Anderson Pro Am

1988 Pro Am Custom: Basswood body, Maple neck with Pao Ferro fingerboard, heavy frets, black hardware (original Floyd Rose, split-shaft tuners), SA1R/SA1/H2+ pickups with Switcheroo system, black on blue bowling ball finish with matching headstock.

I don't really buy into the 'vintage' mindset any more. I discovered that I like the versatility of the Floyd Rose bridge and HSS (or HSH) pickup combination. For me this guitar has all the features I need.

I run through a George L's cable into a Roland BC30 Blues Cube 2x10 combo. I don't use effects. The guitar excels in both clean and overdrive modes - it's nigh impossible to get a bad sound out of it. Even with my basic setup, the Switcheroo system allows me to get enough sonic variety to not want or need to use effects to cover up the beautiful sound of this guitar.

A quick explanation of the Switcheroo - each pickup is wired to a 3-way toggle switch, and there is also a 2-way 'Blower' switch. All pickups are humbucking double coils (HSS configuration). When a 3-way switch is down, the pickup is in series mode. In the middle, it's off. In the up position, the pickup is in parallel or split mode, depending on how you set it (there are microswitches in the control cavity that allow this). When the Blower switch is up, it reverts to the pickup combination you have selected. When it's down, it activates the bridge pickup in series mode.

Suffice to say, I think any style of music could be played on this guitar, with the exception of that neck humbucker/jazz tone, which other Andersons (such as the Cobra) can probably do well.

Overall, it sounds wonderful to me.

As far as I can tell, Anderson Guitarworks are at the top of the class in terms of build quality and finish. I've seen three other Andersons close up and they were all exceptionally well made, and very consistent - tight neck pockets, beautiful finishes, impeccable fretwork and neck profiles, and they played like butter straight off the rack.

I bought mine used, and it could do with a minor setup and tweak. But that being said, it still plays better than anything else I've owned. For the record I've owned new and old Fender (including Custom Shop), new and old Gibson, Ibanez etc. Never again. IMHO nothing compares to the Anderson.

I bought my guitar used, and apart from obvious things like minor wear/rusting of pickup screws and bridge parts, it seems to be very durable. The previous owners must have gigged a lot because the finish has a few nicks and scars. I'm just a home player so I'm going to take care of it the best I can. I've never heard bad things about Anderson Guitars in terms of reliability or build quality, so I don't expect any problems with mine. Even a casual glance over the instrument verifies how well designed and made it is.

I sent them some emails, and on the 4th attempt I got a reply, so I don't know if they were busy or if my email was playing up. I'm not a rock star so I don't expect special treatment anyway.

I had a very positive experience dealing with the Mesa/Boogie Hollywood store (again via email) when I enquired about pickup prices and shipping.

I've been playing for over 16 years. Done gigs and studio, now just a home player for enjoyment.

I really like this guitar. It suits the way I play and the way I like to sound. It has all the features I need; in particular I like the Switcheroo system, the pickups sound wonderful, the Floyd Rose stays in tune, the instrument is light and comfortable, and it produces many great sounds. The whole guitar has this 'synergy' (for lack of a better word) to it that I really enjoy, and that I rarely feel with other guitars. And it's very unique - I'm unlikely to run into many players in this neck of the woods using an Anderson, so I feel more special than I actually am.

It does create a 'problem' though - when one discovers how amazing these Andersons (and their contemporaries - Grosh, Suhr, PRS, McInturff, old Valley Arts etc) are, it's hard to get excited about run-of-the-mill guitars. To be more precise, one realises how over-priced and over-hyped those shitheap Fender and Gibson guitars are.

So if I ever want an additional guitar (which I will), there's a very good chance it will be an Anderson. And I'm going to be broke. But I'll also be very happy.

My Tom Anderson is a 1988 model I bought used.It has 22 jumbo frets, rosewood board, and HSS pickup configuration. It has a volume and a tone control and the Switcheroo selector switches. The body looks to be basswood, though it could be alder.It has a goofy(DUDE!!pass the bong,man!)heavy metal '80's paint job on it.It has(killer)Tom Anderson pickups in it. It came with a Floyd Rose wank bar with pull-up routing (ICK!). The neck is similar to my '65 strat neck.USA! USA! USA! No re-labled Samick shit here!

The guitar is very versitile tonally, despite it's heavy metal image. I have been using it through many different amps-Boogie,Fatboy,Bogner, Fender,Peavey,etc...This guitar has a full, rich tone to it in all settings. It doesn't really have a bad sound in it. It can go from Van Halen 1 to SRV with the switcheroo setup. While the switcheroo is very flexable, it can be a pain in the ass to use, especially live. I hate floating tremelo systems, so I blocked it so it only goes down. The lead pickup is one of the chunkiest I've ever used, no thin '80's shred tone here.The single coils are fully non hum cancelling so you can pick up any stray 60 cycle hum. The true Strat sound! I'm willing to put up with the hum, because I won't sacrifice the tone for hum cancelling single coil pickups(lack of bass or muddy tone). The middle pickup is reverse wound for hum cancelling in the in-between settings. Out of the 25 guitars I own, this is my favorite player guitar.

Super quality everywhere. The only bad thing is the Floyd Rose studs are shifting forward a bit, not bad enough to fix yet, but eventually I will have to fix them. Great attention to detail, better than just about everybody(Hello Gibson!,WAKE UP!!,there's no excuse for building crap nowdays.)

The previous owner used this guitar constantly and it held up fine. It has some road wear, but that is to be expected. I could gig with this guitar without a backup, but I personally wouldn't, because you never know what could happen at a gig(theft,drunken idiots,bar fights,tipped off stand and broke, etc...)

I've actually talked to Tom Anderson and he seems nice and real helpful. I bought it used-no warranty. I fix guitars part time, so I fix everything myself.

I've been playing for 16 years and I've owned over 150 guitars in the past. I've tried or owned just about everything out there. Overall, this is a great guitar. I've mentioned the stuff I don't care for above, so I won't repeat myself. If I were to buy a new one, I would have it built the way I want it. Since I bought it used, I didn't have that luxury, but I saved a ton of dough. Since these guitars are real expensive, try as many out in the different configurations before you buy, because there are so many options with these.