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TL;DR summary: I placed an order for another Tom Anderson guitar. Expect a cool NGD thread when it arrives later in the year.
The long version for those who care to read a novela on my thought process for the build:
Last year I searched the new and used market for weeks looking for what would be my next guitar. I compiled a list of over twenty guitars that fit the budget and were of interest, but every one of these guitars had a feature or two that were not really what I wanted (neck too thick, frets too small, too heavy, not a color I liked very much and so on). I concluded that the compromises were too significant to justify the purchase of any of them. I reached out to the dealer who had helped spec my favorite guitar, a 2022 custom Tom Anderson Angel. I wasn't looking to spend as much as I had on the first Anderson build and I wasn't sure if going the custom route would be within reach. We were able to spec a guitar that was within a few hundred dollars of my budget that still hit all of my primary desired features. I did a bit more searching of the new and used market with the price point of the custom build in mind and was still unable to find a guitar that I was as excited about as the custom spec, so I placed the order.
I received that guitar last August and have been enjoying it immensely. Within hours of receipt I was already contemplating what specifications I would do for the next Anderson guitar and was trying to figure out how I could make that happen ASAP. My 2022 Anderson is my favorite guitar. The new one was equally inspiring and in some ways better (mostly that I prefer the slimmer neck profile and lighter weight). The fact that two back to back custom orders could both be this good caused me to consider selling all of my other guitars to fund more Andersons. Once I though about it in depth I realized that I'd probably loose a lot of value by doing that and also reminded myself that selling stuff sucks because you have to deal with buyers. I resigned myself to the idea that I should be reasonable and save up for another custom build instead.
The time has arrived and I have placed my order for another custom Tom Anderson. Here are the specifications I chose:
My goal is for this to be my ultimate HSS Strat style guitar. Unlike my other two HSS guitars, I wanted this one to have 24 frets, so that meant picking one of the Angel models. I didn't want to pay for a figured top. I am picky about how the figuring looks and its a roll of the dice unless you opt to pay even more for the personalized top wood selection. That narrowed it down to either the Angel Player for the Guardian Angel Player models. They only offer the silent single coil system on models with a pick guard, so the decision to get their true single coil pickups with the V-quiet system dictated that I needed to choose the model with the scratch plate.
I spent a lot of time deliberating about what finish to go with. Anderson has an large list of finish options and it was hard to choose. I was leaning towards their Big Sparkle Teal finish until I saw this picture on Anderson's IG:
I immediately knew that is what I wanted. A few weeks later they posted photos of another guitar with that finish.
100% sold. That finish is stunning!
Since I'm going for Strat-like tones, it had to be the typical Fender scale length. Alder body / maple neck / rosewood fingerboard is a traditional Strat wood recipe and is the same combination on my two other Anderson guitars. I like the look of roasted maple necks and it was a small upcharge. I selected the same neck profile as is on my 2024 build; even-taper -0.020 with the wider nut option and Jumbo frets. That neck carve is very comfortable and I anticipate sticking with that profile for any future builds. I'm a bit surprised they don't offer any slimmer options because the even taper -0.020 isn't what I consider particularly thin at 0.79-0.85 inches. It feels a lot like the Suhr even C slim neck carve.
Chrome hardware looks good, ages better than black or gold, and they charge more for the other options. Locking tuners are a no-briner IMO and I much prefer the symmetry of a guitar with only one rear strap button, so these were all easy choices. The two strap button thing is supposed to be so you have a more stable base when leaning the guitar up against something. Who are these people who lean their Anderson guitars up against a table or amp instead of using a proper guitar stand? I guess it must be the same crowd who like the relic look on their guitars.
I went back and forth about whether to choose the non-fine tuner Floyd Rose or the standard 2-point tremolo bridge. I have one of each on my other two Anderson guitars. It is a standard option to get a recess routed vintage tremolo bridge on their 7 string model so I emailed Anderson asking if they could do the same for my 6 string build. They told me that they are thinking about offering that as an option in the future, but that they wouldn't be able to do that for me right now. I suspect that they'd want to do a test run first and they'd have to write a new CNC program. I decided that I really wanted full floating operation for this guitar and I wasn't in love with the idea of having to angle the bride plate off of the body to make that happen, so I chose the non-fine tuner Floyd Rose. My favorite guitar has that same bridge so I know it will be great both operationally and tonally, but I do think that the vintage trem looks better and feels better under the palm.
