NGD - Tom Anderson incoming

And what's awesome from my searches in the past, is that I haven't found people talking about Andersons having dead notes; it seems not to be a problem with this brand, and I have no idea why. This strikes me especially strongly because the most comparable brand is Suhr, and I've found many threads on several forums detailing specific cases of really perceptible dead notes. So again, mazel tov!
 
Update: I was able to wrench the nut loose from the trem socket.

Then I attempted to install the Schaller-style socket... The part that goes thru the base-plate was ever so slightly too long to allow the "cap" that attaches to it from the back to be firmly seated.

I tried one from one of my older Ibanez guitars and that one worked.

So now I've got a bar on there that's the shape and feel of my other guitars. So much better!

And back to 9.5 strings... The 10s were ok, but 9.5s work better for me on this guitar.

I'm really, really liking this thing :)
 
@Andy Eagle or anyone else: any tips for getting the trem to be more "responsive"?

I'm trying to figure out why my Gotoh 510 takes less effort to move than this baby Floyd... Both have 2 springs in a V shape.

Are some springs "softer"?
 
unix-guy said:
@Andy Eagle or anyone else: any tips for getting the trem to be more "responsive"?

I'm trying to figure out why my Gotoh 510 takes less effort to move than this baby Floyd... Both have 2 springs in a V shape.

Are some springs "softer"?
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Yes springs vary but if you have two in a V balanced that is as loose as it's going to get. The reason this trem is stiffer than a 510 (or any strat style ) in its loosest configuration is the increased distance between the fulcrum and the intonation point. This give it more range BUT it requires more spring tension to overcome the reduced leverage.
 
State of Epicicity said:
Oh that is very interesting; I never considered that. @Andy Eagle What are your thoughts on this? I think OrganicZed and unix-guy might have this right.
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The A shaped joint makes for a larger contact under compression between the neck and body and that does have an effect on vibration transfer. It increases the interaction and I would think this will make dead notes less likely but any guitar that resonates enharmonically with the notes being played will have a problem .
 
Andy Eagle said:
The A shaped joint makes for a larger contact under compression between the neck and body and that does have an effect on vibration transfer. It increases the interaction and I would think this will make dead notes less likely but any guitar that resonates enharmonically with the notes being played will have a problem .
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My armchair theory is that the A-shaped joint pushes the resonant frequency of the body / neck out of the range of the guitar's scale. I have no evidence to support that claim other than the apparent lack of Anderson instruments with dead notes. Also, I have seen a fair bit of discussion of PRS increasing the size of their neck heel to reduce the likelihood of dead notes on their guitars. The neck join on Suhr modern guitars is pretty small and that might make it more likely that they have a body / neck resonant frequency in the range of the instrument and thus leading to so many reports of that issue.

I am open to the possibility that this theory is totally wrong. The only way to really avoid this issue is to play the exact instrument you intend to purchase in person and check it. Wood varies quite a bit and sometimes you get unlucky.
 
OrganicZed said:
My armchair theory is that the A-shaped joint pushes the resonant frequency of the body / neck out of the range of the guitar's scale. I have no evidence to support that claim other than the apparent lack of Anderson instruments with dead notes. Also, I have seen a fair bit of discussion of PRS increasing the size of their neck heel to reduce the likelihood of dead notes on their guitars. The neck join on Suhr modern guitars is pretty small and that might make it more likely that they have a body / neck resonant frequency in the range of the instrument and thus leading to so many reports of that issue.

I am open to the possibility that this theory is totally wrong. The only way to really avoid this issue is to play the exact instrument you intend to purchase in person and check it. Wood varies quite a bit and sometimes you get unlucky.
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Remember the Suhr neck joint is the standard fender one so your hypothesis would need to apply to ALL fender bolt on instruments and copies.
Also the Suhr Modern has a bigger surface joint than the Fender standard. PRS uses mostly mahogany on to mahogany so the issue is going to be offset and then the joint is glued . I think it is more likely that TA being a smaller company spend more time matching the neck and body wood to reduce the possibility of this. I have never come across this on a Tyler for instance.
 
Andy Eagle said:
Remember the Suhr neck joint is the standard fender one so your hypothesis would need to apply to ALL fender bolt on instruments and copies.
Also the Suhr Modern has a bigger surface joint than the Fender standard. PRS uses mostly mahogany on to mahogany so the issue is going to be offset and then the joint is glued . I think it is more likely that TA being a smaller company spend more time matching the neck and body wood to reduce the possibility of this. I have never come across this on a Tyler for instance.
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Yep, then my theory is probably wrong.

