I have been in search of a Mountain Bike, not just any Mountain Bike but the best Mountain Bike—the “Tom Anderson” of Mountain Bikes. But what is that bike? I did not know where to turn or who to believe. I walked into many bike shops and explained my quest. Although they gave me their opinions, I was not convinced that they possessed the true knowledge or the answer to the secret of which I searched.

It became abundantly clear that I needed help—someone with knowledge, someone who knows all the bike manufactures and could show me the way to what was best for me. It also became clear that this is exactly the same plight facing musicians who want to grow and express themselves in a higher, more effortless way. They need an expert who can guide them to the world’s best musical equipment but as we have seen, such wisdom is very rare and can be difficult to find.

One such rare keeper of this true knowledge is Gelb Music in Redwood City, California. In fact, they are considered by many to be the best Music Store in the country. Their store is literally packed wall-to-wall with all the best that musical instrument manufactures have to offer. But this alone is not what makes them outstanding. Their greatness comes from within. In the guitar department it comes in the form of Keith, Erik and Ed. These three gentlemen breathe life and love into everything they do and it is clearly evident. Not only are they professionals in the highest sense of the word but they are delightful and fun human beings to interact with. If you need information, these are the guys to ask—they have answers. All three are wonderful musicians who love what they do and what they can do for you. And let us not forget the man whose vision allows all this to happen, the owner, Kevin Jarvis. Thanks Kevin, the world needs you.

Side Note: While I am writing to you I am listening to Art play an enchanting chord melody rendition of the song “What A Wonderful World” on a beautiful Translucent Purple, Hollow Drop Top that he just finished assembling for the NAMM Show. He is such a good player. We’ll talk more about this T-Purple and Art in the weeks to come.

Why don’t we let Ed, Erik and Keith’s actions speak for themselves?

On top of having a store full of Tom Anderson Guitars, this beautiful Translucent Black, left-handed, Cobra S personally belongs to Ed and is now on its way to make his acquaintance. While we were shooting its picture, pop/rock legend, Christopher Cross stopped by. One look at Ed’s guitar and he was totally in awe. It is a good thing that Ed’s wonderful Cobra S is a lefty or we may have seen a grown star beg. As it is, Chris is now planning a Translucent Black instrument of his own. Ed chose a Cobra S because of its massive, focused and powerful midrange tone that this instrument naturally exudes. He opted for our P1 and P3 Soapbar-style pickups for that “single coil on steroids” tone.

Gelb is located near San Francisco. It seems as though everyone at Gelb is a baseball fan. The word fan is derived from the word fanatic and that may be a clue in this case. Let’s check out Erik’s beautiful and unique guitar shall we? It is a Cobra. It is loaded with two P1 pickups for the neck and middle and a P3 in the bridge position. The 5-way switching and push/pull tone pot allow for 7 extremely outstanding and usable sonic contributions. Let’s take an even closer look at this Cobra and Erik’s personality. Erik chose 6120 Orange and black covered Soapbar pickups to define the visual personality of his Cobra. He also selected black as a contrast color for the back of the body and headstock with a one-time-only orange Anderson logo. Either he loves Halloween, Harley-Davidson or the San Francisco Giants. I wonder if they’ll let him play the Star Spangled Banner before the next game? Erik loves to play guitars with large necks so he opted for the ’62 Cobra backshape—the biggest available for Cobra and the closest size we have to an effortlessly playing baseball bat. Erik and Keith have owned their Andersons for months but let them come home for a visit so that they could participate in this week’s Guitar of the Week festivities. If you look closely at Erik’s 6120, you can see the slight pick marks on the surface of the black P1 covers—very cool. Erik works with this guitar.

And then there is Keith. We cannot help but love him. He is one of the most knowledgeable (and silliest) people we know—an endearing combination. You cannot go wrong with Keith as your musical guide. His contribution to the “Gelb Collection” is his gorgeous Translucent Amber Cobra. He also prefers big necks and opted for the ’62 Cobra backshape. After all he is a Giants’ fan as well. Notice the use of side-by-side humbucker-style pickups—HO1- neck and HO2 bridge. They are lush, low-output humbuckers that allow the amp to breathe with life and warmth. Normally on a Cobra equipped this way, a 5-way and a push/pull switch are utilized to access 6 distinct tonal options. Keith elected to command these same 6 sounds with a large 3-way toggle switch and a master push/pull switch located on the tone control.

