Fender FC-20 Classic

I bought a Tom Anderson Classic in June of 2001 . This was purchased at Pontiac Music and Sound in Keego Harbor, Michigan. I paid just over $2000 for it. I bought this guitar because I heard good things about them plus I was familiar with them.

This guitar is very special to me because it's my first custom made instrument. The things I like about it are the top-rate workmanship, the tone, wieght (it's light as a feather),the feel, the versatility, and the playability. To me, this is what a strat-style guitar should be. The resonance on my guitar is unreal, almost as if it were 35 years old. The swamp ash body is primo with great figure. The VA pickups give all the the strat goodies but with an extended top and bottom end. Tom Andersons all play like butter and mine is no exception. I've used this guitar both live and in the studio and it really sits well in the mix. It seems to cut through better than my Fenders but is warmer sounding as well. It's like a Strat with magic dust sprinkled over it. The clean sound is awesome and the distorted sounds are eqally impressive. In my opinion, this is the best all-around strat-style axe I've ever played in my life.

There is nothing I don't like about this axe at all.

This guitar has a swamp ash body with a one-piece maple neck and fingerboard. For the pickups, there are three Anderson VAs. In the neck, a VA1,aVA1 R in the middle, and a VA2 in the bridge position. It also sports a vintage Anderson tremolo bridge and has the Buzz Feiten tuning system. The neck has the '62 round back profile with 22 frets and locking tuners. It's body is finished in translucent blue. This guitar has a push-pull knob that adds the bridge pickup to the neck/neck-middle positions for a total of 7 pickup combinations.

My final thoughts on this guitar,are that this represents the very best in the bolt-on neck market. You get top-rate construction, great tone, phenominal playability, and good versatility in this package. I have to admit, this is a very expensive instrument, but then anything this good costs a pretty penny. You can pay alot less but you would'nt do as well. I highly recomend this guitar to any serious musician who wants the best and does'nt mind paying for it. Worth every penny.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Parker Music in Houston, TX
Paid $300

All tube amplifier with spring reverb with relatively low power and 12" speaker

No standby switch and no protective cover or retainers on tubes.

Overall very good with teh exception of no protective cover or retainers on tubes.

The botom line is that this amp is an excellent value for an all tube combo. All my previous amps were solid state and I was looking for something that could give more tonal control through the use of dynamics. This thing does it. It also as plenty of power for practice and small gigs. I compared this to an slew of amps in the range of about $200 to $1000 and this thig was the best deal going. I have owned other Peavey products and found their reliability to be very good. I relly wish this thing had a standby switch though.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com