Going to order an Anderson...

[shadowfax29]

And I've just about made up my mind on all the options except for the body wood. I'm going with a Drop Top and I'm really on the fence on what wood to go for and was wondering what some of you guys who have more experience with these guitars may prefer. I'm kind of leaning towards mahogany but just can't seem to make up my mind.

Also curious if anybody as any experience with the chocolate maple necks. I like the idea of a more stable neck and they look awesome IMO. Mostly just curious if there's any drawbacks as far as feel, sound etc.

Look forward to hearing what you guys have to say

 

[Qweklain]

I have no experience with Andersons, but wood type will always have a similar affect regardless of make. Mahogany is going to give you a thicker and usually darker tone with potentially more controlled (and less) highs. Alder will give you a slightly brighter and more focused/tighter attack. Basswood has less lows with a slight bump on the mids and fairly mellow highs. Swamp Ash is a pretty straight well balanced wood in all areas, but a bad piece of Ash can be very dead/non-musical.

Now of course each wood IS going to be different piece to piece, but these are the basic descriptions of your common wood choices.

Necks woods can be used to counter or enhance body wood tones. For example, you have a Mahogany body, but want a bit of that focused attack and tad of brightness added. One way to go about that is using a maple neck and an ebony fretboard. When you say chocolate neck, do you mean a stripe? That can add stability to a neck if you were to say use a "weaker" wood (such as birdseye maple) and "stripe" it with a dense wood like mahogany, but that will also affect the tone, so keep that in mind. I do not know this aspect for SURE, but I have heard that a multi-piece neck does add stability no matter what, but like I said, I am not 100% sure on that.

 

[thiswaythatway]

My Drop Top is basswood with a maple top and it sounds great. I've played a few other Drop Top's with the same wood combo and they've all sounded really good to my ears. My friend has a mahogany Drop Top and that one does sound great as well though, thick and ballsy. Most of them have been loaded with H2+ bridge humbuckers. For hard rock and metal i think my guitar rocks. I've had more luck with basswood and mahoganey rather than alder but your mileage may vary.

 

[gibson5413]

Good choice of guitars. I ordered my Drop Top last month. Mine should be here in may. I went with Burnished Orange Burst with a quilted maple top on mahogany body. I, too, went with the chocolate maple neck. I went with an HN3+ in the bridge and H1- in the neck. It will have a Floyd bridge too. The great thing is Roy will walk through all of the options with you to make sure what you are choosing will meet your tone needs. Seriously great service. Once he is done on the phone with you he will send you the spec sheet that you will take to your local dealer to place the order. The best experience I have ever had with a guitar purchase. I wanted a shredder guitar that looks beautiful and believe that is what I got.

Here is some information about the chocolate maple neck taken from the Anderson website:

"Chocolate Maple" starts out as a regular maple neck but then it's baked in an oxygen free oven for many hours at about 500 degrees. This removes all moisture from the wood and changes the molecular structure of the wood cells. This means the neck is much less prone to changes from temperature and humidity, which results in a far more stable neck. These necks are easier to setup and they stay where they're set for a much longer time. If you were to slice the neck in half, it's chocolate brown all the way through, not just on the surface!

Enjoy your experience and I will definitely post pics and clips when it comes in.

 

[gibson5413]

My Drop Top is basswood with a maple top and it sounds great. I've played a few other Drop Top's with the same wood combo and they've all sounded really good to my ears. My friend has a mahogany Drop Top and that one does sound great as well though, thick and ballsy. Most of them have been loaded with H2+ bridge humbuckers. For hard rock and metal i think my guitar rocks. I've had more luck with basswood and mahoganey rather than alder but your mileage may vary.

Hey Dan

Quick question: do you think the HN3+ is too hot for what I play? You know my clips well. I thought the HN3+ would be a good balance between the darker and thicker sounding mahogany. Would an H3 be enough? To m actually said he thinks the HN3+ would be good for what I'm trying to accomplish. How cool is it when the company owner takes time to answer my questions (he is happy to do so too).

 

[reverymike]

I have a basswood w/maple top, and love it. Great sounding stick. I believe that is Tom's preference for the Drop Tops.

