Trade Guitar Day

[darwinohm]

I received a call from my GC salesman early this week about a Tom Anderson Drop T that had just came in. I have been looking for one for some time but in no hurry. I have been very selective the last couple of years and really have focused on what I would like as I have reached the max (over 50) and am going to start selling a few when I decide I can. At the moment I cannot select one to sell. The perfect solution was to do a trade.

I ordered a new Savannah Asat bass when they were announced and it was a beauty. I am a 5 string bass guy so I never really used it although it was a stellar guitar. I did use it a bit on our last CD.

Decision time. I went to the GC and looked at the Anderson Drop Top and knew it was what I was looking for. I have wanted to try a short scale tele type and this was a shorty. It was in a color I liked, the condition was to my liking and the price was where it should be. The manager was out for a couple of days so I returned when he was back and we did the deal, very nice in fact. Our local GC treats me very well. They did not know much about G&L basses and could not find a Savannah on line. They looked at some others and decided this one was something they would like to have on the top row.

So, I came home with a Short Hollow Drop T Classic. I plays very nicely, probably the easiest that I own and it does the Tele thing very well. It has a P90 in the neck, stainless steel frets and in interesting neck joint, only two bolts. It has pretty much filled the want list that I have. I am showing the build sheet so you can see what it is and don't be shocked by the price on the sheet. That is MSRP and no one pays that. I still have my M2500 bass as a backup and intend to keep it. Here is Drop T. It weighs 6 lbs 5 oz certainly a plus for me. Also the short scale is nice for my arthritic fingers as the strech isn't what it used to be. -- Darwin

[sam]

Congrats Darwin

I have been looking at those sent 1992 when Guitar Player gave the Anderson Drop T HUGE ratings, and it was chosen as the best of some category. This was also the issue the ASAT Classic got the TOP award overall and "wam for the wampum award", and there was a beautiful cover shot. (Think I still have the issue, will post pic of I can find it)

Back to yer new acquisition, that is one sweet guitar. Tell us a bit about the pups, and how the SSH set up works. I would really like to see an ASAT with that configuration one day.

Post clips when you can

[willross]

Fantastic! Here's one of the things I dig about them:

[image]http://www.palaia.net/i/anderson_hollowTLH_n.jpg[/image]


Cheers,

Will

[yowhatsshakin]

Wonderful guitar Darwin! Congratulations and have fun playing it.



- Jos

[darwinohm]

Sam, it does the Tele things very well. Most of the time has been spent unplugged and the playability is superb. Will get to know it better plugged in as time permits. Will report later. BTW Sam, you should go on their website and look at the pickup choices they have, it would b difficult to choose.

Will, beautiful shot of a lefty neck pocket. I am assuming it is yours, care to give us a look? The neck joint is unbelievably stable and this is clearly a well thought out guitar.

Jos, you have the most complete G&L collection that I am aware of. It is stellar. I wouldn't call mine a collection but it is finally rounded out to what I want and the Anderson was the last want. I am going to spend some time and decide what to do next. I am thinking maybe the 20 I would keep but that would be difficult but maybe I can ease into it! I don't have any that I want to part with.

Thanks again all -- Darwin

[Fumble fingers]

Beautiful Darwin , you have a Eye for beauty , I like the neck/body contour , wish G&L would do something like this , Carvin just started doing the angle cut on there Bolt series ..... I just ordered a OLS ASAT because the thinner body makes upper frets easier to get too along with a slightly lighter guitar , my Broadcaster has better upper fret access than my newer ASAT's

[glvourot]

Thats a nice looking guitar Darwin . I hope it sounds as good as it looks. Some tough decisions ahead regarding your collection I gather. It would be overwhelming for me to decide what to sell. You have stated on several occasions that you rarely plug in your electrics. I know you are a Bass guitarist primarily, but I'm just curious. Is it because you lack a good sounding low volume practice amplifier ? Again, just curious and hats off to the guitar wall.

[darwinohm]

Fumble Wrote

I just ordered a OLS ASAT because the thinner body makes upper frets easier to get too along with a slightly lighter guitar , my Broadcaster has better upper fret access than my newer ASAT's

Let us know when you receive it. I am curious to see if there is a difference in weight. Pictures a must.


