Pete Anderson came to prominence in the ’80s
as country star Dwight Yoakam’s lead guitarist
and producer. Along with the Blasters and Los
Lobos, Yoakam and Anderson brought roots
music into the Los Angeles punk and alternative
clubs, establishing a fresh audience for a new
genre that would soon become “Americana.”
Thanks to Anderson’s twang-infused Tele work
and back-to-basics production, Yoakam was
embraced by Nashville as a “new traditionalist,”
creating country-radio hits alongside George
Strait and Randy Travis. Not satisfied with sticking
to chicken pickin’ and crying steel guitars,
the team crafted songs like “Fast as You” that
revealed elements of Anderson’s Detroit blues
beginnings. His post-Yoakam solo music delves
deeper into the blues, while his work with singer
Moot Davis explores swing and rockabilly.
Searching for an instrument that could handle the
variety of styles at his fingertips, Anderson joined
forces with Joe Naylor at Reverend Guitars.
Anderson had been playing a modified Epiphone
Joe Pass archtop on the road for a few years, and
the tweaks he made to that instrument inspired
him to design his own dream machine with
Naylor. The result is the Pete Anderson Signature
guitar—Reverend’s first hollowbody.
Hot-Rodded Hollow
The PA’s body consists of a laminated spruce top
and laminated maple back and sides. Reverend
offers the guitar in two finishes—satin vintage
clear (the color of the model we tested) and
satin black. The lack of a gloss finish gives the
guitar a funky, road dog look, while the set-neck
construction and cream binding on the body,
f-holes, and three-piece korina neck speak of a
classier instrument. It’s a combination that works
well to express Anderson’s fondness for pawnshop
specials.
The guitar’s 2 3/8" body is fully hollow but
sports a novel top brace that Reverend calls the
Uni-Brace. This single wood strip starts at the
neck block and ends at a second block under
the bridge. This bridge block allows Reverend to
mount a fixed Tune-o-matic-style bridge, rather
than the moveable wooden bridge often found
on hollowbody and archtop guitars. If you’re
like Anderson—used to performing wide blues
bends and pedal-steel licks—a fixed bridge
is essential. The Uni-Brace runs the body’s full
depth, but because it’s only a ½" wide it allows
the instrument to retain the classic tonal characteristics
of a hollow f-hole guitar.
Running along the bass-string side of the body,
the Uni-Brace divides the interior and limits internal
air movement. This contributes significantly
toward reducing uncontrollable feedback at higher
stage volumes. Connecting the bridge block
to the neck block, the Uni-Brace also increases
sustain and adds structural integrity. This reinforcement
prevents the neck from pulling up and
forward over time. Stiffening the bass side of the
body also increases low-string punch and clarity.
Other modern specs include a 1 11/16" graphite
nut, low-friction roller saddles, and Reverend
Pin-Lock machine heads. These all help keep
the guitar in tune when using the Bigsby B70
vibrato. The nut and rollers offer silky string slippage,
while the tuners eliminate the need for
any string windings that might loosen and fail to
tighten up fully as you work the Bigsby arm.