Anderson H2 Yellow
(Passive humbucker)
Submitted at: 21:13, 12/10/2000
Product Info
Pickup features: Humbucker
Impedence or other specs: about 10k
Price Paid: US $45 used
Purchased from: store
Instrument
Model of guitar or bass: reissue srat with warmoth vintage style neck
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: dimarzio
Other pickups on guitar: van zants
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): classic rock mostly
Reason for pickup change: had an anderson 10 years ago and remembered liking it a lot
Sound
Perceived output level: about 15-20% higher than a P.A.F.
Tone: balanced
Sonic evaluation: I'm using a marshall silver jubilee and strat in a classic rock cover band. I had one of these p/u's before and really liked it. So i decided to try another one. I'd have to say that this is probably my favorite humbucker that i've ever used. Fat and solid sounding, and it sustains real good. A lot of people swear by Duncan JB's, but i can't in my wildest dreams understand how anyone could like those over the H-2. The H-2 is so much fatter, and sustains so much more that they aren't even in the same league.
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: i think this p/u is great for rock and blues, but wouldn't be good for metal
Overall Rating
Comments: i'd not only buy it again, but i doubt i'll ever buy another bucker for my strat. The last one in it was a Dimarzio that i wasn't real happy with, yet i had it in there for 7 years cuz i'm not into trying a new p/u or any gear for that matter every 10 minites as i was when i was younger. This one is good enough so that i won't be yearning to find a better sound. I rated it a 9 because i'm not naieve enough to think there isn't a better p/u to my ears out there somewhere with the thousands of models available. But when something works this good theres no reason to keep looking.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 9
Submitted by: dale <dazco@netzero.net>
Submitted at: 15:00, 8/15/97
Product Info
Pickup features: Passive Humbucker
Impedence or other specs: a bit under 10k
Price Paid: US $65
Purchased from: Music Makers, Austin, TX
Instrument
Model of guitar or bass: PRS CE22, bolt on, mahagony body
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: stock PRS Dragons, H2+, Pearly Gates
Other pickups on guitar: Duncan Alnico II Pro in the neck
Artists using this pickup: Gerald Lopez :)
You musical style(s): uh... experimental, textural, rock
Reason for pickup change: tone
Sound
Perceived output level: Slightly hot,a tad more than a "PAF", like a 59
Tone: balanced, big bottom, nice mids, smooth topend
Sonic evaluation: Killer.
This be the tone man.
I have been using Tom Anderson humbuckers in the bridge position for
several years in all types of guitars, NOTHING else has as much lowend
as the Andersons, a nice buttery midrange, smooth but clear topend,
not harsh or clanky (like a '59 and Pearly Gates are)
As to which model, it depends on the guitar, for a Swamp Ash "super strat"
guitar, go with the H2+, it's a bit fatter in the low mids, in this
guitar with a solid mahogany body the H2+ was a bit muddy (and I like a
lowmid, growly, fat yet clear tone)
I just put a H2+ in my buds G&L S500 swamp ash strat, sounds great.
As much as I respect Tom Anderson guitars, a big part of the tone
comes from the pickup, if you have a good, resonant guitar (like
my PRS and my bud's G&L) and aren't satisfied with the amplified tone,
but you "know" the guitar is good, it has a good acoustic ring to it..
and you have tried everything else... drop in an Anderson
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Actually, I can't think of any... with the right amp/settings...
Overall Rating
Comments: Tom Anderson bridge humbuckers are the best on the planet. period.
Gerald Lopez's review pretty much nailed it.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value
Submitted by: Charles Coker <charlesc@hhsc.state.tx.us>
Submitted at: 2:20, 4/15/97
Product Info
Pickup features: Passive full-size Hbucker - large poles good for G- or F- spacing
Impedence or other specs: 12 non adjustable pole magnets, brass plate, 4-cond wiring, 3H inductance per coil, 9.4 K tot. dc impedance
Price Paid: US $40 used used
Purchased from: Pedalman
Instrument
Model of guitar or bass: Valley Arts custom pro
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Tom Holmes vintage bridge humbucker
Other pickups on guitar: SD Texas Hot single coils in neck and mid
Artists using this pickup: I have no idea
You musical style(s): blues/rock/funk/jazz etc etc
Reason for pickup change: Just an experiment - the Tom Holmes (see my review) is a light
airy humbucker with a low output and a sound that approaches
single-coil nuances. I wanted to try something just a tad
hotter and fuller to get more contrast across the positions.
Sound
Perceived output level: Hotter PAF sound, tad more than a '59, less than a JB, similar to Pearly Gates
Tone: Full and warm, lot of bass and mids not large amounts of treble
Sonic evaluation: The H2 really sounds like a full humbucker and can truly warm a
strat-type guitar in the bridge position ( assuming it's routed for
a hb !).It's a hot-rodded PAF sound but with no real inherrent
distortion from the pickup unless you hit it really hard. Sustain and
compression are very good. This pickup is very balanced and warm.
There is not a huge amount of treble and therefore not a great deal
of "sparkle" unlike the Tom Holmes. It is not as aggressive on the
top end as a '59 and doesn't have those somewhat scooped mids. It
gives a full gritty chord tones and warm, smooth single note leads.
Splitting this pickup is very interesting - using the coil closest to
the mid I get the best single coil sound out of any split humbucker
I've ever heard. The sound really has something of a tele bridge
quality presumeably due to the brass plate under the pickup - you
could cover country songs with this setting. Also I suspect having
12 separate magnets ( large poles) as opposed to a single bar magnet
and 12 steel pole pieces makes a difference as this is more of a
single-coil construction technique. Also at around 4,7 Kohm the
impedance of a split off coil is getting close to an old strat
single coil; the deficit perhaps being made up by the larger and
hotter magnets. Anyway the split off single coil sounds great alone -
I was pleasantly suprised by that - and in combination with the
other pickups it sounds marvellous.
Tonal balancing of pickups is always a compromise. Imho the '59
pickups has more "character" as a humbucker, higher sensitivity
to picking style and to harmonics. At the same time it can be too
brittle on the highs for some and in comination with the rolled-off
mids it sounds very "vintage rock 'n' roll. However a '59 split does
not sound as good - it's too shrill for my tastes. The Tom Anderson
H2 is much fuller and balanced - it has less inherent "character" than
the '59 but has really made my guitar very versatile - using it in
combination with the other pickups I can get very good strat tones,
a surprisingly good Les Paul type bridge tone and even some
tele-type twang. I'm aided in all this by having both passive and
active options in the guitar with extensive filtering options. The TA
has much less "juice" than a SD Jeff Beck and imho sounds much
better played clean and split. The Tom Anderson that most closely
matches the JB in terms of output is the H2+
Anyway the guitar never sounded so good and versatile as with the H2.
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Great blues and rock humbucker very useable split very versatile - good for everything apart from highly processed and death metal sounds.
Overall Rating
Comments: Yes I would buy it again - it's a good deal and does the fatter PAF
sound very well indeed. I peronally can think of humbuckers that
sound "better" or rather "different but more distinctive" but these
have not given me such great tonal versatility as I get from this
pickup. In short I love it and I'm keeping it. If I get bored with
it I might put my '59 back in for a while but I can't imagine it
staying installed. The H2 is a great pickup - I could perhaps use a
tad more treble but then the split sounds would gain too much bite -
you can't always get everything right ??
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value
Submitted by: gerry lopez <lopez@mail.desy.de >