Tanglewood Earth 1000

1999 Korea, Natural finish solid spruce top with rosewood back and sides dreadnaught, gold-plated Grover tuners, abalone fret markers and rosette. (Basically a Martin D-45 rip-off). Complete with spare pegs, allen key wrench, bridge and bridge lifters, and adjustment/maintenance booklet.

In general it owns a rich, bright sound and comes across loud and clear. Great for all kinds of playing, but (for me) lends itself better to fingerpicking and jazz played with a harder pick and 12 gauge strings. Compared with countless other acoustic guitars I played before I bought it, the Earth won hands down on tone and sound in general, which, at the end of day, is pretty much the most important facet of any guitar.

The first one that the store got in for me was apparently set up beyond adjustment and they ordered me another one in (maybe I gave them the impression I was somewhat particular) and the action (after they made some minor adjustments) was superb, as low as it can be without sacrificing anything.
What first caught my attention was the quality of the craftsmanship for a guitar of this value. It was flawless. Attention to detail is amazing, right down to the minute abalone circles that are inlayed in the string pegs, to the intricate little inlays around the binding. The abolone really sets it off and when caught in the light are really deep and almost hologram like. Even the back is finished with some blonde striped set into the rosewood. It just ouzes quality. And the great thing about it is - it's not there in attempt to disguise an otherwise weak guitar - they just pulled out all the stops.
Faults if any, well one. The spruce top was poorly bookmatched in colour and to be honest, I didn't notice this until I got it home. Would it have made me not buy it had I of noticed it, no. Nobody else has noticed unless I point it out, but something to check for when you go to buy one.
Playability - awesome. Great action and with the abalone hexagonal fret markers string bending seems easy without wearing down the frets too much.

It is still in pretty much the same condition as when it left the shop (bought in Sunderland, England by the way) and will no doubt stand up for many more years (I've had it 4 years - on a stand, uncased). As with most acoustics - they only get better with age, and my Earth is a fine example of this. The spruce is slowly beginning to darken with age.
I took it into a shop to have the neck adjusted one time after it had got hot in a car. They cleaned it up for me and it looked like a new guitar.
Never used it much on a strap altough I intend to soon, however, the strap button looks a little weak (of the white plastic variety). I jam with it all the time and it is the one guitar (out of 3-5) that is never unplayed - it's always the first to be picked up.

Only problem that I've ever had was the car incident mentioned before. Easy job for a good luthier/repair man. I don't beleive it ever came with a warranty, but I bought it from a good store who would have fixed anything major if it had not been my fault. Check out their web-site at:

http://www.muzonet.com/tanglewood/

I've been playing now for 10 years and also own a DeArmond X155, a Peavy Predator (everyone has one of those somewhere!), and a half decent classical.
If my Earth 1000 was lost or stolen and I was still as poor as I was when I bought the original then I would definately look for another one. I look for as much bang for my buck as I can, and trust me, I researched this one to the extreme. And at the time, for $420 - I felt I bought a $2,500 guitar, they really are that good. I compared it to Seaguls, Simon and Patrick, Epiphone (acoustics - terrible), Hohner, Ibanez and Fender.
In a nutshell: a high quality guitar at a great price. All the extras that make it look a million dollars, with quality craftsmanship that makes it sound superb. The best buy for me from last century without a doubt.
If you can get over it not having a particularly noteworthy brand name (I can't wait until Tanglewood get more exposure from contemporary mainstream bands) you will not regret ever buying it. If you wanted the same sound from a top brand guitar add at least $1,500 to the price, otherwise you're just going to get a brand name piece of crap. Definately my favourite guitar.