What is it that a builder would do to check for a good match between body / neck prior to completing the build?
 
Andy Eagle said:
Yes springs vary but if you have two in a V balanced that is as loose as it's going to get. The reason this trem is stiffer than a 510 (or any strat style ) in its loosest configuration is the increased distance between the fulcrum and the intonation point. This give it more range BUT it requires more spring tension to overcome the reduced leverage.
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Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense.
 
OrganicZed said:
Yep, then my theory is probably wrong.

What is it that a builder would do to check for a good match between body / neck prior to completing the build?
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You can make a note of what weight a typical blank is before you cut it and what the final outcome of a particular body shape is. This is only a rough guide but not many do it. The greater the distance between the neck and body resonant frequencies the less likely you are to have any issues.

A test PRS do for private stock is how loud and musical the sound is of a tap test is. Paul goes with the longer an instrument sustains the better it is likely to be. He is right really because the presence of harmonic interference always reduces sustain. Testing this is very difficult though because you need to always hit the string in exactly the same way and everything on instruments being compared must also be the same. All this is the reason wood matters so much. It needs to be mechanically capable of the job you are using it for and work WITH the string vibration to produce a good fundamental for the pickup.

It doesn't matter what the wood is if it works and this is the argument used by the "too good to be true" brands. They miss out the fact that the best wood for musical instruments ( tone and stability) is resonant straight grained naturally seasoned old growth wood and that is NEVER cheap and a thin hard finish ( enhances the tone ) is far more expensive by virtue of skilled time hours to do and cost of materials. This is why budget guitars NEVER equal anything genuinely good even by accident no matter what parts you upgrade. The right combination of things never made it in to the building.

The stupid videos you see on YouTube of a pickup on a floorboard to prove that wood doesn't matter just show the makers up as idiots because they demonstrate that they don't understand the issue . A plank of pine could actually be a very good instrument if it is able to take the tension, hold the parts well and not interfere with any fundamental frequencies. They may inadvertently have made a good slide guitar from a musical perspective. The problems occur when the choices are bad (that can be random). The use of generic (easy to fit) truss rods with gaps around them, forced grown and fast seasoned wood from small trees and multiple unnecessary glue joints. Then painted with thick plasticised 2K will leave you with something only capable of generic mediocrity at best no matter how good the CNC work is and smooth and shiny the paint ( plastic dip ) is .

But even generic mediocrity in the hand of a great player will sound good, the Sire Larry Carlton is proof of that. But Lets not forget the story That Luke tells about Larry . Fan comes over to Larry and says "your 335 sounds amazing." Larry walks over to his guitar stand and puts his 335 down and walks back the the fan and says "doesn't sound amazing now." You'r potential sound is your gear but you need the hands to be able to realise it. I would call it an 80/20 split in favour of the player.
 
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Andy Eagle said:
I think it is more likely that TA being a smaller company spend more time matching the neck and body wood to reduce the possibility of this.
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I think this is it. After speaking with Tom and his team at NAMM, they talk quite a bit about the time they spend getting the right wood/matching.

I would think (and Andy Eagle would know better) that the V neck joint (vs. Fender style) is more for stability. Thinking about how that neck is locked into the cavity, it has less chance to 'wiggle' side to side when compared to Fender style.
 
BBN said:
I think this is it. After speaking with Tom and his team at NAMM, they talk quite a bit about the time they spend getting the right wood/matching.

I would think (and Andy Eagle would know better) that the V neck joint (vs. Fender style) is more for stability. Thinking about how that neck is locked into the cavity, it has less chance to 'wiggle' side to side when compared to Fender style.
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Yes no side to side movement is really possible at all.
 
So, "finish crack at the heel" for a used Tom Anderson: Would this be a "run away" type of situation?

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Resale value might be impacted by a crack like that. I tried to sell my USA Dean RC7 to Guitar Center a while back and they didn't even take it because of a finish crack like that.
 
Yes, it will affect resale value, but as long as it is a finish crack and not a crack in the actual wood then it is no big deal. If you otherwise like the guitar then just ask for a suitable discount.
 
OrganicZed said:
Yes, it will affect resale value, but as long as it is a finish crack and not a crack in the actual wood then it is no big deal. If you otherwise like the guitar then just ask for a suitable discount.
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It's one I have seen for sale online. They mentioned the crack in text only and I asked for a picture.
 
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