Glvourot asked

You have stated on several occasions that you rarely plug in your electrics. I know you are a Bass guitarist primarily, but I'm just curious. Is it because you lack a good sounding low volume practice amplifier ? Again, just curious

That is a fair question and your right, I am primarily a bass player. I have several good amps ranging from 100 down to 1 watt. I do use my small amps when working on bass material, usually a Peavey 20/5/1 in 5 watt mode into a JBL 15 inch cabinet. Of course I am not playing at high volume but it sounds great. All of amps are in the garage where my recording equipment is set up. I only have one amp in the house and that is my flamed Valve Train. I do not plug into that as I love to take a guitar off the wall in the morning and play unplugged. It doesn't disturb my wife if she is watching TV and I really like the unplugged sound of electrics. You may wonder why I don't use an acoustic. I do not care for the playability of acoustics. I like to bend and do what electric players do. I use the amps if we have a practice and I need them but even for recording I generally use my Tone Lab direct into the 002 Rack. So, it may seem weird but my guitar amps get very little use. There is something really nice about picking a guitar off the wall and just sitting down and playing unplugged, very relaxing for me. A thought that just occured to me is that I am not trying to emulate anyone else as such from a tonal aspect. I do pretty much my own thing. I just love the visual artistic effect of guitars. One of the things that attracted me to G&L was their choice of woods and the transparent colors. Long answer but it is a good question.

-- Darwin

[Fumble fingers]

Darwin , I ordered the light weight Empress wood , OLS and forearm cut ....... it should be 6-ish pound solid body hopefully , if it is and balances good I will gig it along with the Fallout

[glvourot]

Long answer ? Great answer ! Very welled explained and I totally get it. I keep two guitars out on some living room chairs so I can grab them quickly and stare at them occasionally . Come to think of it , my only mahogany guitar sounds very different from my G&L's unplugged . If I'm honest , it sounds better than my G&L's unplugged even though G&L is my favorite brand.

[darwinohm]

Eric, if it is in the 6 to 7 lb range the balance should still be okay. I have a Bluesboy that is 6 lbs 2 oz and the balance is very manageable with the strap. -- Darwin

[Case24]

That's one stunning guitar Darwin! Congratulations! You have 50 guitars!? I have two and I have trouble sometines deciding which one to play. Can't imagine 50.

[astutzmann]

That's gorgeous Darwin, congrats!

Love the Andersons and some of the Suhrs. Great choice and love the colour!

[darwinohm]

Case24 wrote:

Can't imagine 50.

It was never a plan, just happened over time.

Thanks Alf, hows the Teye doing?

[astutzmann]

Teye, AWESOME!

[fianoman]

Does Anderson still do the guitar of the day on their website? Many years ago, I would check it out each morning and every guitar was a keeper. Great company and nice find Darwin! I really like the diversity of your collection.

Unplugged: One of the guitars that I built is chambered for tone and weight and I really like to play it unplugged. It has pretty good volume but if I play my others unplugged, they just seem a little lifeless in comparison. My Taylor acoustic is the closest I have found to "electric feel" but still requires more effort to bend so I still seem to grab the electric quite often for just noodling in front of the TV.

[darwinohm]

Fianoman, they now do a guitar of the week on their website but check their gallery, it will knock you socks off. For the pickup lovers check there choices of pickups that are done at their shop. I would hate to have to make a choice.

I was surprised as I contacted them when I was looking at this. I used the contact on their website as I had a couple of questions. I had an answer from Tom himself in less than 10 minutes. I followed up with a couple more questions. After the purchasing it as used I was asked to register it with them for warranty and for tracking in case it were to get stolen. Terrific customer service. You can key in a serial number on their web site and get the build sheet. Suhr also sends a build sheet at no charge if you request. Grosh also has terrific customer service.

I do notice a difference in electrics unplugged. The Gretches just sing. So does my Hamer Newport, Ricky and several of the boutique T types. I really like the G&L hollow bodies for the same reason. They are very resonant.

Alf, the Teye looks interesting. I wish there were one around in Mpls to look at and play.

I am thinking of what I can sell and I have already considered 9. We'll see but 2 of them are basses and I wouldn't miss them a bit. Ginny just laughs at me when I tell her I am going to sell a few. At least my thinking has turned a bit. Our local GC has a new American Bluesboy in Transparent Orange on the wall and it is beautiful. They now have two top shelf G&L's in their store. The Asat bass is spectacular eye candy. -- Darwin

[john o]

Darwin, if you opened a guitar store, i'd want to shop and play everything on your wall!

