All user reviews for the Tom Anderson H1

I've been a fan of Tom Anderson pickups (not so much the guitars) for a long time now. They have a wide range out outputs and voicings for such a small company and the sheer variety is truly impressive. My favorite combo would have the be the H3+ and the H1-. It's fire and water to me. The h1- though is a very special pickup.

The first thing about Tom Anderson pickups than everyone talks about it the splitting ability, however, the H1- is not much of a splitter obviously because of how low output it really is. Think you've played some vintage pickups? This one is REALLY low output. It's so low that when you split it, it's almost like it's not even there. Very hollow and almost acoustic sounding. Honestly though, the clean sounds coming out of this pickup are so amazing, I don't see a need to split the thing. Really it's that good.

Anderson pickups are voiced entirely different than any other pickup brand I've played. And they are hard to describe in words. But I'll try. To start, they have a sort of hi-fi quality to the sound. I can only describe it by saying that the H series pickups tend to sound like they have already had the studio magic poured on. In other words they sound more "recorded" than most pickups. There's something going on in the compression that does this. Also, and this is particularly evident with the H1-, they sound a lot darker than most pickups. I don't mean bassy and I don't mean boomy. But they are indeed dark. Almost in such a way that they have an 80's gothic tonality that you hear in a lot of those guitar parts. Don't let that turn you off, it's just the honest truth about the tone. To be fair, I use the H1- in a les paul classic so that might also contribute to the dark overtones.

The bottom line is, this pickups has amazing cleans. And oddly enough, some really good lead sounds. It really won't do any king of high gain rhythm. It won't split well. But overall I love it.

Tom Anderson is a great small guitar maker from the west coast of the United States. He is one of the leading makers of custom guitars. He is mostly known for his boutique strat style guitars. When you are like him and make all your guitars from scratch you do not want to just throw in someone elses pickups to finish them off. Tom Anderson also has his own pickups custom wound to his specification to match up well with his guitars. The H1- is one of his more vintage sounding humbuckers. It has a little lower output than some of his other models but it is just as good and just as versatile. Like most of the Tom Anderson pickups it uses oversized magnets so you do not have to worry about spacing and comes with a 4 conductor wiring system like most every modern pickup. Since this pickup has a little lower output than normal it is better if used in the neck position. It can be used in the bridge position if you are just looking for vintage tones. Since the pickup has such large magnets and coils the split tones are really nice. The tone of the pickup is very paf like but more subtle The eq on this pickup is very neutral. This is to bring out the natural tones of the wood of the guitar its in. It will not overpower the natural tones of the guitar it will help bring them out. If the guitar is naturally dark the pickup will sound dark if the guitar is bright the pickup will sound bright. It is made to work well in just about any guitar. If you are looking for a nice pickup for classic rock or jazzy blues tones this pickup has all the vintage humbucking tones you are looking for.

Tom Anderson is a renowned guitar lutheir out in California, and he’s also a pickup manufacturer. The H1- was a pickup made for those looking for a more classic sounding pickup, especially when it comes to output. The H1- has extra tall coils, oversized pole pieces to work in any spacing guitar and four conductor wiring.

The Tom Anderson H1- is definitely a lower output pickup compared to some of his other pickups he offers. While it can potentially be used in the bridge position, I find it sounds best in the neck and paired with a hotter bridge pickup like the H2 or H2+. The coolest feature about this pickup is that it is built with super tall coils. That means the split coil tones on this sound absolutely glorious. They’re the most authentic sounding split coil tones out of any other pickup I’ve ever tried. On top of that, it’s super clear sounding.

The H1- seems to have a fairly linear sounding EQ curve. The bass is on the more vintage side, so while it’s fat, it’s also a touch loose. Super tight bass doesn’t work great in the neck, I’ve found. It makes lead lines a bit harsher sounding. The midrange on this is super sweet sounding. It’s not too much, and it’s not too little. It excels at getting that vowely oldschool PAF sound while having some really neat modern sounding overtones going on. The treble seems to be just perfect, too. It’s super clear, yet it’s never overly harsh sounding.

To me, I find this pickup to be a bit lacking in power compared to the H1 or the H1+. I’m more of a rock and metal guitarist, however. If you’re someone who plays stuff more geared towards the classic side of rock and jazz, this is probably the pickup you want to use. The best part about this would be the split coil tones as they sound so authentic that it’s almost scary.