Tanglewood TSB58 'Signature' Electric Guitar Reviewed by Guitarbitz

Tanglewood TSB58 Cherry Sunburst

Tanglewood have an excellent reputation in the UK's sub £500 acoustic guitar market, they are the leading brand, and they have always made decent electric and bas guitars as well.

The all new Signature by Tanglewood TSB58 is their best electric ever though, a faithful LP style make for that £300 price point, with the most playability at this level.

Tanglewood TSB58 Ebony

Make no mistake, if you're after a Les Paul, this is THE BEST one we have seen at £300ish, and that includes Tokai, Epiphone and all the others. The Entwistle pickups are top quality with Alnico magnets, you get a solid Mahogany body with flame Maple veneer on the Cherry Sunburst version, and a neck that plays like a dream.

Tanglewood TSB58 Cherry Sunburst Left Handed

The headstock is small and compact, gloss black to the front with cream binding, a small 3 ply black truss rod cover and a beautiful green Abalone crown and Signature motif on the front. Very nice.

The back also has a gloss finish, with 2 rows of 3-a-side tuners in the Vintage Kluson style, Chrome die-cast with green plastic tulip buttons. The back also has Tanglewoods logo in gold script and the guitars serial number.

The Mahogany neck feels slim, a shallow D profile, nut width is just 42mm, 12th fret width is about 54mm. The Rosewood fingerboard is fully bound in cream plastic, and has large white Abalone crown markers.

One of the most important factors in a sub £500 instrument is how it plays, and the fingerboard plays a huge part in this. The Signature TSB58 has a beautifully finished board, the Rosewood is hard with a tight grain and has been polished and buffed to a high standard.

The guitar has also been well set-up by the factory, with an action of about 3mm across the board at the 12th fret. Fretwork is also excellent, no rough edges or file marks to be found, this all makes playing a joy, with bends and fast runs so much easier.

The neck joins the Mahogany body at the 16th fret on the bass side and 19th on the treble side, the cutaway here gives good access to the upper register. The back of the heel joint, where the neck joins the body, has been nicely shaped as well, making things very comfortable up there.

The back of the body is plain apart from 2 cream access plates to get into the electrics should you need to. The back edges are nicely rounded, again making the guitar more comfortable to play.

The front of the TSB58 is bound in cream plastic, and we have matching pickup surrounds, selector switch knob and scratchplate. The 4 control knobs, 2 volumes and 2 tones, are amber speed knobs.

The hardware is all Chrome, the familiar stop tailpiece and tune-o-matic bridge you'd expect to find on a Les Paul, and of course the 2 humbuckers, Entistle HV58's with Alnico magnets for extra power and clarity.

Played acoustically the Signature 58 nice a bright chiming ring to it, good sustain and plenty of clear notes. On the clean channel this is brought out more, the 58 is great for funk and jazz, pop and rock 'n' roll, with chordal work bright and soloing clear.

On the drive channel, the TSB58 also performs admirably, rhythm work is mean and moody, solo's are delivered with piercing sustain.

A superb all round LP style guitar, this Signature by Tanglewood has gained a great reputation since its release, and upon playing it's easy to see why. A lovely guitar you will never want to put down.

Specifications:-
Body: Solid Mahogany

Top: Flame Maple veneer
Neck: Mahogany - Set
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Frets: 22
Tuners: Kluson style with Tulip Buttons
Bridge: Tune-o-matic
Pickups: 2 * Entwistle Alnico HV58
Hardware: Chrome
Controls: 2 x Volume 2 x Tone 3-Way Selector Switch