[darwinohm]

Thanks Drj, and a Happy Thanksgiving to all. -- Darwin

[yowhatsshakin]

... and a Happy Thanksgiving to all. -- Darwin

You too Darwin!

[Ches]

That's a beaut, Darwin! Do you think the short scale has a significant effect on the tone?

50 guitars....sounds like a few other guys who used to hang out at the ol' GbL. They were the biggest GAS inducers in the place, and many of us were grateful for the fuel!

Have a great Thanksgiving!
Brian

[y2kc]

That is a nice Anderson.

50 guitars? What The Fender are you thinking? Save some for the rest of us for goodness sakes.

Have a good Turkey day and turn that amp up and put that new guitar to the test.

y2kc

[darwinohm]

Have had a wonderful Thanksgiving day with the family here and the grand kids. What a blast. We always have a mid morning brunch and it was and early morning after a late gig last night. Everyone has left and I am just sitting here reflecting on all the good things to be thankful for. Most importantly at my age health seems something to really be thankful for. I am lucky to be in good health and still gigging.

Our drummer isn't so fortunate and is going through some serious health issues and it probably isn't going to improve. We had had a good, fun band and it has been a good ride for the last 5 years. Nothing lasts forever and I have thought more than once about Eric loosing a bandmate recently. You become like a family. Anyway we enjoy things as long as we can and are glad for what we have. I asked our drummer last night if we can make another year. His response was "boy, I don't know". I have been so fortunate to play in a band with my daughter and watch her grow musically. We will enjoy as long as we can.

I almost didn't post this Trade Guitar post but I did because it reflects a change in my thinking. I have traded more than 30 guitars in getting to where I have ended up. Not a plan but if I found a good deal on something I liked, I would buy thinking about trading stock. That was not my primary goal but it has given me exposure to some very nice guitars of many different brands. All have been good and some better and a few great.

It turns out the last two have been the best I have ever had, one of them being my Emerald bass. I have used it for over a month and it is my keeper. Also a keeper will be my only Tribute G&L bass as a backup, the M-2500. The Anderson is definitely a lifetime guitar and it hasn't taken a week to figure it out. Some things just stand out.

I have more than 15 Fenders which is what I initially became interested in and I believe 17 G&Ls at the moment. Some of those will get weeded out but it is a tough decision. They are all fine instruments and it is hard to select which may go. I started buying guitars after 63 years of age when I finally had a bit of disposable income. I wish I would have been able to do it years ago. Jos is still a young guy and he has an amazing list of G&L's. So in the end, I am going to reduce the group a bit and no doubt some are destined to my daughter and grand daughters. Life is good.

Now back to the programming:

Ches wrote:

That's a beaut, Darwin! Do you think the short scale has a significant effect on the tone?

?

Maybe not significant but I think it may. I did some comparisons with some other T types and I think it is a bit sweeter, a bit less ice picky. The P 90 adds a very nice mix and in general the pickups are very quiet, but it does the Tele stuff very well. The biggest thing I have noticed is the playability and I adjust the relief and string height the same on all my guitars. The strings bend easier and of course the reach is a bit easier for my old hands. The overall feel is something I did not expect, but much better than I hoped. I am and have been a fan of stainless steel frets for a long time. I have noticed that the neck thickness in general does not bother me as I have many different profiles and they are all easy to play. I don't wrap my hand around the neck, but my thumb rides on the bottom of the neck. This my first exposure to a short scale T type.

Y2kc wrote:

50 guitars? What The Fender are you thinking? Save some for the rest of us for goodness sakes.

Have a good Turkey day and turn that amp up and put that new guitar to the test.

Thank you, I had a terrific day and hope that every one else did!

I apologize but I am kind of a victim here . They called me about this one and I wasn't actively shopping, Ginny has advised me to stay away from guitar stores so I try to follow rules. Whats a guy gonna do at a time like this? I did the right thing by trading instead of depleting the available pool to the rest of you guys. I promise to maybe add to the pool in the future!

I noticed that Bassman is considering retirement in another thread. Bassman, you can't beat it. It's the best job I have ever had! We just need to make sure that these young guys keep working so our retirement checks keep coming. -- Darwin