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Hatsubai « The original superstrat »
Published on 03/19/11 at 06:19Tom Anderson is a small builder in California that builds some of the highest quality guitars on the market. He offers various models with various options to cater towards his customers. My particular model featured an alder body, maple flamed top, maple neck and maple fretboard. It came equipped with two humbuckers -- H3 and H1. The switching system was the 5 way blade with the push/pull tone knob that allows you to split the inner coils.
UTILIZATION
The Anderson quality really showed with this guitar. The stainless steel frets were absolutely perfect, the finish was spot on, the neck felt wonderful and everything was put together flawlessly. Mine had the new 2 bolt joint which allowed for an extremely tight joining of the neck to the body; there's no room for movement at all. Anyone who thinks that it's not a stable joint is a moron, period. You can tell Tom spent tons of time engineering this guitar to be as perfect as possible.
SOUNDS
Despite this only having two humbuckers, it was crazy versatile. The H3 is a higher output pickup that can do anything from blues to metal. The H1 delivered some of the sweetest neck tones I've ever heard, although I might have liked a tad more output. The switching system allowed you to split each humbucker or have the inner coils selected for that John Petrucci style setup. One unique thing about Anderson pickups is that they sound fairly authentic when split. They don't sound exactly like a single coil, but they're about as close as you can possibly get from a humbucker. The biggest problem with mine was that it sounded a bit too bright for me. I really think it was because of the alder body. I'd really like to try out a mahogany bodied Anderson.
OVERALL OPINION
Anybody wanting to experience the guitars Tom Anderson builds should definitely check this guitar out. These are the original superstrats from the 80s that almost every session guitarist had back in the day. His custom pickups, attention to detail, flawless fretwork and wonderful customer service make buying an Anderson guitar a decision you'll never regret.
UTILIZATION
The Anderson quality really showed with this guitar. The stainless steel frets were absolutely perfect, the finish was spot on, the neck felt wonderful and everything was put together flawlessly. Mine had the new 2 bolt joint which allowed for an extremely tight joining of the neck to the body; there's no room for movement at all. Anyone who thinks that it's not a stable joint is a moron, period. You can tell Tom spent tons of time engineering this guitar to be as perfect as possible.
SOUNDS
Despite this only having two humbuckers, it was crazy versatile. The H3 is a higher output pickup that can do anything from blues to metal. The H1 delivered some of the sweetest neck tones I've ever heard, although I might have liked a tad more output. The switching system allowed you to split each humbucker or have the inner coils selected for that John Petrucci style setup. One unique thing about Anderson pickups is that they sound fairly authentic when split. They don't sound exactly like a single coil, but they're about as close as you can possibly get from a humbucker. The biggest problem with mine was that it sounded a bit too bright for me. I really think it was because of the alder body. I'd really like to try out a mahogany bodied Anderson.
OVERALL OPINION
Anybody wanting to experience the guitars Tom Anderson builds should definitely check this guitar out. These are the original superstrats from the 80s that almost every session guitarist had back in the day. His custom pickups, attention to detail, flawless fretwork and wonderful customer service make buying an Anderson guitar a decision you'll never regret.