Matt P

i Haven't bought anything but i did acquire this Chord 3/4 sized acoustic on Tuesday via a freecycle -type post on facebook, i am assuming that the previous owner was a beginner as they had stickers to show basic chords on the fretboard, i gave it a cleanup and some adjustments and made a clear scratchplate for it and it play's fine, not expecting it to sound amazing but for playing in the garden or round a campfire it's fine. (and it was free!) I left the headstock stickers on as i don't mind them. here it is next to my McIlroy AS25 for scale ( the McIlroy absolutely stomps on it in terms of tone but then it would!) Matt

I've never really got on with coated strings, I have been exclusively using Newtone Heritage 12's for the last 12 years or so, they last really well and the balanced (low) tension feel is just excellent, i have given a few sets away top friends and pretty much everyone that has tried them has swapped over as well. before that i mainly used D'addario phosphor bronze, 11's then 12's for the 10 or so years before that, i did use DR (sunbeams i think) for a couple of years but swapped back to the D'addario as i could buy them locally rather than ordering online. I order the Newtones direct as that's the easiest for me now. Matt

I am one of the Basschat posse that has joined in on this site but i started as a guitarist and only took up bass when i was at uni, i turned up with guitars and amps and joined the christian union and a local church and offered my services, at the same time i met a drummer (still one of my best mates, best man at my wedding and also member of my current band) i also met a guy that introduced himself as a bassist, what he didn't mention was that he was also a fantastic guitarist, we all ended up playing together and on our first appearance in the church band he ended up playing my electric guitar and i played his bass (a lovely mex precison deluxe p-j with the anodized gold scratchplate), everyone assumed that i was a bassist and as they was a shortage of bassists i was asked to play more often, i spent a couple of years borrowing basses so that i could play on a sunday before i got my first bass (actually swapped an acoustic guitar for it) i have more guitars than basses and the current tally is 5 electric guitars, 3 acoustic guitars and 5 bass guitars, (plus EUB, U-bass, Banjo, ukulele and banjolele) I try and play as much guitar as i can but Bass always has held a fascination for me, i actually set out to play bass but the local music shop didn't have anything that caught my eye and there was this graeat looking red superstrat hanging there so that's what i bought (and still have) Matt

My first reaction was a hofner with a fender badge but i was also stumped by the label inside, the headstock inlay is similar to the Hofner Senator but it's much bigger on this guitar and not having a makers logo or name on the headstock is rare too. The tailpiece is very unusual, most of the ones you usually see have the string anchors in a line either straight across or at a single angle or a gentle sweep, this one seems to be staggered into 2 sections of 3. are there any signs that parts have been replaced or that it has been repaired in the past? I will agree that it's a great looking instrument, i really like archtops and something like this is very unusual. Matt

10's on all my electric guitars (superstrat's, Tele, Lp, 335) i used 9's when i first started as i just asked for super slinkies because that was what i had heard Eric Clapton used, i went to 10's about 4 years later on the suggestion of my guitar tutor and haven't changed since (about 20 years) for about the first 20 years i think i mainly used D'addario on the suggestion of my tutor as they were cheap enough and easy to get everywhere (especially as the D'addario uk bass is 4 miles from my house) but recently i have been using Fender as they are a bit cheaper and IFAIK they are made by D'addario anyway. I have experimented with rolled strings on my 335 copy which were nice and i will use pure Nickel wound if i can get them cheaply enough (DR pure blues for a while and fenders in more recent years) Matt

not played either of those but our guitarist has one of the early Sessionette 75's with the retro tone upgrade and it's a really great sounding amp, incredibly loud but a great sound, from what i've read the blues baby should be equally good but not as loud. Matt

@EdwardMarlowe i'd suggest keeping an eye out for the Bugera V5, cheap as chips and remarkably good, especially at home volumes, i plugged mine into a 4x12 at a rehearsal room once and it gave a surprising amount of volume for such a small combo, the Tiny terror was great too, usable in the house with a small cab and then plenty loud enough for pub gigs when plugged into a bigger cab provided you didn't need cleaner sounds, i leant mine to a guest guitarist for a pub gig we played and even with just a 1x12 it didn't need any help from the PA. the laney LC15 hasn't been with me long enough yet but i've got plans for a new set of valves so i'll reserve judgement until that's done. Matt

