Atom/Bigsby?

[GaryMcT]

In the event that I get my hands on an Atom with a Bigsby trem and like it, can a Bigsby be added to my existing Atom?

[Roy (maybe)]

Hi Gary,

I called Roy at Anderson and asked him that question for you. He said, yes it can. Bigsby must be added and bridge mounting studs changed out.

Maybe

[GaryMcT]

Thanks!

Gary

[korinabill]

Gary, just a suggestion, you might think about leaving yours the way it is and purchasing a hollow Atom with Bigsby. I can attest to mine. It's a whole different animal. One of my favorite settings is in parallel in the middle position where it gets a real Gretsch Tenny sound. I can achieve a bunch of the Beatles For Sale (aka Beatles '65) sounds with it. It would be great to actually have both Atom variations.

Oh my God! I think I can actually post! Can this be happening?!?!

[sylvanshine]

Can it be? The great Bill Hudson in the house? This place just got a lot more classy people.

Welcome Bill! Glad you are here.

[korinabill]

Thanks, Jay. With these new added powers, I might be up later at night.

[GaryMcT]

Gary, just a suggestion, you might think about leaving yours the way it is and purchasing a hollow Atom with Bigsby. I can attest to mine. It's a whole different animal. One of my favorite settings is in parallel in the middle position where it gets a real Gretsch Tenny sound. I can achieve a bunch of the Beatles For Sale (aka Beatles '65) sounds with it. It would be great to actually have both Atom variations.

Oh my God! I think I can actually post! Can this be happening?!?!

Which pickup config does your Hollow Atom have? M1/M1/H-series, or 2 humbuckers? I'm assuming M/M/H since you get the Beatles '65 sound in the mid position. . I love that!!! Works really well with the Vox AC30TB module for the Egnater/Randall modular amp. I don't have much experience with 2 HB Atoms or Cobras, so I don't know what the moddle positions sounds like.

I tried a hollow Atom after I got my Atom, and I honestly didn't want to do an A/B to see which one I liked better since I suspect that I would prefer the hollow Atom. :) I suppose I'll have to get one of those in the future. . was thinking of getting it with 2 humbuckers though. Hmmm. . .

How do you like the Bigsby there?

Gary

PS: Welcome to the board!!!

[GaryMcT]

. . and on a completely off-topic note, which version of that particular Beatles album do you think sounds the best? I have the remasters of the US versions, but they are really strangely processed I think.

[korinabill]

Gary, yes, they are M1,M1,M2 . The switching is a little different. The straight up middle position is neck & bridge in parallel, pot pulled up. This is where IMHO I get the "I'm A Loser", "She's A Woman", etc. tones. That guitar stays in tune all the while that I wham away on that Bigsby. I just love it. I have a real '62 Gretsch Tenny 6119 that I can compare it with, running through an AC30 & AC15. I would eventually like to get an Atom like yours with the M,M,H setup, non-hollow. It's going to be great but different than the hollow. I like the 3 pickup configuration on the Atoms because of all that tonal variety.

Overall, the U.K. Beatles for Sale has the best mixing & overall quality to me.
Given that, I still have all my U.S. Beatle L.P.'s which I wouldn't trade for anything. I essentially found myself re-discovering the Beatles recordings when I gained access to the U.K. imports. The difference in some of the mixes to me was fascinating.

P.S. Was in your neck of the woods in May on vacation and loved it. Went to the EMP many times.

[GaryMcT]

Interesting. I was contemplating getting a hollow Atom with a Bigsby at some point in the future with dual humbuckers to have something very different than what I have now. I'll have to consider M1/M1/M2 instead now that you mention it. How does the M2 sound by itself?

