Looking for a new main strat (Anderson Classic Alternatives?)

[gdhi11]

So, I'm like a few days away from placing an order with Anderson Guitar Works. This is how I arrived here:

I currently have a G&L S-500 in swamp ash, a Fender Partscaster with a Wenge neck, SS frets and Fishman Classic HSS pickups. I have a few other guitars, but those get all the work, and the 2 PRS guitars I bought are either up for sale or being sold. Back in September, I started looking around for a new guitar; something really high-end that would get me through most of my studio sessions and live dates.

How it started

So I started off playing custom shop fenders here in the local area, and honestly I was impressed by certain ones, but the quality was hugely inconsistent, and a spec that I desired was going to probably only be found online or with an insane multi-year wait attached. So custom shop was out. In October, I wound up spending most of the money I had to get a car, so although I was browsing I wasn't serious.

I went and played some custom order G&Ls (not custom shop) and while they were good guitars, I had played a Fender Ultra a while back that I thought was marginally better.

I have toyed on and off with getting an Anderson for several years and had obtained some quotes back in 2019, it was way too expensive to justify the cost, but now that everything is rapidly approaching the stratosphere (dad joke, sorry) I decided to get some new quotes.

Suhr

Anyhow, after sharing the numbers with some local friends, everyone was suggesting I need to go play some Suhrs. I have been pretty tepid on Suhr, mostly because I've played about 10 of them up to this point, and while they were decent guitars, IMO They felt about $1k overpriced to me. Seriously, my G&L was $1500 cheaper, and had a better build than every Suhr I had played up until that point save for 1--and that one was $3700. So, I went on Monday this week, drove to a Suhr dealer and played 4 guitars. I wound up buying a Suhr Classic S Vintage LE--which was a great guitar. In the commentary between me and the dealer there was talk about Suhr's SS frets and sort of vintage modern approach to guitars. Anyway it wasn't everything I had hoped to find in a guitar, but it was a damn good guitar.

Then I got home. I opened the spec sheet, saw it had nickel frets, shoved it back into the gig bag and returned it. At $3500, Suhr could have put Stainless on it and they would've retained a sale--I have no idea why the sales-person was confused, and I was so enamored with how the guitar resonated I overlooked the feel portion of the frets. I was heartbroken, full-well knowing that I was going to continue on this journey for a while longer. This isn't about Suhr, but I'm still pretty sore about the specs on Suhr guitars, as I've been looking for the past few days and I can't find one that checks 4 of the 5 boxes I'm looking for--so Suhr is basically out of the running.

Oh yeah, and you can't custom order Suhr and get it in the same calendar year--helluva long time to wait for a guitar with your $1k deposit blowing in the wind.

What I'm looking for

I want a pretty modern strat. Compound Radius, HSS, Stainless Jumbo Frets, Nitro, Baked Maple and Rosewood, and an Alder body. If I could get a guitar that ticks most of those checkboxes I'd be thrilled, but it seems like every single guitar I find has something that doesn't match the paradigm, but these are all the things I feel like a lot of people want.

So, TLDR;

Recommend me guitars that are relatively close to these specs and aren't an Ibanez AZ (as I've already returned one of those in the past.) or Kiesel Delos (won't buy Kiesel for personal reasons)

• Bolt-on solid color strat
• HSS
• Alder Body
• Baked Maple Neck with Rosewood Board and compound radius
• Stainless Jumbo Frets (Or larger)
• Nitro
• 2 Post tremolo
• Noiseless

If it's a private builder that's fine.

Anderson will build this for me, no sweat, but it's gonna cost me, and I'll have to wait at least 6 months. If This currently exists as some short-wait or production guitar, I'm ready and willing to entertain the answer.

 

[unix-guy]

Well, I have 2 Andersons (Angel Lil Shorty, HSS Hollow Drop Top) and a Suhr Modern Select HSH... And just picked up a very nice used Kiesel Delos (which I was going to suggest until I finished reading ) as it's a great guitar comparitively speaking.

NPGD

New Purple Guitar Day! My wife was stressing because she couldn't find anything for me as a Christmas present. She says, "don't you have any guitar you're looking at?" I said, "well, I've got about 20 on my watch list!" :) Anyway, she told me that I should choose one and go for it. No need to...

thegearforum.com

I also have a Charvel DK-24 USA Select HSS which is an excellent guitar but 24 frets. And a bunch of late 80s Ibanez guitars

The Andersons are great but not cheap. A solid color finish will keep the cost down.

So I guess I'm no help...

 

[gdhi11]

Well, I have 2 Andersons (Angel Lil Shorty, HSS Hollow Drop Top) and a Suhr Modern Select HSH... And just picked up a very nice used Kiesel Delos (which I was going to suggest until I finished reading ) as it's a great guitar comparitively speaking.

