Established in 1984, Tom Anderson Guitarworks is an American company dedicated to creating the highest quality electric guitars. Tom Anderson started out working for Dave Schecter in 1977 and stayed until the company was sold in 1984. Anderson then started his own company, whose first contract was building pickups for Schecter Japan.

After moving to a dedicated building they also started making guitar bodies and necks, which were sold to high end builders (e.g. Valley Arts, John Suhr, Roger Sadowsky, and Jim Tyler). Until 1987, the company's focus was producing parts for others, but that year they brought some completed guitars to the NAMM Show and signed with several dealers. In the following years sales grew, and in 1990 they stopped selling parts to focus on building completed instruments. To further internalise the production, they started doing their own paintwork in 1992, and by 1993 the only parts they don't manufacture themselves are metal hardware like tuners and bridges.

The company has always adopted innovative technology where it can improve quality. In 1988 they began to use a multi-purpose CNC machine. Tom Anderson and Bob Taylor worked together to adapt ultra-violet lighting to use for curing painted instruments. In 2006 their models started featuring a new neck joint called A-Wedgie, a compound wedge that requires little pressure to keep the neck in place and thus only uses two screws while most common joints use four.The company has also used the Buzz Feiten tuning system on their guitars for many years, due to improved intonation.

Tom Anderson announced in late 2006 that he would downsize the company to a one-man operation because it was wearing him out. A few weeks later another announcement came, reversing the previous one after Anderson and the company received an "outpouring of support for our guitars and the company as a whole."