Anderson H3 Red
Submitted at: 13:57, 9/10/2003
Product Info
Pickup features: Passive Humbucker
Impedence or other specs:
Price Paid: US $99
Purchased from: Rocker Guitars, San Francisco, CA
Instrument
Model of guitar or bass: G&L Invader
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Duncan Distortion
Other pickups on guitar: Duncan mini humbucker and Duncan '57
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): metal, jazz/rock fusion
Reason for pickup change: wasn't satisfied with my metal distortion tone
Sound
Perceived output level: Not as hot as the Duncan Distortion, but better quality of sound. the clean stays clean, and the distortion is crunchier.
Tone: AWESOME! It's the only thing to play with Mesa amps. Tight low end. No fart or fuzz.
Sonic evaluation: I play a G&L Invader through a Mesa Triple Rec. Finally, I like the sound of my rig. I tried all different settings on my amp, changed pickups, volume pots... The Anderson H3 fucking rules!
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Metal, Jazz/Rock fusion, prog rock. it's great for all these things.
Overall Rating
Comments: I've been playing for about 8 1/2 years, and this is the best tone I've had yet. What's great about Anderson is that he understands how a pickup works with the wood of the guitar. Check out the website. Get an Anderson pickup. You won't regret it.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value
Submitted by: Jonathan Heuer <liedermacher78@yahoo.com>
Submitted at: 2:42, 3/13/98
Product Info
Pickup features: passive humbucker
Impedence or other specs:
Price Paid: N/A
Purchased from: tom anderson guitarworks, newbury park, california
Instrument
Model of guitar or bass: 1993 tom anderson drop top classic
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: anderson H2+ passive humbucker
Other pickups on guitar: anderson SL1R stacked single-coil (neck), anderson SL1 stacked single-coil (middle)
Artists using this pickup: mesa/boogie amplification--this is the pickup used to ensure the tonal richness of mesa amplifiers
You musical style(s): rock, pop, funk
Reason for pickup change: i wanted slightly more low-end punch compared to the H2+. i'm after the lifelong pursuit of grokking dann huff's tone on the second giant album.
Sound
Perceived output level: slightly more than H2+ (which is about the same as the duncan JB)
Tone: extremely balanced, very smooth like the H2+ but with more lower midrange punch and more output
Sonic evaluation: i'm using this pickup in an anderson drop top classic with a basswood/maple body and a maple neck. amp is a mesa tremoverb head with telefunken and mullard ECC83 preamp tubes and mesa-branded 5881's in the power section. i go for big high-gain soloing tone a la dann huff on the second giant album--fat, full, punchy, warm, round, and complex. i had been using the H2+ before, and that was an incredible pickup for smoothness and refinement. the H2+ was great, but i was after something just a bit punchier with more lower-mid push that i heard in dann huff's tone.
i would characterize the H3 has being every bit as smooth and refined as the H2+, but with a little bit more lower mid punch and about the same amount of smooth top end. the midrange is a bit richer, but it's not a honky or nasal sound by any stretch of the imagination. another thing which i love about the pickup is that it's very responsive. a lot of high-output pickups lack dynamics and they tend to sound very compressed--the H3 responds beautifully well to picking dynamics, and it's wonderful to explore the nuances of switching between flatpicking and fingerpicking and hear how the pickup responds to it. the tone is wonderfully warm, rich, and fat, and it's a fantastic match for the instrument. i highly recommend it if you're looking for a great big, punchy tone with a high output that still retains dynamics and top-end definition.
as far as clean tones go, there's a tendency for high-output pickups to sound cloudy or undefined on clean tones, but that isn't the case with this pickup. it's very warm but it still has top-end clarity to it, and it's capable of some great, full-sounding clean tones.
as i stated before, this is the pickup used to ensure the tonal richness of mesa/boogie amplifiers. i'm sure that's one reason why it sounds so good with the mesa tremoverb that i play!
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: i play rock, pop and funk stuff, and for what i do, this pickup is a fantastic choice. i give it my highest recommendation, though i wouldn't use it in the neck position. this is really a bridge humbucker.
Overall Rating
Comments: i'm satisfied with the tone...i've stopped searching. the H2+ was a great pickup, but i found myself yearning for slightly more lower-midrange punch. at the same time i didn't want to sacrifice top-end clarity in the pickup for that tone. for what i want, this is THE pickup. i can give no higher recommendation--this is the BEST bridge humbucker i've ever played.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value
Submitted by: john ou <andergtr@aol.com>
Submitted at: 11:57, 2/9/97
Product Info
Pickup features: passive humbucking, f-spaced
Impedence or other specs:
Price Paid: cdn $95
Purchased from: steve's music, ottawa
Instrument
Model of guitar or bass: custom warmoth
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: duncan jb
Other pickups on guitar: strat pickups
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): rock
Reason for pickup change:
Sound
Perceived output level: fairly hot
Tone: middy, but balanced
Sonic evaluation: very good. sounds great into a marshall.
my guitar is too bright in the other positions, but this pickup is great. i would definitely chekc out other anderson pickups.
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:
Overall Rating
Comments:
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 9
Submitted by: terry <tmoxness@planeteer.com>