Tom Anderson Guitarworks Atom

I've already talked about this... why is the Features section last? HC needs to fix this.

Once again, go to TAG's website I pasted above. Best place to get info on this guitar as well as guitars in general.

Go find one at your nearest TAG dealership... you'll be blown away as long as you're not looking for a flashy guitar (like the reissue Charvel EVH striped clown from the 80's metal heyday).

I was finishing my day in Chicago and instead fighting the choking interstate traffic, navigated my way to Make'n'Music on Hubbard St.

Walked in and did the usual walk around first before reaching for any guitars. Came across the Anderson section and I saw this very simple guitar with a somewhat familiar Les Paul profile.

I'll talk about the guitar later since I'm supposed to talk about it's TONE here so here goes...

Since I had all the tops amps at disposal, I first plugged into a Top Hat that has a Bright & Fat switch. With the Fat engaged, the Atom was putting out some corpulent tones that could be too podgy for some. Sounded very good with the Bright switch.

With Dr. Z (13/38), 18w Marshall, Fargens, the Atom performed extremely well since the guitar really comes alive due the well-though design.

However, where I had the most fun was when I plugged into a 4-channel Diezel. Holy shit... the versatility and musicality of the tones became very apparent.

Don't get me wrong, the Atom sounded better than most guitars I've tried with the previous amps. But with the dual humbucker, 5-way switch and push-pull tone pot, the simplicity in the design was amazing. I've played alot of guitars that try to simulate the Strat sound but this was sounding very close. Of course, bigger than any Strat could sound but very musical.

Honestly speaking, I write better reviews but I was so overwhelmed with the capability of the Atom, I was almost speechless. All channels of the Diezel was met by the Atom's amazing ability to cover practically any styles with uncomprimising tones.

Nothing but bad ass tones.

From the front, it's very unpretentious... simple, basic and unassuming. As I've grown as a musician and artist, I'm drawn by the beauty of simplicity. The reason this guitar got my initial attention was exactly that... nothing more or nothing less than what a solid player should need.

But when you flip this around the back, this is where the Atom reveals its secret... that it's not another guitar from Leo's or Les' dream from over 50 years ago.

Although there are many great guitars out there, this is the first guitar I've come across where it really delivers what all serious guitar players are looking for.

The neck pocket is simple but why this wasn't used decades ago is the real mystery. Although it's a bolt-on, it will not move.... and it's only held by 2 SCREWS!!

The wrap-around bridge blows away the PRS version.

The neck is amazing with a beautiful satin finish. I wish Tom would do his guitar body with the same satin finish.

The design really shows some serious thought and even philosophy on what a guitar should be.

The best way to understand this is to go try it yourself or check out the website info.

http://www.andersonguitars.com/productinfo.html

http://www.andersonguitars.com/cfPages/guitarGalleryMenu-Selected.cfm

I was surprised to see that the Atom used the stainless steel frets. There's alot of pros & cons to these over the standard nickel-steel.
You can Google for information on this fairly easily. The simple summary is the nickel sounds better (more refrets & easier to do) and stainless wears less (but doesn't sound as good and hard to refret or crown).

The guitar would be awesome for live playing... volume, tone and 5-way Strat switch. Couldn't be better.

All hardware is very topnotch... once again, great design.

As mentioned, I don't like that polyurethane body finish. When I get one of these, I'm going to ask Tom to go with the satin finish on the Primavera wood.

Could easily gig with it alone without a backup.

First of all, the website is extremely informative and entertaining.

Didn't ask about the warranty but between TAG and MakenMusic, I don't think they'll leave you stranded.

I've talked to the staff at TAG and they're very helpful and willing to share alot of info.

OK, I'm going on a limb here but this is one the best guitars out there.

I've played many guitars for several decades ranging from the obscenely expensive to the recent high-value Korean guitars. I think that as long as the design and production execution are done properly, it doesn't matter what name if on the headstock. Hell, Gibson has made plenty of crap in its days.

Having said that, this guitar is expensive but it is so well design and built extremely well. I'd give a 11 for the guitar but I'd give it a 9 considering its price.

So overall, this guitar is an EASY 10.