NPGD

New Purple Guitar Day! My wife was stressing because she couldn't find anything for me as a Christmas present. She says, "don't you have any guitar you're looking at?" I said, "well, I've got about 20 on my watch list!" :) Anyway, she told me that I should choose one and go for it. No need to...

thegearforum.com

I also have a Charvel DK-24 USA Select HSS which is an excellent guitar but 24 frets. And a bunch of late 80s Ibanez guitars

The Andersons are great but not cheap. A solid color finish will keep the cost down.

So I guess I'm no help...

yeah, I loved the Kiesel I had--great build quality for the money, but damnit if I didn't hear some stories and get tired of telling people I just like the guitars lol

 

[unix-guy]

yeah, I loved the Kiesel I had--great build quality for the money, but damnit if I didn't hear some stories and get tired of telling people I just like the guitars lol

I have heard stories, too... I bought mine used off of Reverb and took a chance. I'm very happy with it so far.

 

[gdhi11]

Well, I have 2 Andersons (Angel Lil Shorty, HSS Hollow Drop Top) and a Suhr Modern Select HSH... And just picked up a very nice used Kiesel Delos (which I was going to suggest until I finished reading ) as it's a great guitar comparitively speaking.

NPGD

New Purple Guitar Day! My wife was stressing because she couldn't find anything for me as a Christmas present. She says, "don't you have any guitar you're looking at?" I said, "well, I've got about 20 on my watch list!" :) Anyway, she told me that I should choose one and go for it. No need to...

thegearforum.com

I also have a Charvel DK-24 USA Select HSS which is an excellent guitar but 24 frets. And a bunch of late 80s Ibanez guitars

The Andersons are great but not cheap. A solid color finish will keep the cost down.

So I guess I'm no help...

If you don't mind my asking, do you think the Suhr you have is as good as the Anderson guitars in terms of build quality?

I've had a pretty rough experience with Suhr this far, but I'm just interested in what people really think.

 

[unix-guy]

If you don't mind my asking, do you think the Suhr you have is as good as the Anderson guitars in terms of build quality?

I've had a pretty rough experience with Suhr this far, but I'm just interested in what people really think.

Yes, I do think it is of the same caliber. The fit and finish is superb, the neck is excellent both the profile and the feel. Frets and fretboard are very nice.

 

[gdhi11]

was that a custom order or a stock model? I can honestly, say, some of the ones I have seen have visible neck gap and stuff, it's kind of messed up how wide their quality varies on like the classic models.

 

[unix-guy]

was that a custom order or a stock model? I can honestly, say, some of the ones I have seen have visible neck gap and stuff, it's kind of messed up how wide their quality varies on like the classic models.

I bought it from Eddie's guitars. It is a "Select" edition which I believe means it's part of a special run for a specific dealer.

 

[gdhi11]

I bought it from Eddie's guitars. It is a "Select" edition which I believe means it's part of a special run for a specific dealer.

Yeah, I reached out to Eddie's for a quote on an Anderson and they didn't get back to me yet.

There are a couple of really nice AZ's local to me on Reverb right now, BUT the allure of getting exactly what I want is really high. I probably should take the leap for an Anderson.

 

[unix-guy]

Yeah, I reached out to Eddie's for a quote on an Anderson and they didn't get back to me yet.

There are a couple of really nice AZ's local to me on Reverb right now, BUT the allure of getting exactly what I want is really high. I probably should take the leap for an Anderson.

My experience in trying to interact with them on my purchase through Reverb was not great... I asked them a few questions after purchase and never got a response.

For the cost of the instrument, you'd think it would at least warrant a reply.

I liked the 2 AZs I played when they were still pretty new but the necks were a little too thick for my preferences.

 

[Achilles]

Owned both Anderson and Suhr and there's no differentiating in regard to quality/fit/finish/etc. They both have their own feel to them though so I'd try both if possible. I also went on a pretty serious custom order Kiesel run. Here's 3 of the 5 I've had. For the cost and lead time they are an easy decision.

 

[Eagle]

Don’t worry about nitro as long as the finish is hard and thin.

 

[gdhi11]

Don’t worry about nitro as long as the finish is hard and thin.

unless you want it to wear like old nitro

 

[laxu]

yeah, I loved the Kiesel I had--great build quality for the money, but damnit if I didn't hear some stories and get tired of telling people I just like the guitars lol

I have a 2010 Carvin C66 and a 2015 Kiesel AM7. Both have minor cosmetic issues with side dot placement (since then fixed by better processes at Kiesel), but both guitars are really well built where it matters.

The AM7 in particular is one of my best playing guitars. You could have insanely low action if you wanted thanks to good fretwork and a 20" radius fretboard - which is not for everyone of course. Overall the guitar is extremely comfortable thanks to the beveled top and the slim slanted block heel.