The middle position with M1/M1/H2 is pretty enjoyable too. You can opt for having the H2 split, or run in parallel. The split version sounds the best, but the parallel version is there in case you are having 60 cycle hum problems. I have to say that the favorite settings on my Atom are:
1) position 5: bridge series
2) posiiton 5: bridge parallel
3) position 3: bridge split when playing with a clean amp setting
4) position 3: bridge parallel with some amp dirt

EMP is great! You've probably seen more of it than I have. :) I need to spend a few days over there sometime soon. Let me know if/when you are in town again. I've been threatening to have an Anderson guitar lovers get-together. . that might be the right catalyst to get it going.

I'm going to have to pick up the UK versions of the first 4 Beatles albums now. . . from what I can tell, the US versions are really reverb heavy and they did some pretty painful things with the mix to get the stereo version happening.

[korinabill]

Gary, there is an Atom very much like yours (except it has a flame maple top) for sale at Charley's here. I don't expect it to be available much longer.

I digress once more:
One of the big differences on the first couple of Beatle LP's was Capital did this treble/bass channel EQ split of a mono mix & called it stereo on some of the songs. Polydor in the U.K. did not. They slpit instruments & vocals in a very cool way. The derivitive of "Meet The Beatles" in England are a good comparison.

At the EMP, in the Hendrix section, along with the Experience's entire rig, there is one of the original consoles from Electric Lady. In the summer of 1972, when I was not yet 21, I was in a band that recorded an album project there in NY and used that very console. They had one each in Studio A & Studio B. At the very same time, Stevie Wonder was in there recording Talking Book. Jeff Beck and many others were also recording in and out of there, in between our sessions. We were there 2 months and it was a wild experience I'll never forget.

Who knows, if I had been using an Atom, Cobra, or T-Classic instead of my SG back then, we might have actually made it.

[GaryMcT]

You should pick it up! :) I certainly can't until well after my drop top shows up. :) It's funny. . I used to live right down the road from Charley's Guitars and didn't have a clue about Andersons.

Alright, I'm going to have to go to EMP again. :) I didn't make it very far through the one time I went there. I took an interviewee there for a day that was REALLY into the Seattle music scene, so we never made it past that section (and a brief glimpse at the Hendrix section.)

Speaking of Jeff Beck, did you see these:

http://www.hugeracksinc.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=16465
http://www.hugeracksinc.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=16399

Sounds like you had some great experiences. What are you doing now? Do you play out much or record?

I'm just now getting back into guitar (the last few months) after many many years of not playing. I needed to find a hobby that isn't work since work was taking over my life, and this one is working out just fine, especially with my Atom! :)

The Beatles UK CDs are on order! :)

Do you have a Crowster? I can't believe how easy they are to play and how good they sound plugged into an acoustic amp/PA. Makes me almost wish that the nut were wider on my electrics. I think Tom and friends have my next few gift-giving holidays all booked up. :)

[korinabill]

Oh, I love those Jeff Beck links, especially the second one. When we were at Elec. Lady, we actually had to ask him & his band to turn down because they were bleeding through from one studio to the other. We used to sit around the round lobby area with him, passing around "you know whats". I always had trouble getting to sleep at the house we were staying at (summertime in NY no A/C & lots of skeeters), and would always crash wherever I was in the nice comfy air conditioned studio. Even with someone like Jeff Beck hanging right there. So, I would plop over & fall asleep often while lounging around with everyone, or between takes, etc. I did this in front of Miles Davis at the Columbia Records studio lobby when we went to do an audition tape. He cackled when he saw me & gave me a little poke in my belly. He was actually VERY NICE.

Nowadays, I currently work avg 70 hrs. a week at JPMorgan Chase, and play mostly on weekends in a church band. I rotate my TAGs there a lot, depending on the songs we're doing. Tomorrow I'll have my Atom & maybe the DTC with me.

I might try to visit Charley's today & look at that Atom, if they still have it. And yes, I came close twice to getting a Crowdster. I love them, but I need for our rhythm/acoustic guitarist in our band to also play it if I get one, so it can get some extensive use. I'm still working on him. Some folks don't like to change-imagine that!