cobra vs drop top etc...long post

[kingtone]

If you guys were going to get one TA guitar (between a cobra/cobra s or drop top) which would it be?

What about the comparison of pickups. For example something like a bridge h2+ maybe neck h1+ seems like what I am interested in. Would this be too hot in a cobra? In a drop top I think it would be a good combo, I am just worried if it would be too hot in a mahogany shorter scale guitar.

In a drop top I am thinking something like

alder body quilt top
maple with indian rosewood board
stock style trem
h2+
sf1 (?)
h1+

In a cobra (probably s model)
same stuff pup wise, maybe not a middle pickup
and with the same trem
quilt top mahogany body and mahogany neck with indian rosewood

I want a very fat humbucker guitar tone, pretty hot but also versatile with single coil tones and trem. More sustain is good. I like fusion tones like holdsworth, ej, tribal tech era scott henderson, brett garsed etc. I am thinking a fairly modern tone, I have a historic gibson with antiquities and a prs mccarty so it does not have to have a lot of bite or vintage edge. I want the kind of guitar that sounds like the violin tone on the high strings almost regardless of amp, although all my stuff is sort of like that. I also want to make sure the neck pickup has very close to the same amount of output as the bridge. I feel a lot of times I do not have enough hotness in the neck and I keep going back to the bridge. And I do realize that there is more vibration in the neck area but no matter how close you put a paf style to the strings if you go to a hot bridge pickup the neck sounds wimpy. Now for example on the les paul I have it is pretty even because they are almost the same output. Also I would prefer the pickups to be in a range that when split they would be close to a good single coil, not a wimpy one, and of course double when used as humbuckers. In other words an 8k paf pickup with a coil cut would be 4k which is a little wimpy as a single coil. I am not sure comparatively where the TA pickups lies in output. I have read everything but the ones listed above are from my research and playing a few guitars with unfamiliar amps.

Tell me your thoughts guys, thanks and sorry for the forums longest post. I will be playing some TA' s at indoor storm this weekend so we will see...

[dannopelli]

I will be playing some TA' s ... this weekend so we will see...

That will help a lot with your decision making.

[Suriel Zayas]

make sure you test drive a classic and hollow t classic.

[kingtone]

make sure you test drive a classic and hollow t classic.

I will try everything I can but I am pretty set on having humbuckers quilt top etc, so it will end up being the ones I mentioned. The hollow stuff never worked for me...I had a few guitars like that and they always had too much of the midrange punch knocked out of them for my taste. Although I can see how some would like it for tele style country sounds I still go for solid all the way around. Thanks for the reply.

[kingtone]

I still want to hear what you guys think about those pickup combinations, especially if you think those would be too hot for a cobra.

[michaelomiya]

You're off to a good start with a Cobra.
Cobra's got the punch of mahog, no doubt. That's my all around fiddle. I go from Panama/CrazyTrain to Folsom Prison Blues to NoReply/The Night Before all w/ my Cobra. HO1-/HO1+ through a Diezel VH4.

[tom]

i'd vote cobra and those pickups sound good for what i think you're after.

[LearnedHand]

This is what I have and it is loaded with a H3 in the bridge and M1 neck and middle. This was a GoTW. This is my goto guitar :D

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc154/LearnedHand_album/guitars092.jpg

I personally think the Cobra S looks best with three pickups, like a H in the bridge and two Ms, three Ms, or three P90s. If you are just going with two, you might want to lean more to a Cobra and no trem. I think a Cobra with three pickups and trem looks good too.

[kingtone]

This is what I have and it is loaded with a H3 in the bridge and M1 neck and middle. This was a GoTW. This is my goto guitar :D

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc154/LearnedHand_album/guitars092.jpg

I personally think the Cobra S looks best with three pickups, like a H in the bridge and two Ms, three Ms, or three P90s. If you are just going with two, you might want to lean more to a Cobra and no trem. I think a Cobra with three pickups and trem looks good too.

That looks great. So I guess the h3 does not seem too hot for you in a shorter scale guitar..?

I think I have pretty much got it figured out. I will play some TA's on saturday so I think that will tell me what I need to know.

[LearnedHand]

That looks great. So I guess the h3 does not seem too hot for you in a shorter scale guitar..?

The H3 is hot, and if you are going to try to get super cleans off just the H3 then it might be too hot for a shorter scale guitar. However, the guitar is designed to be a "super strat" having a H/S/S configuration in a pint-size and I don't know too many people having those "super strat" style guitars using the bridge pickup for clean tones. The bridge pickup in those style guitar is mainly used for chucky rhythm power chords and screaming leads.

[pipedwho]

I have a Hollow Cobra-S with an H2+ in the bridge, and it cleans up quite well - even better when I switch on the Kickback to scoop it's mids slightly. It does excellent rock/chunk with the bridge, but still does acceptable cleans.

