Bruce makes Tom Anderson Guitarworks an extra special place. Not only is he a great and fun human being but Bruce is our "Mod-guy." His role is to make owning and playing your Anderson guitar as magnificent as the day it was new. You see Bruce has special powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men for, should the need arise, Bruce has the expertise to returned your beloved old Anderson to like-new playing condition. To have the factory bring your guitar back to factory specs…how cool is that? For more on this amazing and appreciated man check out "Guitar of the Week Archives" for November 26, 2000. Simply move to the bottom of the page and click Guitar of the Week Archives and then select the desired date.

The vintage Fiesta Red color was chosen by Brad who ordered this flawlessly playing guitar from Willies American Guitars in St Paul, Minnesota. This legendary shade is further complimented by the slight reddish hue of the Madagascar rosewood fingerboard which lends breath, full low-register frequencies and a touch of high-end sparkle to the intelligible upper-mid and robust lower-mid frequencies born of the light weight alder body. The early 1960s theme is persevered throughout with the implementation of vintage tinting for the headstock and neck back, mint pickguard, coffee dipped pickup covers and the feel of our ‘62 Round back neck backshape with a 1 5/8th-inch nut width. Raising it to playing position discloses infinitely comfortable, sculpted body contours while the perfectly leveled and dressed frets in concert with its sleek feeling neck offers up your favorite licks with effortless ease.

The day turned to night and the factory wound down for the evening. Bruce and I were the only two remaining in the building. As a favor to another manufacture of musical instruments, Bruce was doing a tune-up on an "XYZ" guitar that was configured identically to the Fiesta Red, Classic. He finished with the "XYZ" and plugged it into an amp for a final evaluation before returning it to its owner. Bruce remarked, "Hey, this sounds pretty good." "Yea it does," I replied. "Let’s try it next to the Fiesta Red." We both looked at each other as though we were a couple of kids home without our parents. I ran for the Fiesta Red and we plugged it in. How would it really sound with no one here to have to impress and no one to witness our sonic experiment? From the moment the Fiesta Red’s true nature gushed forth from the amplifier, compliments of its VA pickups, we knew we were in the presence of unparalleled tonal greatness. It was as though a truckload of tone had been driven through our front door. The sound was absolutely huge and rich with gorgeous clarity of expression. Bruce looked up from his playing just long enough to utter, "I have to get a Classic!" This from a man who already has a Hollow T Classic, a T Classic and a Cobra. Well you can’t have too many when they sound like this.

GUITAR SPECIFICATIONS:

MODEL: – The Classic

FINISH: – Fiesta Red

BODY WOOD: – Alder

BODY WOOD BACK COLOR: – same

NECK WOOD: – Maple with Madagascar Rosewood Fingerboard

HEADSTOCK COLOR: – Vintage Tint

NECK BACK FINISH: – Satin/Vintage Tint

NECK BACKSHAPE: – ’62 Round Back

NUT WIDTH: – 1 5/8th-inch

SCALE LENGTH: – 25 1/2-inch

FRETS: – Heavy

BRIDGE: – Vintage Tremolo

HARDWARE COLOR: – Chrome

PICKGUARD: – Mint

NECK PICKUP: – VA1

MIDDLE PICKUP: – VA1R

BRIDGE PICKUP: – VA2

SWITCHING: – 5-Way w Master Split and Add-Bridge Switch

PICKUP COVERS: – Coffee

PICKUP RINGS: – n/a

STRING GAUGE REQUESTED: – .010-.046

DESTINATION/LOCATION: – Willies American Guitars/St Paul, Minnesota