Tanglewood TW10 Winterleaf Review

I have always been a big fan of Tanglewood guitars and so was particularly happy when the company sent me the TW10 for review.

Out of the collection of guitars I have sitting here at the moment, the Tanglewood TW10 stands out for two reasons. It’s the only dreadnaught in the bunch and it’s a beautiful looking guitar. With its Solid Cedar top, Mahogany back and sides and Maple binding it looks like the sort of guitar you just want to pick up and play.

As mentioned the TW10 has a Solid Cedar Top and Mahogany back and sides (layered). The neck is Nato with eboncore fingerboard (a composite material) and techwood bridge. The nut and compensated Saddle are both ‘NuBone’ a derivative of Graph Tech’s highly resonant TUSQ material. Manufactured to very close tolerances under high heat and pressure it produces..according to Graph Tech “clear highs, a nice low end with overall fullness and a balanced sound that has increased harmonics and volume”. Having played the TW10 quite extensively I can’t argue with that. Strings are Elixir Nanoweb and machine heads are Grovers.

There are 20 well-finished frets and the neck joins the body at the 14th fret. This is a cutaway model so you have full access right up to the 20th fret. Scale length is 25.5″ (64.8 cm) and nut width is 43mm.

This particular TW10 came very well set up out of the box with action at the first fret just slightly over 2mm and approx 3.5mm at the 12th fret. As a result, there is not even a hint of fret buzz no matter where you are on the fretboard. This makes the TW10 a real pleasure to play.

The TW10 also has a beautiful natural finish which is something I have always preferred as I think it lets the guitar breathe. A gloss finish on a guitar looks nice and when properly done does not detract from the sound but I do like the natural look.

The TW10 produces wonderfully rich harmonics and a sweetness of tone that lends itself very well to fingerstyle playing as well as strumming. Cedar often lacks clarity at volume but I didn’t notice that with the TW10. It is probably not as “bright” as a Spruce top guitar but I found it equally at home played softly or driven hard with a pick.

As for electronics The TW10 is fitted with Tanglewood’s own Premium Plus system. This features controls for bass, mid, treble, and presence, along with a separate volume control knob, phase switch and the convenience of an onboard digital chromatic tuner which I found to work amazingly well.

To sum up I can say I have definitely enjoyed my time with the TW10. It’s a good all-rounder and if you are in the market for a great value for money dreadnaught that doesn’t compromise on quality the TW10 should be on your shortlist.