TANGLEWOOD
GUITAR COMPANY UK
MasterDesign Series TSR2
BY GAYLA DRAKE PAUL
Tanglewood Guitar Company UK has been
around since 1991, producing the best-selling brand of acoustic guitars in the UK
and Ireland. They’ve only recently begun
to market the brand here in the States, so
we were curious and excited to take a look
at one of their newest offerings from the
MasterDesign Series, designed by Swedish
luthier Michael Sanden.
Sanden has been building guitars in Sweden
for over thirty years, earning a reputation
for innovation and beauty, as well as for
his signature brilliant tone. The collaboration includes six guitars sporting Sanden’s
distinctive “paint brush” bridge and bracing pattern, available in either mahogany
or rosewood. The MasterDesign Series
guitars are made in China from Sanden’s
blueprints, and to his standards. The guitar
we received for review is in the rosewood
series, a grand auditorium with a Tibetan
spruce top, three-piece mahogany neck and
bindings, and ebony fretboard and bridge.
It’s a rather voluptuous shape, almost more
like a jumbo than a GA. The box is deep at
the bottom and angles up steeply to the
neck, which Sanden feels increases projection dramatically.
PREMIER GUITAR OCTOBER 2009 147 PRODUCT REVIEW
convention as the bassy side of tone is the
American convention. He explained, “I think
over the years the way European guitars are
made has been more and more differentiated
from the American guitars, like the Martin
dreadnaught. And of course, we don’t brace
at all the same way as a dreadnaught, for
instance. We try to have more definition in
each range between the bass, middle and
top. In these guitars the bass is there, but it’s
more clear.” The TSR2 certainly has definition
and punch—just no rumble.
Play it, don’t spray it
Factory strung with Elixir .012 guage strings,
it’s very comfortable and playable. I heard
no buzzing or distortion anywhere on the
fretboard, and everything I played felt natural
and easy. The fretboard is 1-3/4 inches at the
nut, so it’s a great choice for fingerstyle
guitarists. The zero fret is another nice
touch. There’s a sharper angle on the
headstock, but the strings don’t fan
out as much as some guitars, adding
some stability when shifting between
altered tunings. Fingerstylists and
singer-songwriters gotta love that.
Let’s talk about tone
This guitar is bright, very bell-like and not
at all brittle, but it sounds nothing like an
American guitar. From mids to top, it’s
a powerhouse: defined, clear, sweet and
pure. Dropped into DADGAD or lower, it
doesn’t really fatten up much; it’s got a
very lean bass response. If you’re addicted
to warm, round, booming bass, you will
want to look elsewhere.
We recently had a Schertler guitar in for a
web exclusive review, and it had a similar
sound, with the focus on the top end. It
took our ears a little time to get used to it,
but we found after a while that we liked it.
Same goes for this guitar. I decided to talk
to Michael Sanden to see if this focus on
the bright side is as much of a European
There was a very pleasant surprise
in store when I put a capo on at the
fifth fret. There was no difference
in the fullness of the sound.
Speechless, I pulled the capo
off and listened to the open
sound of the guitar, then
replaced it and listened
again. It sounded the
same, only higher. To
me, that’s extremely
significant. Sometimes
I dread putting a capo
on a guitar, because so
many guitars lose their
luster when you capo
them, even some high-end guitars. If you’re going
to pay close to two grand
for a guitar, it’d better stay lively
above the fifth fret, and this one does.