I'm actually preparing to try out a number of pickups in this guitar so I can pick a favourite. The ones that I have lined up are: H2+ (already in the guitar), HN2+, HO2, HO1+, HW2, and an H3. These pickups all do their own things well, and I'm REALLY hoping that I don't end up with more than one favourite. ;)

[ConnemaraGuitar]

I'm actually preparing to try out a number of pickups in this guitar so I can pick a favourite. The ones that I have lined up are: H2+ (already in the guitar), HN2+, HO2, HO1+, HW2, and an H3. These pickups all do their own things well, and I'm REALLY hoping that I don't end up with more than one favourite. ;)

Hi, folks,
Awhile back I asked whether anyone on the forum was using wire connectors to facilitate pickup changes. No response came so I went on a hunt and came up with this:

http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo349/connemaraguitars/pin_socket_400.jpg

The supplier describes them as follows:

"The idea with these pins and sockets was that they would allow people to purchase prewired assemblies that they could install with no soldering required at all. We assumed they would just solve a problem for folks who don't know how to, or who don't care to, solder. But we've found that some players like the idea of having these attached to multiple assemblies, or multiple sets of pickups, allowing them to quickly swap out pickups. Pretty novel idea."

I ordered a bunch and they look great. I'm in between builds right now so I haven't had a chance to use them yet. The downside is cost: $2 per pair. The supplier is Acme Guitar Works.

The good news is that if you come up with several "favorite," er, "favourite" pickup combinations, switching them in and out would be a snap.

[LearnedHand]

Those pins are a pretty cool idea. Now someone has to come up with a way to swap pups without having to detune the guitar or remove the strings so that it can be done in between songs :)

Oooppps, I am bad. I forgot Tom has done that already with the kickback and VA booster circuits :D

[tom]

seriously, the soldering is the least time consuming part. yesterday i setup 3 ct's for some pickup listening so i had to change 6 pickups. it was the stringing and adjusting pickup height that took all the time.

[kingtone]

Alright folks, time for more long posting...here are my findings...

I tried pretty most every anderson in stock at indoor storm at some point in the two days I was there. Here are my thoughts on the guitars and the pickups which were the two things I have been most worried about. No cobras there...ugh. Anyway...

pre-owned drop top with floyd basswood with h2+ in bridge sounded great although no floyd for me, sa pups in neck and bridge were ok

alder body maple neck classic with sf pickups and va booster was pretty impressive, no hum and good sound and the boost was cool

alder body maple neck classic with va5 and booster, more vintage than sf's but not a ton better, I liked the other guitar itself better but this was good too

classic t style with m pups and trem, did not plug it in but it was really nice acoustically and light weight

atom ct- actually my least favorite of them all oddly enough, I thought with the scale length it would be my fave, the covered h2 at the bridge had a little too much high mid for me on clean


For you TA guitar lovers, do not take my analysis to heart. I am being very picky about this because that is me. All the guitars were very nice.

So here is kind of what I got out of my trip and research up to this point so tell me if it sounds rational...it seems like

1. An alder or basswood drop top with maple/rosewood neck and h2+ at the bridge and fairly similar output neck pickup (h1+ maybe) with sf1 in middle and a stock trem would be a good combo

2. A cobra S with trem and ho2 at bridge and maybe ho1+ in the neck and maybe add an sf1 in the middle would also be good. I would not want the cobra to be too middy because the pickups were too hot although in the drop top the h2+ seemed just about right.

I am interested in a VERY close balance between the neck in the bridge pickup output levels. I thought I wanted hot because of what I heard in all the drop tops I have played so far which usually had the h2+ but maybe the cobra is best with lower output pickups..? And I actually use the bridge for clean tones.

Ok everyone let's hear what you think...thanks in advance

[kingtone]

oh and if anyone wants to post pix of andersons with "select" quilt tops I would love to see them!

[LearnedHand]

alder body maple neck classic with sf pickups and va booster was pretty impressive, no hum and good sound and the boost was cool

alder body maple neck classic with va5 and booster, more vintage than sf's but not a ton better, I liked the other guitar itself better but this was good too

For you TA guitar lovers, do not take my analysis to heart. I am being very picky about this because that is me. All the guitars were very nice.

So here is kind of what I got out of my trip and research up to this point so tell me if it sounds rational...it seems like

1. An alder or basswood drop top with maple/rosewood neck and h2+ at the bridge and fairly similar output neck pickup (h1+ maybe) with sf1 in middle and a stock trem would be a good combo

2. A cobra S with trem and ho2 at bridge and maybe ho1+ in the neck and maybe add an sf1 in the middle would also be good. I would not want the cobra to be too middy because the pickups were too hot although in the drop top the h2+ seemed just about right.

Ok everyone let's hear what you think...thanks in advance

I own an classic with VA5 and booster. I played a classic with SFs or SCs and a booster. IMHO the booster works like an "overdrive" when you have a good amp at a setting just on the brink of breaking up with the SFs or SCs. I liked it so much that my next classic with have that set up.

There are no worries about taking things badly or the wrong way on the forum ... it is going to be your guitar not mine ... you ears are different from mine and you have the right to state your view based on what your ears tell you.

Has for you two options. I think it might be time to call Roy and ask the him. He will give you the best view of these combinations. My personal opinion based on a number of Andersons that I have played is to go for the drop top but maybe skip the SF in the middle (I don't know what in between sound that is going to give you with the Hs in the neck and bridge). Again, Roy would be the best person to now steer you in the right direction.