 

[thiswaythatway]

My Drop Top is basswood with a maple top and it sounds great. I've played a few other Drop Top's with the same wood combo and they've all sounded really good to my ears. My friend has a mahogany Drop Top and that one does sound great as well though, thick and ballsy. Most of them have been loaded with H2+ bridge humbuckers. For hard rock and metal i think my guitar rocks. I've had more luck with basswood and mahoganey rather than alder but your mileage may vary.

Hey Dan

Quick question: do you think the HN3+ is too hot for what I play? You know my clips well. I thought the HN3+ would be a good balance between the darker and thicker sounding mahogany. Would an H3 be enough? To m actually said he thinks the HN3+ would be good for what I'm trying to accomplish. How cool is it when the company owner takes time to answer my questions (he is happy to do so too).

Well i think the H2+ is perfect in my guitar. And now that i remember i did own a Drop Top a few years ago that had an H3 but it was a hollow model. I doubt it would be too much since his pickups have warmth but still a have a clear sound to them.

 

[thiswaythatway]

I have a basswood w/maple top, and love it. Great sounding stick. I believe that is Tom's preference for the Drop Tops.

PICS?

Here's mine.

And i WISH i never sold these 2. I just needed the money at the time.

 

[shadowfax29]

Thanks for the info. I know what you mean with alder. I love my Caparison TAT which is alder but then have another guitar that is alder that I love how it plays but can't stand how it sounds, but to be fair it's a rather inexpensive guitar. I think at this point I'm leaning more towards basswood.

Any recommendations as far as Anderson single coils go? I have more experience with his humbuckers and have used an HO1+ and currently have an H2+ plus in my strat. I'm leaning towards an HSS config with an H3+ SA1 and SA2R. I'm generally into heavier stuff but am ultimately trying to get a well rounded kind of setup.

My Drop Top is basswood with a maple top and it sounds great. I've played a few other Drop Top's with the same wood combo and they've all sounded really good to my ears. My friend has a mahogany Drop Top and that one does sound great as well though, thick and ballsy. Most of them have been loaded with H2+ bridge humbuckers. For hard rock and metal i think my guitar rocks. I've had more luck with basswood and mahoganey rather than alder but your mileage may vary.

 

[shadowfax29]

That sounds awesome! Definitely look forward to seeing the finished product and hearing your review. I'm going to go with a bora bora to trans blue burst with the chocolate maple neck with a floyd. Did you happen to find out if they'll do the matching headstock with that neck option? I'm guessing no since I'm pretty sure I remember reading that it's only with fingerboard necks? I'm also hoping they can do the humbucker direct mount since I've really been liking the look of that these days. Hoping to officially get my order in early next week. I can't wait

Here's a pic of the finish I'm going for:

Good choice of guitars. I ordered my Drop Top last month. Mine should be here in may. I went with Burnished Orange Burst with a quilted maple top on mahogany body. I, too, went with the chocolate maple neck. I went with an HN3+ in the bridge and H1- in the neck. It will have a Floyd bridge too. The great thing is Roy will walk through all of the options with you to make sure what you are choosing will meet your tone needs. Seriously great service. Once he is done on the phone with you he will send you the spec sheet that you will take to your local dealer to place the order. The best experience I have ever had with a guitar purchase. I wanted a shredder guitar that looks beautiful and believe that is what I got.

Enjoy your experience and I will definitely post pics and clips when it comes in.

 

[robertkoa]

Well , not very familiar with Andersons, played a few, but I think it will be hard to beat a Mahogany body and you can still use a Maple neck without losing the warmth and thickness of the tones , the rigidity of the Maple neck ( not necessarily Maple fingerboard ) just makes the Mahogany sound more solid on Bolt Ons ( NOT ON NECK THROUGHS or SET NECKS, then you need the warmer neck wood ).

So use the Mahogany IF you want the guitar to overlap into fatter warmer tones ( It'll still twang on single coil modes), and the Basswood's the more typical tones, averages out about like Alder with a little more depth with the top etc. and a little luck.