Kiesel pickups are definitely divisive. I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Kiesel Lithiums in my AM7. They are extremely bright, with a cut in the low mids. But looking at it differently, those are also strengths because even high gain tones retain a lot of clarity, and the brightness means I can just use the tone knob on the guitar and it will have more usable range.

Their prices have gone up a lot since I bought mine though. I checked my invoice from 2015 and the same spec for the AM7 would cost $1000 more today. Accounting for inflation, the price is about $350 higher. So Kiesel is definitely not quite as competitively priced as it once was.

 

[Eagle]

unless you want it to wear like old nitro

New nitro doesn’t do that either.

 

[gdhi11]

New nitro doesn’t do that either.

depends on what kind of Nitro they are shooting. it absolutely can, but it's generally going to cost you a lot more money to have that kind of nitro sprayed.

To my knowledge that's what Fender Custom Shop uses. It's NOT what PRS or Production level Gibson uses. I can attest to PRS personally as my guitars had the typical ridiculous flakey PRS finish (despite being the new Nitro) that they refuse to take care of when there are issues. Only one of the guitars had the flaking though, and it's been sold a while ago with that disclosed.

Edit: Fwiw, I don't think Gibson custom shop is using a much different finish and this is part of the reason their relics often wind up looking hilarious. It's well documented their finish wears like older guitars pretty well--there was a miles-long thread on 'the other forum' a while back from a guy angry his aged guitar was starting to show new wear

 

[gdhi11]

I have a 2010 Carvin C66 and a 2015 Kiesel AM7. Both have minor cosmetic issues with side dot placement (since then fixed by better processes at Kiesel), but both guitars are really well built where it matters.

The AM7 in particular is one of my best playing guitars. You could have insanely low action if you wanted thanks to good fretwork and a 20" radius fretboard - which is not for everyone of course. Overall the guitar is extremely comfortable thanks to the beveled top and the slim slanted block heel.

Kiesel pickups are definitely divisive. I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Kiesel Lithiums in my AM7. They are extremely bright, with a cut in the low mids. But looking at it differently, those are also strengths because even high gain tones retain a lot of clarity, and the brightness means I can just use the tone knob on the guitar and it will have more usable range.

Their prices have gone up a lot since I bought mine though. I checked my invoice from 2015 and the same spec for the AM7 would cost $1000 more today. Accounting for inflation, the price is about $350 higher. So Kiesel is definitely not quite as competitively priced as it once was.

Pricing is one thing. I was being seen in a particular light locally for having owned one, and it bothered me. Also I have other personal issues with the current show-runner at Kiesel, Jeff, that I won't disclose here for personal reasons.

I really liked the lithiums I had because they were super bright, like single coil levels of brightness almost, but they didn't fit the genres of music I'm involved in most for gigging/recording--rock/jazz/blues and the occasionally fusion-y sort of thing.


Their prices are getting to the point where when you compare them to some of the smaller builders and what they charge, you really aren't saving much by going with Kiesel.

 

[laxu]

Pricing is one thing. I was being seen in a particular light locally for having owned one, and it bothered me. Also I have other personal issues with the current show-runner at Kiesel, Jeff, that I won't disclose here for personal reasons.

No need to mince words, I think Jeff Kiesel has come off as a dick several times on social media. All these happened after I bought my Kiesel and it certainly would have made me reconsider. As a counterpoint, their sales rep Chris Hong was very professional and courteus.

I really liked the lithiums I had because they were super bright, like single coil levels of brightness almost, but they didn't fit the genres of music I'm involved in most for gigging/recording--rock/jazz/blues and the occasionally fusion-y sort of thing.

Yeah I think they are at their best at the extremes - funk style cleans and metal. I do use my AM7 for a little bit of everything and it works well, but can totally understand your point of view.

Their prices are getting to the point where when you compare them to some of the smaller builders and what they charge, you really aren't saving much by going with Kiesel.

Yup. Kiesel does offer a lot of customization and the builder software they now have is just plain fun to play with even if you don't want to order anything. I had to Photoshop mine for reference and to figure out how I wanted it. They didn't have as many finish options then so I went with "swimming pool" aqua burst.

 

[Achilles]

I think Jeff Kiesel has come off as a dick several times on social media.

You're being too polite.

He's come across as a complete and total ass-wipe. But he does have a good team working for him and they shouldn't suffer cause of his terrible PR so I'd buy again. Plus, they're good guitars!

 

[gdhi11]

You're being too polite.

He's come across as a complete and total ass-wipe. But he does have a good team working for him and they shouldn't suffer cause of his terrible PR so I'd buy again. Plus, they're good guitars!

I'm actually friends with some people that worked at Kiesel. A lot of that good team is gone. some were there back in the Carvin days.