I bought my first Valve amp back in about 1998 i think and have been mostly valve for guitar ever since (with the exception of a little marshall vs15 for bedroom use when i was a student) in order of purchase: Marshall JCM600 2x12 combo (still have this in the cupboard, it needs some work as the output jacks have failed) Orange Tiny terror (with a 1x12 cut down combo cab) Bugera V5 (given to me for helping a friend sell his big combo) Laney lc15 (bought as i had sold the bugera and the tiny terror and wanted something else) in my cupboard i also have a 1972 Marshall Artiste 2x12 combo that i was given by a friend, it's in need of a complete overhaul and probably 2 new speakers and complete set of valves but i don't have a need for it right now (mainly play bass) if i ever start playing guitar in a band again then it will get the overhaul and i'll use it live. in the course of buying the above amps i have also tested quite a few others, a JCM30 was nice, and an old 70's marshall 50w combo was the second choice when i bought my JCM600, there was also a Blues Junior that i had on test from a shop, it had a great sound but was just so loud and uncontrollable to me that it went straight back. My plan when i sold my Bugera and tiny terror was to find one of the small Mesa Boogie combos, a studio 22 or one of the subway models maybe, but nothing popped up for sale and i was made redundant soon after so it dropped down the priorities. the Marshall was my main amp for live use for most of the last 20 or so years, including loaning it out to friends for live use, it has a great bluesy tone and a remarkably good clean channel, i've never really gone in for high gain so it's been all the amp i've ever needed, the other smaller ones were bought as i have a bad back and lugging the Marshall round wasn't easy but they have come and gone and the Marshall is still here. Matt

it looks very similar to the one housing my Tanglewood except the lining on mine is red, but i know from experience that double checking the dimensions is worth doing (luckily my local guitar shop traded the used Hiscox case i had bought for the right one with only a little cash changing hands) Matt

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353119093932 This looks like it might be the right one, I would ask for some internal dimensions and double check on the hiscox website though. Matt

plectrums are a very personal thing, i started at about .88mm for ages (tortex black ones) my guitar tutor suggested going thinner and io settled on mm tortex for ages (orange ones) and then a random slightly smaller fender medium one that is my currnet favourite. buying a random selection from and then trying them all is a good way to start as @EdwardMarlowe has suggested, in the past i would have suggested just going into your local guitar shop and see what they have, i have also found new and interesting ones in the random dish of spare/lost plectrums in our rehearsal room. I love to mod my plectrums to tailor them to my playing style, some are sharpened to a point, some have a few small holes drilled through to aid grip. the main thing i would suggest is to keep an open mind, try as many as you can and find the one that suits you best (then buy a multipack of your favourite) buying plectrums is one of my vices, even though i have clear favourites i still buy more. Matt Edit- just looked at that pic and realised i could probably spare some, drop me a pm with your address and what plectrums you are currently using and i'll send you half a dozen or so different ones in the post.

thanks for the info nice to know that it's older than i had thought, i wish Tanglewood would give more info on their website, they don't really give much backstory which is a shame, they always seemed to get rave reviews whenever they appeared in magazines. If it were me i would be making some fuss like "30 years of 5 star reviews" or similar, they might not have 100 or 50 years of history but 30 or so years is doing pretty well considering how many companies have disappeared in the last 10 years. i bought this one from my friends father, he is an artist and musician and bought it new as far as i know and said it wasn't that cheap, it certainly plays and sounds very nice. i have a bit of a hankering for one of the warrior basses they made as well, either the humbucker one or maybe the j-j version. a lot of warwick vibe for a pocket money price tag. i tried out the Overwater by Tanglewood basses they made a few years back too, really wished i had bought one as they were excellent. i have a massive stash of guitar magazines from he early 2000's in the loft, there are quite a few favourable reviews of Tanglewoods in there. One Tanglewood i am actively looking for is a TW-15 Baby, which is an all-solid travel guitar, i missed one on ebay last month that went for about 80 quid, amazing value for an all solid guitar. Matt

I have an addiction to Hiscox hard cases, the semi acoustic one pops up on ebay fairly often I think I paid about 50 for mine, more expensive than a basic gig bag but they are very strong and last pretty much forever. The model is pro2-gs, it will fit the casino very nicely but might be a bit loose if its a casino coupe which is a fair bit smaller. Matt

I know that they're not traditionally a Fender speaker but Celestion have dabbled with Neo guitar speakers, the century vintage and neo creamback are the current offerings (both under 2kg), in the past there was a century neo as well which was more modern sounding, i actually have one (a century neo) sitting on my shelf, i bought a cab (actually a cut down combo) that had one fitted and when i sold the cab i swapped it out for a g12t 75 and kept the neo in case i bought a combo that it would fit in. I then bought a 1x10 combo where the cab is slightly too small to squeeze the 12" speaker in, Doh! Matt

i would be a bit careful with anything thicker than a 12, especially if the guitar has a cedar top or is lightly braced, my McIlroy came with a note that fitting anything thicker than a 12 would invalidate the warranty as the cedar top was only strong enough for 12's. the Newtone Heritage strings have a much lower overall tension than other strings, the total tension of the 12's io use is less than the total tension of 11's from D'addario. if you arte total beginner to guitar then a lighter gauge will be easier on the fingers, you can always experiment with thicker gauges when you have a bit more experience. Having said all that do use regular 13's on one guitar as it has a slightly shorter scale and i usually have it detuned a tone which helps a bit. Matt

