Tanglewood Evolution TSJ Super Jumbo Electro Acoustic Guitar

Top - Spruce
Body - Mahogany, Abolone rosette
Binding - Maple all round
Neck - Mahogany
Fingerboard - Rosewood
Machines - Grover style, Chrome
Bridge - Rosewood
Pickup - B-Band A3 EQ system
Controls - 3 band EQ, presence, Volume

From their new Evolution range, this entry level Super Jumbo is something Tanglewood have never done before, a sub £250 large bodied electro acoustic with a world class pickup system.
Based on their popular Sundance Pro TW55, this is one smart cookie. The headstock is Tanglewoods standard square shape, with a fully gloss finished and beautifully bound in pale Maple. With a nice shiny silver Tanglewood logo on the back, and 3 a side chrome machine heads, the headstock is small and compact, unaffecting the guitars balance.
The neck is pretty big and fat, in Mahogany showing a good grain and again a fully glossed finish. Fully bound in Maple, the Rosewood fingerboard is good and smooth with decent fretwork tidily polished off. Large white dots indicate the fretboard position.
The neck joins the body at the 14th fret on the bass side, with the deep cutaway on the treble side joining at the 17th, giving good access to all 22 frets. The chunky neck joint has a Maple cap, but no strap button.
The Mahogany body is fully Maple bound, which is pretty good on a guitar at this level, it looks very smart, but on closer inspection, small bits of wood stain and varninsh have strayed onto the clean Maple. The back of the guitar also has a Maple centre join.
The B Band electro acoustic unit gives you the ability to amplify the sound to a level suitable for live performances with other instruments. The lower chrome straphook doubles up as the cable jack, and the control unit sits on the upper bout of the body, This Equaliser gives active control over bass, middle and treble frequencies. There are also presence and volume controls to let you adjust the tone before it goes to an amplifier. The introduction of these EQ's onto Tanglewood entry level instruments is a massive plud, usually reserved for their Premier and Sundance ranges only.
The top on the TSJ is Spruce, finished in the all black gloss or traditional vintage sunburst. Capped off with a Rosewood bridge, the appearance of these guitars is bold and noticable.
The tones are actually quite sweet, fingerpickers will find the harmonics good, with clear tone and good sustain across the full range. Strumming chords is good fun as well, big booming sounds aplenty, lots of volume here!
A grat addition to the Evolution range, the Super Jumbo is certainly a bit different, something you should definately add to your arsenal of guitars.

£251 with FREE GigBag and Spare Coated Strings worth £29.90