Tanglewood Parlour Guitars
Reserve series that aims to provide good quality traditional tone woods at reasonable prices. Rare and precious timbers like rosewood probably won’t be available for mass guitar production in the near future as the drive to conserve the world’s resources limits their availability, but Tanglewood has accumulated enough high quality rosewood in order to be able to offer affordable guitars while its stocks last. Compared to the lower priced TW 173 this guitar displays a distinctly more upmarket feel. It features a vintage style slotted peghead, gold plated open geared tuners and an onboard B-Band T35 active preamp powered by a single 9 volt battery, which is located adjacent to the lower strap button beside the jack input. This wide displacement of the preamp’s main control panel and the battery compartment feels unusual compared to a preamp with an integrated battery housing but the T35’s remote setup still works from a practical perspective. The spring loaded quick release lid also allows for mercifully fast battery changes. At first this guitar’s general build quality feels fairly good, with the high gloss sunburst spruce top on this example conveying an appropriately vintage- style appearance. The only thing that spoils our review instrument is some untidy work around the top nut
which suggests that the nut has been replaced at the factory by a narrower nut that doesn’t fit its slot as snugly as it should, leaving some tool work around both edges of the nut slot. To be honest we were surprised to see that this even made it through quality control, especially judging by Tanglewood’s usually high standard of finishing and the generally good workmanship otherwise found on this particular guitar. A better example of Tanglewood’s capabilites is probably demonstrated by the smart figured maple trim edging the fingerboard, body and the join between both sides of the rosewood back. The workmanship here is flawless and is backed up by a great setup, the medium playing action and neatly finished fret ends both provide a very forgiving and comfortable playing environment.
Sounds
Amplified, the B-Band preamp does a very impressive job of conveying a lot of the inherent sweetness and complexity of this Tanglewood’s tones. The rosewood and spruce combo might sound slightly less forceful than the cedar/mahogany construction employed on its two sisters but to our ears there is nevertheless plenty of natural acoustic projection and the amplified tones generally reproduce the guitar’s natural colour and depth with good consistency. The versatile three-band EQ seems capable of balancing the guitar with whatever type of amplification and playing environment you happen to be using, with a handy phase switch that can be employed as an extra anti-feedback measure, just in case. The built-in digital tuner also works really well, even when the guitar is being used purely acoustically, and this preamp is also extremely quiet for a low cost unit. Acoustically, those who prefer a little more top end shimmer will appreciate the TRP 73 VS-E’s engaging mixture of detail and refinement. Impressive volume and presence is balanced by a delicacy that says a lot about the unique tonal qualities of rosewood. If this appeals to you then Tanglewood’s Rosewood Reserve series might be well worth checking out, especially given that it might be one of the last opportunities to sample this level of quality at such a competitive price.
TW 73-VS
The all-acoustic TW 73 – VS represents the top of the range as far as Tanglewood’s Parlour line up currently stands. At first it’s hard to discern exactly where your extra money is being spent
but a closer look begins to reveal where the flashy extras come in. The main construction involves a solid cedar top complimented by a solid mahogany back, laminated mahogany sides and a one piece mahogany neck strengthened by a small volute at the point where the peghead meets the main neck shaft. Visually, this is probably the most striking guitar of the three featured in this review; the dark cherry red-over- black sunburst finish is much darker in colour than depicted by most of the images and looks very attractive, especially combined with the top’s subtle herringbone edge binding, figured maple trim and abalone- trimmed soundhole rosette. The soft V neck profile sides are angled fairly steeply like a boat keel compared to a traditional ‘C’ neck profile. This is probably closer in spirit to a genuine Pre War parlour guitar compared to the more generic feel of its two stable-mates featured elsewhere in this review. A well cut bone nut and bone bridge saddles maintain the traditional feel and the attention to detail justifies the higher price tag, as demonstrated by pleasing aesthetic touches like the black ebony buttons on the gold-plated classic styled open geared tuners. Cool.
Sounds
A crisp, lively treble and a measured warm bass are both notable qualities that fingerstyle players in particular should find makes the TW 73-VS a very easy guitar to get on with. The well balanced tone and a good dynamic range has a bright and sparkly treble register that doesn’t degenerate into an unpleasant ‘fingernails-down-a-blackboard’ screech that you often find on lower priced guitars, whilst the bass frequencies are similarly strong but not overbearing or dull. In terms of overall volume you don’t
get the sheer oomph of a typical dreadnought but the dreadnought was designed to meet the demands of an era when the guitar was enjoying an increasing profile as a band instrument, whereas the parlour guitar dates back to a different time when it’s strident yet intimate sound was ideal for solo work or accompanying a vocalist. In this context the TW 73-VS represents a very impressive guitar for a relatively modest amount of money. PM
SHOULD I BUY ONE?
If you are in the market for a parlour guitar or even just a good quality affordable steel string in general then it seems that Tanglewood has all of the bases pretty much covered. Having experienced very few issues regarding Tanglewood’s build quality up until now, we’d urge you to give the dodgy top nut on our review TRP 73-VSE the benefit of the doubt and look at the bigger picture because generally speaking there is little to fault either in terms of build quality or sounds on any of these guitars. Tanglewood has certainly changed our preconceptions about how much genuine value can be squeezed from a fairly low cost guitar and these parlour models – and particularly the superb TW 73-VS – represent a refreshing new angle for anyone looking for a good quality yet very affordable acoustic.
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Tanglewood TRP 73 VS-E
Tanglewood TW 73 VS
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