Anderson Guitarworks Drop Top HSS Guitar, Abalone to Trans Purple Burst

Player's Perspective

Purple, gorgeous, and ready to rock, this Drop Top is another gem to come out of Anderson Guitarworks' shop!

This guitar is a pure jaw-dropper in the looks department. The amazing Abalone to Trans Purple Burst finish has an almost "holographic" quality that changes depending on the lighting and angle you're looking at it. Combining that with the highly figured quilt maple top with excellent bookmatching and the gorgeous "caramel" roasted maple neck, Anderson managed to create an aesthetically-pleasing masterpiece that manages to avoid being too gaudy or over the top.

The SC1/SC1/HC3 pickup configuration is designed for the jack-of-all-trades guitarist who isn't afraid to mix things up when it comes to vintage and modern tones. The humbucker in the bridge has some excellent power and bite to hit the front-end of your amp while blending well with the single-coil pickups, and it splits very well via the mini-switch, too. The SC1s, which are individually hum-canceling, are designed to sound like your favorite rich and creamy vintage single-coils, but work well in a modern context in higher gain settings as well. The clarity and note definition are fantastic throughout all positions of this set, and every note is clear and distinct as you effortlessly string together notes on the slim but comfortable satin-finished roasted maple neck.

You've also got a couple of pickup combinations you can't find on typical hot-rodded HSS S-style axes via the aforementioned coil-split mini-toggle as well as being able to combine the neck and bridge pickups via a push-pull switch.

Between the tonal capabilities, extremely comfortable neck and body contours, and the ultra-stable tremolo, Anderson Guitarworks left little to be desired on this world-class guitar.

Details

Before the introduction of the magnificent Drop Top in 1990, the number of "S" style guitars that had a maple top that was “dropped” to create a comfortable forearm contour were exactly zero. As a result of this design, we've chosen a body top thickness of 3/16 of an inch, which actually enhances and enriches the sonic character of the instrument. The result is a guitar that not only plays effortlessly, is extremely comfortable, and sounds amazing but is so darn good looking that if you don't dress well it just may upstage you.