Guitarists!? I could do with some advice, please.

[beanzontoast]

I want to extend my improving guitar experience beyond my dreadnought by getting a smaller acoustic - a parlour or orchestra-bodied. In part, this is to explore the different fingerpicking sound quality, and as an added bonus to be able to strum more quietly (I have neighbours) than on the dreadnought. Onboard tuner and pickup would be useful too. I’m on a strict budget around £150.

I’m unable to get to a physical guitar store, so have been reading reviews, customer feedback and watching You Tube videos over the past few weeks. Haven‘t found a parlour in that bracket, but I’ve landed on these two orchestra-bodied guitars as possibles:

Tanglewood Crossroads TWCR OE
Tanglewood Blackbird TWBB OE

Which of the two would you choose, and why?

 

[Dave 123]

I have had A Tanglewood TW45 NSB for 10 years.
it’s a lovely guitar to play with a nice warm sound. I use Elixir strings.

I‘m not a fan of the look of the two you suggested, but Tanglewood do make nice guitars.

 

[beanzontoast]

Must admit, I’d have gone with a parlour had I been able to find one. I thought I had at one point, but then read a couple of reviews who’d had similar issues with theirs after a few months.

The two Tanglewoods seem quite similar, spec-wise. I’ve yet to find anyone who has actually played one though.

 

[Specialeyes]

Looking at the spec of those 2 Tanglewoods, they're dimensionally exactly the same and made of the same tonewoods so unless there's some difference in the bracing then the only differences are in colour/finish and the electronics. The Blackbird seems to have a nicer set of electronics (rotaries rather than sliders and a phase button to help with feedback) so I guess it depends how important playing plugged-in is to you. Personally I prefer the look of the Blackbird as the sunburst finish looks a bit heavy for my tastes, and that alone would make me pay the extra £30 as I'd play it more

Tanglewoods are exceptionally good value for money - I had a lovely slot-head mahogany parlour from Tanglewood a few years ago and it punched well above its price bracket, so I don't think you'd go far wrong with either.

Parlour guitars are frankly great, but OMs really can do everything. They're loud enough to hold their own in a jam and delicate enough for solo fingerstyle.

 

[beanzontoast]

That confirms what I’d started to think - I was struggling to see much difference beyond what you’ve mentioned.

 

[PaulB]

You should look at Harley Benton. You might be interested in this one but the Thomann website has some crackers at a decent price. https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_be...line.htm?sid=21f0726d1bcc1a416486a22aa2351d3f

I got a Harley Benton as a semi-acoustic to compliment my range of twangy things and I love the sound and the solidity of it.

 

[beanzontoast]

Thanks for the suggestion, Paul. I’ll have a look.

I am open to any other nominations people may have too. Research is the cheap part! 🙂

 

[Broadside]

Tanglewood do offer very good value for money, I’ve got a 30 year old Tanglewood electric which was not expensive back then but is still a nice guitar to play.

I bought an OM sized electro acoustics a few months ago, the onboard tuner is really handy and it is plenty loud enough to play at home without being plugged in.

Guitar Guitar have a pretty good website but at the £150 budget you may struggle to find an electro acoustic as it tends to add about £30 to the price of a regular acoustic but it’s worth it for the onboard tuner IMO. If you’ve found a Tanglewood electro acoustic at £150 that’s probably not a bad bet.

 

[beanzontoast]

Cheers for those thoughts, Broadside 🙂

Other things being equal, I’m leaning towards the Blackbird as it does look smarter to me than the Crossroads, and as a first electro-acoustic, should give me a lot of fun. Having an onboard tuner is another positive. I use a clip-on at present, and though it’s great, I have managed to make it ping off across the room (thankfully onto carpeted flooring) a couple of times recently 😅

 

[Cycleops]

Just thought I'd make you aware there is a Bassists and Guitarists thread over in Hobbies and Interests section. I'm sure you'd get a better response to your questions there. Hope to see you there

 

[MontyVeda]

I'd be looking for a solid top on an acoustic, but whether that'll fall in your budget i don't know.