Compared with our LP’s bridge pickup, this humbucker is tighter but surprisingly similar, tonally. From funk to twang to bark, the five-way delivers on all counts.
It’s a little brighter than our deliberately dark-toned Strat but in a most pleasing and transparent way. With Custom Shop Fender Strat and Gibson Les Paul as comparators, sonically the Guardian Angel sits right in the vintage ballpark. In fact, so accessible is it that on several occasions we found ourselves going where these fingers rarely venture. After a light tweak to the truss rod, the action fell in lovely and low, making for a no-nonsense experience even at the highest reaches. The medium jumbo frets and even taper neck with its beautifully dressed rosewood ’board almost dare the fingers to explore. Feel and SoundsĬoming in at bang on 7lbs (3.175kg), the Guardian Angel is a breeze to sling around the neck and its remodelled styling sits everything in the expected place: no overly protruding or too-far-in neck - the 12th fret is just where you expect it to be. Fit and finish are, as you would expect at over three-and-a-half grand, flawless. Hardware includes Anderson’s own design two-point ‘vintage’ vibrato, locking tuners and, of course, twin strap buttons at the base to keep the guitar stable when lent against an amp.
#Tom anderson guitars angel mods#
Those two simple mods offer almost all imaginable tone choices without the need for a degree in nuclear physics.
#Tom anderson guitars angel full#
It’s a three-way mini that: in the down position boosts all pickups in the middle gives full boosted humbucker only and flipped up splits it. The VA Boost’s 4dB extra lift may not sound like much, but it’s just enough to crank the guitar’s output to the next level. It’s a simple way to get both outside pickups on, or to kick in all three at once.
The Add Bridge pull-switch does exactly what it says: lifting the tone knob brings in the bridge humbucker when the main five-way is set to the neck, or neck and middle positions. Our Guardian Angel comes with the Add Bridge/Splitter and VA Boost options. The idea is to offer a host of extra tones with minimum complication. Something for which Anderson has long been famous is his electronics and switching. Needless to say, these medium jumbo frets are fitted and dressed impeccably. Although he says that in most listening tests there’s usually no discernible difference, when a bat-eared individual does notice something, it’s usually a tad more robustness. Tom and his team have even researched the best possible fret material for tone and durability, and concluded that stainless steel takes the top spot. The body is gloss, while the maple neck comes in Anderson’s satin caramel finish and looks stunning. Anderson holds no truck with nitro, instead opting for a UV cure, ultra-thin finish that he reckons is just as breathable as cellulose but immensely more planet-friendly. We talk of the ‘breathability’ of nitrocellulose in reality, synthetic base coats are often applied to stop sinking and to create a flat platform on which to spray it. While on environmental issues, the finish also merits a mention. The ‘drop top’, itself an Anderson innovation, means the flamed maple cap is bent over the contoured body base (in this case, lightweight swamp ash) and not a flat lump with the contour carved off it, which in these days of ecological awareness is less wasteful of the more exotic timber. But you’d be staggered at how much extra is going on here. When you look at an Anderson you probably think it’s a cool modern take on the classic Californian three-pickup double-cut. With this in mind, Anderson rebalanced the body dimensions in order to make the pickups sit in the perfect position to extract the best possible sounds, and deepened the cutaways to effect total access. But you can’t simply tack on two frets to turn a 22-fret guitar into a 24 because the instrument’s entire geometry is thrown out of kilter, so every component must be optimised so as not to lose the essence. Over 30 years on and he’s still making some of the world’s most stunning instruments - the Guardian Angel is one of his latest creations.įreshly developed from the ground up, it’s a purpose-built 24-fretter - essentially a Drop Top Classic with a full two-octave complement. Initially building necks, bodies and pickups, he ultimately realised that creating entire guitars was more rewarding. After seven years with Schecter, and encouraged by his mentor, Tom went his own way. Schecter went on to create fine guitars alongside a fresh young lad named Tom Anderson. From hardware to woodwork, his top-class wares opened our eyes to the fact that we could customise and ‘improve’ our stock instruments.
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