I would suggest maybe 11's as you are starting out, when it comes to acoustic strings I only use Newtone heritage strings, they are lower tension than other brands and the tensions are even across the fretboard, I have been playing for 20 odd years now and have introduced quite a few people to these strings, I have yet to find anyone who didn't like them. They are a tiny bit more expensive than D'Addario or ernie ball but I find they last a bit longer so it all balances out in the end. Matt

hello, i don't think this is an early Tanglewood as the first ones had a different logo and headstock, i have what i an fairly sure is a fairly early thinline Tanglewood here and the logo is very different. as far as i am aware production has always been in the far east somewhere, mine has no internal sticker (or any sign there ever was one) i know it was bought new back in the mid to late 90's by my friends father, the only markings are the branding on the headstock and a label on the heel with the model number. apart from that there is nothing to say where it was made or any kind of serial number visible. i have always been a bit of a fan of the Tanglewood electrics, the acoustics have a well deserved reputation for quality at a great price but the electrics are the same but don't get the recognition that they deserve. my one is certainly not going anywhere! the one you have looks an absolute stunner. as far as laminated tops on jazz guitars it's far more common than you would expect, even Gibson use laminated tops on things like the ES335, you do occasionally find solid tops on this kind of guitar but it's far more common to find laminated as it uses less materials and is far quicker to make especially with maple as it usually needs to be carved from a solid piece rather than bent, the bindings on the edges and the f-holes will cover up any tell-tale signs of a laminated top as well there are guitars with high 4 figure price tags that make no mention of a solid top and sometimes the maker is quite open about it being laminated, Gretsch make a Chet Atkins relic 6120 that retails at £8899 and it is clearly labelled as a laminated top. Matt

the korg pandora units are on my watch list, they tend to sell at around 40 quid but very occasionally they go around the 30 mark, i tend to prefer knobs and dials for adjustment but if a pandora is available at a low enough price then i'll jump on it as i've always fancied one ever since i saw the original one in a magazine. Matt

well, i've never seen one of those Vox units before, it looks really good, i'll definately put a ebay watch on for one, thank you! the Pod units (and the cheaper clones) usually have some kind of 1/4" output that i can link into my current interface, the USB is sometimes to act as an interface for recording but on some models it's there to allow connection to a PC for patch editing software, i spent a frustrating hour one afternoon attempting to set up a friends early Pod 500 HD thing (can't remember the exact model) it was so complex that i gave up and gave it back whatever i buy will have to be one of the cheaper models with less bells and whistles. Matt

I saw the Vox offerings but they all seem to be designed for floor use rather than sitting on a desk, i was really hoping for something that was desk orientated so that is can sit next to my pc off the floor (this also keeps it away from the inquisitive fingers of my 3 year old son) i will keep an eye on eBay though, if it is cheap enough then i guess one of the smaller ones could sit on the desk. i have seen some of the Joyo offerings, one of the small pedal preamps might be an option as an always-on box. thanks for the reply @EdwardMarlowe. Matt

Back when i was younger i played a lot of guitar and my main rig was a Marshall JTM600 2x12, i wasn't married and when i wanted to practice i just used my amp along with whatever pedals i wanted. I'm now married with a son and very limited space so i mainly play sitting at my desk using a Focusrite scarlett and some headphones. the sound is fine but i'm missing some of the tone shaping and effects i used to have access to, my space is very limited so using an actual amp with a speaker isn't an option (also all my amps are all valve and lack any kind of headphone output, and practicing without headphones is not possible.) i have been having a bit of an look online and was thinking of buying either some kind of desktop effects unit or possibly some hind of tiny hybrid micro head (Bantamp maybe, or a micro terror) I do own a Marshall DRP-1 but it's a bit of a one trick pony and it really needs a new set of pots as it is a bit on the temperamental side. I know that i could use some kind of software but my main pc is Linux and i would rather have some kind of physical box of tricks. I would also prefer something that is designed to be on a desk rather than anything designed for floor use (no footswitches) a small footprint is a must too, or even something that would sit on top of my interface or on a shelf with controls along the front provided it was smaller than a 1U rack, 1/2 rack width would be ok. My budget is about £50, happy to go either new or used. the units i have seen so far include - Line 6 pod (various versions) Behringer V-amp Mooer PE100 what are peoples thoughts on these? are there any others i should look at? Thanks Matt