Since I was after a more traditional stratocaster type of sound, I chose the VA7 single coil pickups rather than the SC1 single coil sized and voiced staked humbucking pickups. The SSCII in my Suhr guitars works really well so I opted for the Anderson equivalent (V-quiet system). The HC2+ bridge pickup I chose is their medium-hot vintage voiced humbucker. I have been liking the HC3 on my 2024 build, but wanted something a little lower output for this guitar. Anderson CS advised me that the HC2 would balance better with the VA7 single coils, but that the split sound would be a little weak. They said that the HC2+ has a more robust split sound than the HC2 and I like the idea of a medium hot bridge pickup paired with vintage spec single coils. That should be a versatile set.
The black scratch guard, pickup covers, and switch tip will go nicely with the finish I chose. I might change that up down the line if I think the overall aesthetic is too dark. Black is a safe choice but I do wonder how a faux tortoise guard would look with this finish. I chose the raw nickel cover for the humbucker rather than the shiny nickel because I've found that the shiny covers on my 2024 build make every smudge and fingerprint stand out. Hopefully the satin polished cover will alleviate that.
All of my guitars are setup with 10-46 strings so I stayed consistent with that choice.
I decided to get the gig bag rather than the hard shell case on this go around. They recently switched from a generic gig bag offering to an Anderson designed bag that my dealer said is very nice (he didn't like their generic bag). The hard case from my 2022 build should fit this guitar perfectly as well, so I have that covered if I want a hard case for this guitar on a particular occasion.
Not shown on the build sheet; I requested a light weight build (I like my guitars to be under eight pounds) and I also asked for no plastic tip on the tremolo arm because I don't care for the look. I have purchased replacement tremolo arms with no tip for both of my other Andersons and they look much better without it.
So there you have it; my detailed reasoning for why I chose each option on my upcoming Anderson build. It is slated to be completed in May 2025, but my dealer told me that they are currently running four weeks behind schedule, so I expect that it will more likely be completed in June and likely delivered to me in early July.
The long version for those who care to read a novela on my thought process for the build:
Last year I searched the new and used market for weeks looking for what would be my next guitar. I compiled a list of over twenty guitars that fit the budget and were of interest, but every one of these guitars had a feature or two that were not really what I wanted (neck too thick, frets too small, too heavy, not a color I liked very much and so on). I concluded that the compromises were too significant to justify the purchase of any of them. I reached out to the dealer who had helped spec my favorite guitar, a 2022 custom Tom Anderson Angel. I wasn't looking to spend as much as I had on the first Anderson build and I wasn't sure if going the custom route would be within reach. We were able to spec a guitar that was within a few hundred dollars of my budget that still hit all of my primary desired features. I did a bit more searching of the new and used market with the price point of the custom build in mind and was still unable to find a guitar that I was as excited about as the custom spec, so I placed the order.
I received that guitar last August and have been enjoying it immensely. Within hours of receipt I was already contemplating what specifications I would do for the next Anderson guitar and was trying to figure out how I could make that happen ASAP. My 2022 Anderson is my favorite guitar. The new one was equally inspiring and in some ways better (mostly that I prefer the slimmer neck profile and lighter weight). The fact that two back to back custom orders could both be this good caused me to consider selling all of my other guitars to fund more Andersons. Once I though about it in depth I realized that I'd probably loose a lot of value by doing that and also reminded myself that selling stuff sucks because you have to deal with buyers. I resigned myself to the idea that I should be reasonable and save up for another custom build instead.
The time has arrived and I have placed my order for another custom Tom Anderson. Here are the specifications I chose:
My goal is for this to be my ultimate HSS Strat style guitar. Unlike my other two HSS guitars, I wanted this one to have 24 frets, so that meant picking one of the Angel models. I didn't want to pay for a figured top. I am picky about how the figuring looks and its a roll of the dice unless you opt to pay even more for the personalized top wood selection. That narrowed it down to either the Angel Player for the Guardian Angel Player models. They only offer the silent single coil system on models with a pick guard, so the decision to get their true single coil pickups with the V-quiet system dictated that I needed to choose the model with the scratch plate.
