flaws. The vibrato lock needed to be tightened, my dealer, super cool Dan from Dan's Guitars in Hawaii, took care of it. Hard to rate a guitar in this category, but I'll give it a 10.

Wow-Tom Anderson describes the cobra as a wall of sound-what a perfect description. No subtlety with this guitar. Chords are rich and full. Leads are nice although I think I prefer the longer scaled strat (my Hollow Classic sounds like butter on the Maz 18). I use this with a Dr. Z Maz 18 jr. head and Z 2x12 cab. Not noisy at all even with use of a heavy overdrive pedal. I think the pickup combination I chose was great because I doubt if I would've liked it as much with hotter pickups. The bridge pickup is thick but not overly thick considering the shorter scale and the neck pickup is sweet. The balance between the two pickups is perfect imo. The only thing that's unusual about this guitar is the single coil split function. There's a pretty large loss of volume when splitting the hums. Sort of unusual because my Anderson Hollow T doesn't lose volume like this guitar with the hums split. That's alright with me though since I don't like the sound of split hums.

This is an Anderson, damnit! One thing you can always trust with Anderson guitars is consistency. Everything is meticulously done. When I changed pickups on the Hollow Classic, my dealer was saying the wiring was unbelievable. Tom Anderson's attention to details like that is what separates his stuff from others imo.

I can't really rate this because I don't gig (music is simply a hobby, albeit an expensive one) and I've only had it for a really short time. If there's one thing that's assuring, it's that my Hollow T was bought used (it's a 1993 model). The Hollow T was an almost perfect condition when I bought it 2 years ago and although there is slight oxidation (I live in Hawaii, so metals oxidize quicker with the humidity and salts in the air), the hardware is still pretty good. Everything else looks dead mint except the little ding I put on the headstock. In comparison, I've once had a PRS McCarty-never gigged before-the oxidation was making the hardware "green" in color after a short while. Pretty laughable when you consider how much McCarty's cost.

I was a little disappointed at first because this guitar was supposed to come in February so I had to wait two months. But there apparently was some kind of miscommunication between the dealer and the guitar company. But in any case, Roy was always very prompt and patient with my e-mails bugging him about when the guitar would be finished. I also know that this is a small operation as well. I also would rather wait for a beautiful, finished product that meets high standards, then settle for something that was done hurriedly and with mediocrity. Further example of their support-Today, I called them up to get the Fishman powerbridge replacement for my other two Andersons (Fishman makes special powerbridges to fit Anderson guitars). Whomever I spoke to was really cool and helpful. Lastly, my dealer is one of the coolest guys around-honest, helpful, and an excellent rep. for Anderson. I can't say enough about the customer support for T.A.

Besides this Anderson, I also have the above mentioned Hollow Classic and a Hollow T. I like the hollow chambers-it adds fullness to the overall sound. I've owned over the years-two Fender YJM strats, a PRS McCarty, two Rics (360-12, 360V64), a Gibson V, an Ibanez V, a no-name V, and two accoustic guitars. I can't think of any guitar that I've owned that compares to the Andersons in terms of sound and craftsmanship. Some people say the Anderson sound is sterile. I don't know about that. The non vintage pickups are very modern sounding but sterile is too strong of a word. The workmanship on this guitar is A+. As I've already stated, Anderson is all about consistency. Soundwise, this Hollow Cobra S sounds a lot different from my other two Andersons, so I'm glad I bought this guitar. Looks like a regular drop top might be next.