The Gold Standard
This Gold Standard features a distinctive combination of modern styling and traditional sunburst. A 14k gold wire line runs from the peghead to the tailpiece, dividing black ebony and macassar ebony. The New York sunburst is applied over the highest quality German maple and German spruce. The entire instrument is framed in a simple, bold, white celluloid binding. This unique instrument displays considerable attention to detail, both in design and execution. See a variation on this Model in the Galleries section. Features: 16″ or 17″ wide body German spruce top German maple back and sides Deluxe hard shell case included… Read more »
Emerald City
Borrowing its moniker from a popular nickname for Seattle, the Emerald City is among the most ornate of the Andersen archtop guitars. It’s curvaceous lines are stylistically inspired by the Art Deco movement of the early 1900’s. Careful attention to detail and timeless elegance combine to make the Emerald City an object of beauty, as well as a remarkable sounding guitar. Construction details include engraved mother of pearl truss rod cover, ivoroid binding around the body, f-holes, neck and peghead, and the most highly figured domestic maple for back, sides and neck. In addition, a unique tailpiece made of carbon… Read more »
Double Top
This guitar incorporates a top formed by laminating two very thin layers of Engelmann spruce with a center core of a composite Kevlar material called Nomex. It is inspired by the recent work of a number of innovative makers of classical and flattop guitars. The two spruce layers are each slightly more than 1 mm thick, and the Nomex core is 2 mm thick. The resulting plate is approximately the same thickness as a carved spruce top, but is about half the weight, with similar stiffness. The term “double top” is used to describe a soundboard built in this manner. The back is… Read more »
Models 16, 17, 18
The Andersen Models 16, 17 and 18 are elegant in their simplicity. Crafted using less inlay and decoration than my premium instruments, I am able to build a guitar whose tone, playability, design and materials are still first class, while being sensitive to the final price. Body, neck, f-holes and peghead are bound in ivoroid. Also available with rosewood binding instead of ivoroid. Standard features: Engelmann Spruce soundboard 3″ body depth Scale length: 25.4″ or 24.9″ Schaller tuners Available in 16″, 17″ or 18″ body width Please inquire about availability (The guitar shown at left is a Model 18) Available… Read more »
Vanguard
The Vanguard combines carved, solid wood top, back, and sides with a mounted pickup. There are several advantages when building the pickup and controls into the top as opposed to the floating style. There are more pickups to choose from; some players prefer the amplified tone of a mounted pickup over a floater; there is more range to the adjustments of pickup and pole piece height; controls and jack are more conveniently located. The use of carved plates and solid woods allows a very good acoustic tone to match up with a distinctive amplified sound. Standard features: Your choice of… Read more »
Little Archie
This guitar design arose from conversations I had with Bill Frisell concerning a guitar he could travel with. Since building the first “Little Archie” for Bill in 1996, I’ve found the appeal of a small, easily carried archtop to be wider than I had expected. The lower bout is 14″, and the body depth 2″ or 2.5″. Yet the guitar is “full-sized” in the areas that really count: Scale length, neck size and shape, and bridge and soundboard design. Because I consider this a professional or performer’s guitar, a “floating” magnetic pickup is included. The “Little Archie” sounds incredible plugged… Read more »
Oval Hole Archtop
This guitar is an archtop with a warmer sound than the traditional archtop. The oval soundhole gives the guitar more sustain than the f-hole top. It has the projection and power of a good archtop, with the harmonic complexity and sustain more common to the flattop. This makes the guitar very versatile whether played with a flatpick or fingertips, fast or slow, loud or soft. The overall design of the instrument is intended to make the guitar as lightweight and resonant as possible. The only binding is a single strip of rosewood around the top and back of the body…. Read more »
Electric Archie
ELECTRIC ARCHIE The original version is a result of Bill Frisell’s interest in a guitar that would work as an all around traveling and recording guitar. Based on the standard Little Archie, which Bill also helped design, this takes a big step towards being an electric guitar while maintaining certain acoustic aspects. It had a carved top and back like a traditional archtop, but the top was been left full thickness in the center to provide a solid platform for the pickups. See the photo at lower right below. This version (no longer available) has evolved into: NEW ELECTRIC ARCHIE … Read more »
Concert
The Andersen Concert Model guitar is the only standard flattop guitar in my line. It has been produced since I started my business in 1980. It is a very versatile guitar, well balanced, with good volume and projection. There is a lot of room for customizing the sound, depending on the choice of woods used. The standard wood choice for the Concert model is a top of engelmann spruce, back and sides of Indian rosewood. This combination produces a well-balanced guitar with good sustain and overtones. Changing the back and sides to Brazilian rosewood will give the tone just a… Read more »
Metropolitan
The Metropolitan is an archtop steeped in the New York City school of guitarmaking – yet designed with the modern player in mind. The Andersen Metropolitan is an inspiring instrument, whether being played purely as an acoustic instrument to drive a rhythm section, or playing single-note melody lines. Construction details include hand-engraved mother of pearl inlays, ivoroid binding around the body, f-holes, neck and peghead, and the most highly figured domestic maple for back, sides and neck. Standard features: • Engelmann spruce top • Highest grade domestic figured maple • “Imperial” style mother of pearl tuner buttons • 3″… Read more »
Mandolin
F-STYLE GOLD STANDARD MANDOLIN PROTOTYPE This is an interpretation of the classic Gibson F-5 mandolin. Between 1982 and 1994 I built over 100 mandolins including dozens of F-5 copies. I chose to quit building the F-5 in 1994. Since then, I have often played with the idea of doing a re-design that would reflect my own design sense. This one-off mandolin is the result of my effort. As of 2018 I am no longer building mandolins.
StreamLine
The StreamLine model has been the inspiration for my non-custom approach to making guitars. The StreamLine is a standardized instrument. It is hand-made in my one-man Seattle shop using the same materials and designs found on my more expensive guitars. By keeping the ornamentation to a minimum, I can offer it at a lower price reletively low. I use solid woods for the top and back, like every other model. I happen to really like this model: it has a very straightforward design that I like to think of as a simple elegance. And, at $6200, you’d be hard… Read more »