Thoughts from the Ignorant and Uninformed

[michaelomiya]

Now I know why tom always says, "I don't read Harmony-Central". In my opinion, H-C is now frequented and dominated by many who are generally uniformed, but who pass themselves, and their opinions, off as the "honest truth". BTW, it's apparently this same demographic that keeps merchants like GC in business.

Case in point (tom stay away!:D )
idiot dribble (http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=668627)

Regarding "gainfreak"'s build-quality comments
http://www.gmantle.freeserve.co.uk/smilies/screwy.gif

[killerburst]

Opinions- everybody's got one... and they all stink. Similar to a body part that everybody has, also.

There's a moral here, somewhere...

[Scott Peterson]

Harmony Central once - *once* - was a great place.

Now it is the haunt of opinionated kids with nothing to do but pass negative vibes and try to out talk each other. There is a serious "a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing...." vibe there.

If you want some knowledgable folks, hang at the Gear Page. Those guys know their stuff.

I am an Administrator there and we keep it civil; that matters *so* much. The yahoo factor is almost non-existant. Lots of pros and builders there.

www.thegearpage.net

[dpeterson]

the best quote off the page so far is:

"I played an Aderson that was alright. It just didn't sound that good. It was an older one 80's or 90's. 24 frets and Floyd. "

yes i've seen tons of andersons with 24 frets... what a tool.

dave

[ryman150]

It is quite amusing to read some of the posts. I am just curious...how would some of YOU all respond to the guy's original question??

Thanks!

Ryan

[killerburst]

Originally posted by ryman150
It is quite amusing to read some of the posts. I am just curious...how would some of YOU all respond to the guy's original question??

Thanks!

Ryan

I would tell the guy that if he can't see, feel and hear a significant difference, he should save his money and buy whatever cheaper alternative he is considering. The people who buy TA or JS guitars don't need to have a salesperson (or folks from the HC forum) explain why they are better. I would also tell him to doublecheck those prices. He should be able to find a new Anderson or Suhr sr*t-style guitar for ~$2000, not $3000-$4500.

[tom]

i haven't read the hc thread, i did heed the warning, but i can relay something that happened at the namm show a couple years ago. a guy who worked for some other company had been speaking to us about custom ordering a guitar. he said he would meet up with us at the show to nail down any details. fine with us. at the show, he hung out at the booth and played a bunch of guitars. later in the show, he asked me"why should i buy one of your guitars instead of a korean knockoff, they look the same to me, and yours don't play that good anyway?" my response was that if he didn't feel that there was a difference, he should not spend the money. of course we all took it personally after he left, and it made for some snooty conversation afterwards, but really, if you don't feel like a piece of gear is worth the price, you shouldn't buy it. my taste in guitars is much more expensive than my taste in cars or red wine. i know i would likw finer wine, but we all need to live within our means. we obsess where we feel we can, or where it brings the most joy. ramble ,ramble, blar blar blar.

[sonsop]

May I have a pass at a ramble?

[musing on]
What's worth a nickel to one person may be worth a million dollars to another.

Comparisons generally orbit around the males ego's need to be accepted and loved.

So sad when so much insecurity assembles and barks to be loved as loudly as the brethren forces at HC.
[/musing off]

[killerburst]

The thing you need to ask yerself is, "How brutal are my palm mutes?" If your answer is "They could be more brutal," then you need to check out an Anderson. Andersons have the most brutal palm mutes (outside of Ibanez). Tune down to low B flat, plug into your Randall Warhead and its chunk city. Brutal. It's all about the palm mutes, dood. Fashizzle.

[andersonguy]

I read the post on HC :p I can see where it just gets stupid. Oh well. All I can say is that I have a good ear and like a lot of guitars out there, love my Andersons. They make me happy!:D
What more needs to be said. To each his (her) own.

AG

[michaelomiya]

Originally posted by killerburst
The thing you need to ask yerself is, "How brutal are my palm mutes?" If your answer is "They could be more brutal," then you need to check out an Anderson. Andersons have the most brutal palm mutes (outside of Ibanez). Tune down to low B flat, plug into your Randall Warhead and its chunk city. Brutal. It's all about the palm mutes, dood. Fashizzle.

http://www.gmantle.freeserve.co.uk/smilies/laughabove.gif

TOO funny! and absolutely true - of course!;)

[pluto]

I was going to post on that HC post when I saw it last week but I was in too much of a rush to get my work done early since I had a plane to catch. To be fair to "gainfreak" whom I do not know, but whose posts I have seen in HC and in the plexi palace forums, I have also heard other people mutter that the older Andersons were better, more consistent, blah, blah, blah. In fact, a couple of years ago, I tried out a brand new Anderson Hollow Classic at my local store when one of the other customers told me that the new Andersons sucked. I ended up buying it anyway because it sounded great. My opinion as to the quality of old Andys vs. new Andys? I'm not sure since I have only played a handful of older Andersons (pre 2000 since I stayed away from guitar for a long time) but I've yet to find an Anderson that sucked new or old. As to HC-it's amusing to read the stuff that goes on over there. It really is hard to keep a straight face sometimes, but hey, it's a forum, and everyone with a computer keyboard and time has an opinion as uneducated as it may be.

