Les Paul vs. Tom Anderson Bulldog

Do you own a Tom Anderson Bulldog?

  • yes

    Votes: 2 22.2%
  • no

    Votes: 7 77.8%

  • Total voters
    9

vintageguitarz

Inspired
I spent much of this past year researching the potential buy of yet another Les Paul, I have had 3 over the years, but every time I loved the look of a LP, there were craftsmanship, playability and price issues to prevent me from pulling the trigger. I have always had an itch to buy a nice 59 flame top possibly even a Collectors Choice Guitar. Having owned and sold over 80 guitars over the years, my rule of thumb is if I don't feel inspired to play it every time I pick it and don't ever want to put it down - I know I won't likely keep the guitar long term.

My rule of owning guitars as players is, If I don't play the guitar I sell it. The prices of such CC Les Paul's are extremely high, but since I am a collector I figured I would still consider buying one as they have a good residual value if you buy them used. Who knows I may buy one in the future anyway.

Earlier this year I decided to check out Tom Anderson's Bulldog after much research. I called Tom and discussed ordering one from scratch to get the features I wanted most. I was astonished to find out that mid summer he received a nasty gram from from Gibson threatening legal action if he didn't stop selling them. So I could not order one. I was bummed to say the least. I then went on a search to find and buy as many Bulldogs as possible in the used market.

If you are considering buying a Les Paul but find price, quality, playability issues, I strongly suggest you search Reverb and Ebay to snag a bulldog instead. The Bulldog feels different than a Les Paul and has many improvements and design differences from the traditional Paul, but its playability sound and rock solid craftsmanship hands down blow away 95% of the Les Pauls that cost $6K - $10.

I still love Gibsons for many reasons but I am very happy I decided to buy a few bulldogs. Also since they are no longer made I believe they are huge value and will likely escalate in value in years to come. Fine examples are anywhere from $2500 - $3500 and are like 1/2 the cost of a Les Paul custom shop. Tom Anderson only builds about 700 Guitar a year. Check out the pics and if you get a chance to play one please post your review.

Cheers.

2015-07-17 10.42.52.jpg 2015-07-17 10.44.30.jpg 2015-07-17 10.49.27.jpg 2015-07-17 10.54.42.jpg 2015-07-17 10.49.56.jpg 2015-07-17 10.44.48.jpg
 
I own a couple of nice gibsons, but honestly when it really comes to what i am looking for these days I go custom. I've moved to using local luthiers (which i am blessed to have serveral great ones close by).

Not to mention lets play a ton of money from Gibson for a guitar with features I don't want. With questionable out of the box quality setup quality. Not to mention even worse support from Gibson.

As for Tom Anderson's builds, I have heard nothing but good things from players and other luthiers about his work.
 
Earlier this year I decided to check out Tom Anderson's Bulldog after much research. I called Tom and discussed ordering one from scratch to get the features I wanted most. I was astonished to find out that mid summer he received a nasty gram from from Gibson threatening legal action if he didn't stop selling them. So I could not order one. I was bummed to say the least. I then went on a search to find and buy as many Bulldogs as possible in the used market.


Remember when they did the same thing to PRS and sued them? I seem to recall that Gibson lost that case, based on their own admission that nobody would mistake a PRS for a Gibson.
It's a shame they had to strong-arm Tom like that, too... especially after losing the PRS case.
When I heard about that, I called Tom immediately to remind him of the PRS outcome.
 
Anderson's some of my favorite guitars...as you can see in my avatar.
I have a drop top classic that is simply the best playing and best tone axe in my stable. Love Anderson's!

Rewind 20 years....that is when I bought my first Les Paul. I have always seen myself as a Gibson guy.
I have 9 les Paul's at the moment....most are closet queens.

When I started to fall in love with Anderson's, I bought a few....one of which was a trans black bulldog.
I was psyched when I won it on eBay because I loved my Anderson's, but still have an attachment to less Paul's....this was the best of both worlds!

Well.....I didn't like it. It played ok, it sounded ok. But it just didn't work for me.
I picked up one of my les paul customs...and it just felt way better. The balance of the guitar, the angle of the neck....I don't know....but a real les paul just felt more comfortable.
But my anderson drop top....man that guitar feels amazing. It's just the bulldog that hasn't felt good to me.
I know that Tom wasn't trying to clone a Gibson....he was out to make an Anderson. But it's almost like a fender merged with a gibson, and it just doesn't feel good to me. I was super bummed and eventually sold the bulldog.

So since this topic is doing a direct compare....I would select a 70s les paul.
 
Hey BBN thanks for the thoughtful insightful feedback on Andersons and the Les Paul. I missed out on so many old LP's that were dirt cheap in the early 80's that I so wished I bought. In a similar vein, what you experienced with LP's sounds similar to what I went with guitars with a floyd rose. I went through buying 4-6 Floyd Rose equipped guitars in the last 10+ years that I all eventually sold, because tuning, playability and quality I found with Andersons pick up and go perfection was never there. I have since bought a few drop tops with Floyd Rose and like the other anderson play fantastic.

The bulldog in an anomaly. For several people it doesn't capture the full LP vibe and feel, so people sold them to acquire a real LP. This fortunately made it easier for me to increase my collection of now harder to find, exquisite Bulldogs. I was interested to see what other people thought of the Bulldog. The forum is a great way to share ideas and opinions with a large audience. thanks again for your feedback and perspective.

Cheers Brian

Heres a few drop top pics for you to enjoy as well. The Koa has a rosewood neck - super fantastic. 2015-07-17 10.39.25.jpg2015-07-17 10.57.00.jpg2015-07-17 10.57.21.jpg
 
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