From this sampling of Anderson guitars, it may seem that these guys favor the Cobra but there is more to know. Keith also draws upon the knowledge acquired from giging with other instruments. Depending on the gig he also has been known to play a Cajun Red, Hollow T, a Translucent Blonde, Hollow T Classic, or Hollow Classic with an all swamp ash body. And to capture that big single coil vintage tone, we are building him an alder Classic equipped with our vintage VA pickups. Ed is awaiting his next Anderson—a Hollow T Classic and Erik is deciding on a friend for his 6120 Orange Cobra. They all have real experience. They know! And we feel fortunate that they have chosen to be a Tom Anderson Dealer.

ED’S GUITAR SPECIFICATIONS:

 MODEL: – Cobra S—Left Handed

 FINISH: – Translucent Black with Binding

 BODY WOOD: – Maple Top with Mahogany Back

 BODY WOOD BACK COLOR: – Black

 NECK WOOD: – Mahogany with African Rosewood Fingerboard

 HEADSTOCK COLOR: – Black

 NECK BACK FINISH: – Satin

 NECK BACKSHAPE: – Cobra Standard

 NUT WIDTH: – 1 5/8th-inch

 SCALE LENGTH: – 24 3/4th-inch

 FRETS: – Heavy

 BRIDGE: – Fixed

 HARDWARE COLOR: – Chrome

 PICKGUARD: – n/a

 NECK PICKUP: – P1

 MIDDLE PICKUP: – n/a

 BRIDGE PICKUP: – P3

 SWITCHING: – 3-Way

 PICKUP COVERS: – Black

 PICKUP RINGS: – n/a

 STRING GAUGE REQUESTED: – .011-.053

ERIK’S GUITAR SPECIFICATIONS:

 MODEL: – Cobra

 FINISH: – 6120 Orange with Binding

 BODY WOOD: – Maple Top with Mahogany Back

 BODY WOOD BACK COLOR: – Black

 NECK WOOD: – Mahogany with African Rosewood Fingerboard

 HEADSTOCK COLOR: – Black

 NECK BACK FINISH: – Satin

 NECK BACKSHAPE: – ’62 Cobra

 NUT WIDTH: – 1 5/8th-inch

 SCALE LENGTH: – 24 3/4th-inch

 FRETS: – Heavy

 BRIDGE: – Vintage Tremolo

 HARDWARE COLOR: – Chrome

 PICKGUARD: – n/a

 NECK PICKUP: – P1

 MIDDLE PICKUP: – P1

 BRIDGE PICKUP: – P3

 SWITCHING: – 5-Way with Push/Pull for 7 sounds

 PICKUP COVERS: – Black

 PICKUP RINGS: – n/a

 STRING GAUGE REQUESTED: – .010

KEITH’S GUITAR SPECIFICATIONS:

 MODEL: – Cobra

 FINISH: – Translucent Amber with Binding

 BODY WOOD: – Maple Top with Mahogany Back

 BODY WOOD BACK COLOR: – same

 NECK WOOD: – Mahogany with African Rosewood Fingerboard

 HEADSTOCK COLOR: – Matching Body

 NECK BACK FINISH: – Satin

 NECK BACKSHAPE: – ’62 Cobra

 NUT WIDTH: – 1 11/16th-inch

 SCALE LENGTH: – 24 3/4th-inch

 FRETS: – Heavy

 BRIDGE: – Fixed

 HARDWARE COLOR: – Chrome

 PICKGUARD: – n/a

 NECK PICKUP: – HO1-

 MIDDLE PICKUP: – n/a

 BRIDGE PICKUP: – HO2

 SWITCHING: – 3-Way with Push/Pull for 6 sounds

 PICKUP COVERS: – n/a

 PICKUP RINGS: – Cream

 STRING GAUGE REQUESTED: – .010