[michaelomiya]

Originally posted by pluto
My opinion as to the quality of old Andys vs. new Andys? I'm not sure since I have only played a handful of older Andersons (pre 2000 since I stayed away from guitar for a long time) but I've yet to find an Anderson that sucked new or old.

WARNING: another RANT ahead.

I've noticed that there are these forum "junkies" who can't seem to stay quiet about anything. They take what little information they've received (and probably through ignorant sources) and attempt to amplify it to the masses.

This Anderson "build quality" comment really pisses me off, and epitomizes this "ignorance perpetuated as truth" stance that is so common on H-C. Now, I realize that most knowledgable and reputable users patonize the gearpage, plexipalace, LPforum, etc.. BUT, there are still a significant amount of idiots still reading H-C (BTW, I'm one of them!).

As someone who's played/owned Andersons for almost a decade, these guitars, if anything, have improved over the years (not that Noodles' red 1993 Classic owned by Griff Hamlin, or my 1996 Shoreline Gold classic aren't still getting severely abused on a weekly basis!!).

Think about this. In April 1996, tom introduces the Buzz Feiten tempered tuning system. Rave reviews. In 2002, stainless steel frets are now standard on all TAGs. tom places piezo bridges w/ on board controls on his guitars until 2001, when he switched to Fishman powerbridges. 2003, the Crowdster's revealed. Acrelyte, UV finishes, CNC routing for precision and accuracy in build-quality, coil tap switches, and on, and on, and on.

Tom's the Nikola Tesla of guitar builders, everyone else is Edison.

TAG is constantly improving and innovating. Does that mean that the bowling ball finished, small stratheads are poorly constructed or inconsistent? Hell NO! (actually I'd like a basswood body like Kirk's).

Only the uninformed and the tonally-retarded would conclude anything to the contrary.

[pluto]

Originally posted by michaelomiya
WARNING: another RANT ahead.

I've noticed that there are these forum "junkies" who can't seem to stay quiet about anything. They take what little information they've received (and probably through ignorant sources) and attempt to amplify it to the masses.

This Anderson "build quality" comment really pisses me off, and epitomizes this "ignorance perpetuated as truth" stance that is so common on H-C. Now, I realize that most knowledgable and reputable users patonize the gearpage, plexipalace, LPforum, etc.. BUT, there are still a significant amount of idiots still reading H-C (BTW, I'm one of them!).

As someone who's played/owned Andersons for almost a decade, these guitars, if anything, have improved over the years (not that Noodles' red 1993 Classic owned by Griff Hamlin, or my 1996 Shoreline Gold classic aren't still getting severely abused on a weekly basis!!).

Think about this. In April 1996, tom introduces the Buzz Feiten tempered tuning system. Rave reviews. In 2002, stainless steel frets are now standard on all TAGs. tom places piezo bridges w/ on board controls on his guitars until 2001, when he switched to Fishman powerbridges. 2003, the Crowdster's revealed. Acrelyte, UV finishes, CNC routing for precision and accuracy in build-quality, coil tap switches, and on, and on, and on.

Tom's the Nikola Tesla of guitar builders, everyone else is Edison.

TAG is constantly improving and innovating. Does that mean that the bowling ball finished, small stratheads are poorly constructed or inconsistent? Hell NO! (actually I'd like a basswood body like Kirk's).

Only the uninformed and the tonally-retarded would conclude anything to the contrary.

Totally agreed-Tom is always finding ways to improve his guitars. I wish other builders would be as forward thinking as Tom.

[tom]

thanks for the compliment, but i'm no teslaesque genious, i'm just never quite satisfied. it could always be just a bit better. i enjoy seeing our old guitars when they come in for service, but we have definitly learned a thing or two in the past 15 or so years.

[michaelomiya]

Originally posted by tom
thanks for the compliment, but i'm no teslaesque genious, i'm just never quite satisfied. it could always be just a bit better. i enjoy seeing our old guitars when they come in for service, but we have definitly learned a thing or two in the past 15 or so years.

Tom, you're so modest, and that just makes us all love you that much more!! http://www.anubz.com/smilies/bow.gif

Seriously, I honestly believe that tom's contributions (or "improvements") have done more to further the instrument than 99% of all other the builders out there (many of whom are cannibalizing off of TAG's innovations). Over the past 40 years, consider the contributions of Ned Steinberger, Floyd Rose (and Steve Ripley/Dennis Berardi) Ken Parker, Travis Bean (and John Veleno/Wandre Pelotti), Wayne/Grover, and you'd be remiss in not including Tom Anderson in this esteemed group of luthiers and inventors. Originality, innovation, and craftsmanship.....that's what my TAG's are made of!