I spent a lot of time deliberating about what finish to go with. Anderson has an large list of finish options and it was hard to choose. I was leaning towards their Big Sparkle Teal finish until I saw this picture on Anderson's IG:
I immediately knew that is what I wanted. A few weeks later they posted photos of another guitar with that finish.
100% sold. That finish is stunning!
Since I'm going for Strat-like tones, it had to be the typical Fender scale length. Alder body / maple neck / rosewood fingerboard is a traditional Strat wood recipe and is the same combination on my two other Anderson guitars. I like the look of roasted maple necks and it was a small upcharge. I selected the same neck profile as is on my 2024 build; even-taper -0.020 with the wider nut option and Jumbo frets. That neck carve is very comfortable and I anticipate sticking with that profile for any future builds. I'm a bit surprised they don't offer any slimmer options because the even taper -0.020 isn't what I consider particularly thin at 0.79-0.85 inches. It feels a lot like the Suhr even C slim neck carve.
Chrome hardware looks good, ages better than black or gold, and they charge more for the other options. Locking tuners are a no-briner IMO and I much prefer the symmetry of a guitar with only one rear strap button, so these were all easy choices. The two strap button thing is supposed to be so you have a more stable base when leaning the guitar up against something. Who are these people who lean their Anderson guitars up against a table or amp instead of using a proper guitar stand? I guess it must be the same crowd who like the relic look on their guitars.
I went back and forth about whether to choose the non-fine tuner Floyd Rose or the standard 2-point tremolo bridge. I have one of each on my other two Anderson guitars. It is a standard option to get a recess routed vintage tremolo bridge on their 7 string model so I emailed Anderson asking if they could do the same for my 6 string build. They told me that they are thinking about offering that as an option in the future, but that they wouldn't be able to do that for me right now. I suspect that they'd want to do a test run first and they'd have to write a new CNC program. I decided that I really wanted full floating operation for this guitar and I wasn't in love with the idea of having to angle the bride plate off of the body to make that happen, so I chose the non-fine tuner Floyd Rose. My favorite guitar has that same bridge so I know it will be great both operationally and tonally, but I do think that the vintage trem looks better and feels better under the palm.
Since I was after a more traditional stratocaster type of sound, I chose the VA7 single coil pickups rather than the SC1 single coil sized and voiced staked humbucking pickups. The SSCII in my Suhr guitars works really well so I opted for the Anderson equivalent (V-quiet system). The HC2+ bridge pickup I chose is their medium-hot vintage voiced humbucker. I have been liking the HC3 on my 2024 build, but wanted something a little lower output for this guitar. Anderson CS advised me that the HC2 would balance better with the VA7 single coils, but that the split sound would be a little weak. They said that the HC2+ has a more robust split sound than the HC2 and I like the idea of a medium hot bridge pickup paired with vintage spec single coils. That should be a versatile set.
The black scratch guard, pickup covers, and switch tip will go nicely with the finish I chose. I might change that up down the line if I think the overall aesthetic is too dark. Black is a safe choice but I do wonder how a faux tortoise guard would look with this finish. I chose the raw nickel cover for the humbucker rather than the shiny nickel because I've found that the shiny covers on my 2024 build make every smudge and fingerprint stand out. Hopefully the satin polished cover will alleviate that.
All of my guitars are setup with 10-46 strings so I stayed consistent with that choice.
I decided to get the gig bag rather than the hard shell case on this go around. They recently switched from a generic gig bag offering to an Anderson designed bag that my dealer said is very nice (he didn't like their generic bag). The hard case from my 2022 build should fit this guitar perfectly as well, so I have that covered if I want a hard case for this guitar on a particular occasion.
Not shown on the build sheet; I requested a light weight build (I like my guitars to be under eight pounds) and I also asked for no plastic tip on the tremolo arm because I don't care for the look. I have purchased replacement tremolo arms with no tip for both of my other Andersons and they look much better without it.
So there you have it; my detailed reasoning for why I chose each option on my upcoming Anderson build. It is slated to be completed in May 2025, but my dealer told me that they are currently running four weeks behind schedule, so I expect that it will more likely be completed in June and likely delivered to me in early July.
.
