Product: Tanglewood TW30
Price Paid: US $368
Submitted
11/04/2001
at
10:33am
by
Peter Cashell
Email: petercashell at eircom<dot>net
Features
:
6
Korean made electro-acoustic with a solid spruce top and laminated back and sides. Cutaway body shape it includes a Fishman Classic 4 equaliser and die cast Tanglewood machine heads. No case included.
Sound
:
7
Great projection across the acoustic spectrum. I bought in Ireland and found nothing to excite me quite like this one in the price range. It works equally well both acoustically and through the Laney 30watt acoustic amp I bought at the same time. I am using it through a full range PA for gigs - Using the Laney for monitoring purposes. One disturbing thing I found in the live gig situation is the presence of a buzz on barre chords midway up the fret board. I have been unable to reproduce the effect in rehersal so I am trying to isolate the problem.....the set up may not be prefect yet.
I play in a seven piece band contributing rhythm guitar and I alternate between this acoustic and my old trusty Strat. I am generally very please with the sound. We are a people friendly covers band playing well worn covers but the TW30 does add a nice, well rounded acoustic dimension.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
Low action and very easy to handle. I have found absolutely no constructional flaws to date. I like the finish, feel and fit of this guitar. It offers me lots in terms of playability that I found it difficult to get in the many guitars I tried prior to buying this one.
Reliability/Durability
:
7
This is a solidly built, well designed guitar at an affordable price. I have managed to gig it now for many months without incident. It has even resisted the attentions of well intentioned wedding guests. Mothig has fallen off broken or stopped working since I bought it.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
This has not been necessary. I may howevre ask the shop where I bought it to take a look at the set-up as I am still unsure what is causing the "buzz" halfway up the fret board in the heat of battle live on stage.
Overall Rating
:
8
I have found this to be a good buy in general. It is solid reliable, sounds great and performs well both acoustically and amplified. I tried many guitars in all price ranges and although this is at the lower to middle end of the price range I felt that there was a large gap between it and guitars costing five times as much. I felt it played as well as any and better than most that I tried. I did try a Baby Taylor and fell in love but this was not an option as I did'nt want to go trying to stick a pickup in such a beautiful sounding instrument. If you are buying an acoustic guitar try the Taylor Big Baby.....I thought it was absolutely amazing.
