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phraseland
Published on 12/04/08 at 05:48
These guitars are developed in the UK and built in China. That being said I have to admit that I don't really like guitars built in China simply because it is cheaper. In my experience the company might save some money but the instrument always suffers from this in the end. There might be a fluctuation in quality or the instrument had to be built a certain way for mass production.
This model has a slightly smaller body and features a fully massive construction. The top is made of cedar and the body is made of mahagony. The neck is very slim and has a full scale (65cm). The guitar is intended for songwriting and on stage performance - or for people who simply want a smaller bodied guitar. The built in Pickup is a BBand and it complements the construction very nicely. It has grover tuners.
If you look at the price these are some really impressive features.
UTILIZATION
This guitar plays very nicely and the neck is smooth and slick. Some players might prefer a thicker radius but for me this is just fine. As with most other acoustic guitars the cutaway really is not necessary for most players and just looks cool. Ok there might be the chance you want to play a lead on e-minor and are happy to have some extra space. But come on - get an electric guitar then!
Plugging in the guitar you get a very warm and slightly compressed sound (this is the characteristic of the Bband Pickup). It is very suitable for solo performers and fingerstyle playing. If you want to really beat on the guitar then get one with a spruce top at least - this one is much too soft for heavy playing.
SOUNDS
I have to admit the sound is very nice. Usually cedar tops on steel string guitars are rather difficult to handle as they eat the highs and put too much emphasis on the lower mids. As this is a small bodied guitar already this combination works pretty well though. It is warmer and softer than a spruce top would be and therefore is more suited for open chords and single lines.
The guitar is built very well and the sound is very open and airy. It really sounds nice but I still don't like it very much. I can't say that it sounds bad but the guitar really only has one sound - and that's it. This might not be a problem for a lot of players but the more you get to know an instrument the more you expect it to deliver a certain timbre.
This one gives you exactly one of them.
OVERALL OPINION
I really like the way these guitars are built. They don't feel cheap and all the hardware and electronics that are integrated are of high quality. The neck plays nice and the intonation is quite good.
I don't like that instead of giving the guitar character and different sounds they chose to build guitars that have a lot of features and brand names attached to it instead of a unique sound character. Maybe I am being too tough on them but Tanglewood advertises this 'Developed in the UK' like these guitars are really different sounding. They are not. They are very good quality guitars made in China with a very good price. If you want that I can recommend it - if you want inspiration maybe look somewhere else.
This model has a slightly smaller body and features a fully massive construction. The top is made of cedar and the body is made of mahagony. The neck is very slim and has a full scale (65cm). The guitar is intended for songwriting and on stage performance - or for people who simply want a smaller bodied guitar. The built in Pickup is a BBand and it complements the construction very nicely. It has grover tuners.
If you look at the price these are some really impressive features.
UTILIZATION
This guitar plays very nicely and the neck is smooth and slick. Some players might prefer a thicker radius but for me this is just fine. As with most other acoustic guitars the cutaway really is not necessary for most players and just looks cool. Ok there might be the chance you want to play a lead on e-minor and are happy to have some extra space. But come on - get an electric guitar then!
Plugging in the guitar you get a very warm and slightly compressed sound (this is the characteristic of the Bband Pickup). It is very suitable for solo performers and fingerstyle playing. If you want to really beat on the guitar then get one with a spruce top at least - this one is much too soft for heavy playing.
SOUNDS
I have to admit the sound is very nice. Usually cedar tops on steel string guitars are rather difficult to handle as they eat the highs and put too much emphasis on the lower mids. As this is a small bodied guitar already this combination works pretty well though. It is warmer and softer than a spruce top would be and therefore is more suited for open chords and single lines.
The guitar is built very well and the sound is very open and airy. It really sounds nice but I still don't like it very much. I can't say that it sounds bad but the guitar really only has one sound - and that's it. This might not be a problem for a lot of players but the more you get to know an instrument the more you expect it to deliver a certain timbre.
This one gives you exactly one of them.
OVERALL OPINION
I really like the way these guitars are built. They don't feel cheap and all the hardware and electronics that are integrated are of high quality. The neck plays nice and the intonation is quite good.
I don't like that instead of giving the guitar character and different sounds they chose to build guitars that have a lot of features and brand names attached to it instead of a unique sound character. Maybe I am being too tough on them but Tanglewood advertises this 'Developed in the UK' like these guitars are really different sounding. They are not. They are very good quality guitars made in China with a very good price. If you want that I can recommend it - if you want inspiration maybe look somewhere else.