Tanglewood Tiare TWT 20 Baritone Ukulele - REVIEW

It's been a while since I have had this well known instrument maker on Got A Ukulele - this is the Tanglewood TWT 20 Baritone Ukulele.

Tanglewood are a UK brand that have been around for ages now, perhaps more well known for their guitars which are quite well liked, but have dabbled in ukuleles for a while too. I've looked at a couple before, both their TWT-1 Soprano and the TWT-13E Concert. The former didn't impress me much, and the latter was only kind of middle ground, so I thought I would move to one of the big guns where, in my experience, instruments can change quite dramatically. Their ukes all come under the moniker of their 'Tiare' series, ranging from the '1 series' up to the 20 each signifying differing woods and details.

SUMMARY VIDEO REVIEW

And despite that increasing number in the model types, I don't believe that represents quality grades as this is still a fully laminate, traditional double bout shaped baritone ukulele rather than them introducing any solid wood into the mix. I'm not precious about laminate ukes at the best of times, but with the large ukes (and small guitars) I feel that matters even less as there is so much more real estate to make a sound. So laminate this is and laminate ebony at that. At first sight it's a very attractive looking instrument. It's stripy ebony laminate which is good with me as all dark would be very plain looking. The two pieces on the top and back are well bookmatched and the back has a more pronounced arch than you see normally. Sadly the side pieces are woefully bookmatched at the tail joint which irritates me greatly. More on the decor and finish later, but it feels well enough put together I suppose.

The bridge is a very standard looking tie bar made of what they call 'Eboncore' that's a composite of pieces of ebony which, as I have said before I have no issue with as it doesn't waste hunks of rare wood. What I do have an issue with is how damn scruffy it is as it's flaking, chipped and just horrid to look at up close. Sitting in that is a plastic straight topped saddle with a string spacing of 41mm.

The decor is limited to my favourite (NOT) laser etching around the sound hole which is very basic looking. Because of the dark body it's totally lost and you have to look for it to the point that I wonder why they bothered at all. There is nothing else so you see the laminate in cross section where the top and back meets the sides. The body is all satin finished which I can't find much issue with on the flat faces, but there are slight scruffy bits here and there. Still, it's a generic, basic looking uke which only really works for me if you like the look of the wood..

Inside is tidy enough with notched linings and the top being X braced. I can't see much mess to be fair.

The neck is specified as okoume wood which is thankfully darker than the really pale stuff and is made from three pieces with easy to spot joints at heel and headstock. It's satin, but very far eastern in profile which is very rounded at the nut and an average (for a baritone) width of 37mm with 30mm from D to E. That rounded back profile I find particularly hard to play even with large hands like mine as it pushes the crook of my thumb and forefinger so far back it's then a struggle to wrap the fingers back to make fret placement.

That is topped with more Eboncore which is clearly composite as you can see the pieces running down the board. Again, I have no issue with this and the colouring is even and it's in fairly good shape. It's edge bound in some form of black material, hiding the fret ends of which I can't find any sharp finishing. You get 18 of those and a 14th fret join. Pearl dot position markers are in the fingerboard at 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th and 15th, but sadly no side dots at all.. Going with a 9th marker is very guitar orientated and whilst it is not 'incorrect' as such, it's certainly out of the ordinary for a ukulele and may throw people finding their way around the neck. Add in the lack of side dots to guide you and.. well..

Beyond the ABS nut is a generic crown shaped headstock faced in more ebony and carrying the Tanglewood logo in a laser etch. Some scruffy finishing up here too.

The tuners are chrome open gears which are all different tensions and look rather cheap and chintzy. Cheap as chips. Hate them.

Finishing the deal are a set of Aquila strings on one and two and two wound strings for the bass. You also get a branded padded gig bag which I rather like the look of for being a different colour than black that everyone else uses (with apologies to Flight!). This is white with white piping and looks great. And the pricing is one of those where the brand puts a ridiculous RRP on their page of £169 and most dealers then knock it back to a more palatable £130 or so. Neither are eye watering prices, but I do dislike when brands do that (i'm looking at you Ohana) to make you think like you are getting a deal. Saying that i've found a few dealers selling them at that price or about £150 so the scoring below is on the £169 figure. I suppose it's still cheaper than some of the Kala 'exotic wood' laminates in the same scale, but still think the need for discounting shows you that £169 is wrong.

Hey ho... a very mixed bag. At first glance a pretty striking instrument but looking deeper rather basic in finish and in some areas quite scruffy. I've seen worse I guess, but it's not setting the world alight unless you MUST go for the wood looks.

Volume and sustain is never a real issue with baritones due to all the extra body space, and so it is the case here. This is a loud, well projecting instrument with good sustain that lasts. I expected that.

What I also expect with all laminate instruments, particularly with bigger bodies is a kind of echoey hollow sound rather than a smooth crystal clear tone you will get with a solid wood instrument. Again, that's the case here particularly when you strum it where it sounds quite metallic and 'cheap'. Now, I will say though that my mind is split on this because, rather like the all laminate Gretsch Jim Dandy guitars, that effect on the sound can give it a kind of old time / boxcar/ Sears catalogue / campfire edge to the tone which can sound quite charming. I think it's a bit too much of that here on strumming, but if that sort of porch tone appeals you may like this. A quality pure tone it is not though. I would also experiment with strings here as I find the bass strings far too overpowering in the mix.

Fingerpicking is prettier if you stick to simple notes rather than bringing in some arpeggios, but still with that echoey hollow edge to the sound. I remain divided!

All in all a very mixed bag again for Tanglewood and a shame really considering how good some of their guitars are. I suspect this is nothing more than them getting a Chinese factory to etch their name on generic instruments without a lot of thought. There is a striking look on this for sure, but the scruffiness, pointless decor, neck and tuners really let it down. No, it's not a lot of money I guess, but neither is a Baton Rouge Sun baritone (which are great!) or something like an Uma, Snail or Flight Iris for the same sort of price if not less. Go for this if you are totally taken with the wood, but otherwise its extremely generic.

https://www.tanglewoodguitars.co.uk/

UKULELE SPECS ROUNDUP

Model: Tanglewood Tiare TWT 20

Scale: Baritone

Body: Laminate mahogany

Bridge: Eboncore tie bar

Saddle: Plastic

Spacing at saddle: 41mm

Neck: Okoume

Fingerboard: Eboncore

Frets: 18, 14 to body

Nut: Plastic
Nut width: 37mm, 30mm D to E

Tuners: Unbranded chrome open gears

Strings: Aquila B and E, wound D and G

Extras: Gig bag

Country of origin: China

Weight: 955g
Price: RRP £169

UKULELE PROS

Striking looks

Good volume and sustain
Nice bag

Not a lot of money

UKULELE CONS

Several elements of scruffy finishing

Pointless decoration

Terrible bookmatching

No side dots and 9th dot placement

Awful tuners

Chunky neck

Echoey laminate tone

UKULELE SCORES

Looks - 8.5 out of 10

Fit and finish - 7 out of 10

Sound - 7.5 out of 10

Value for money - 8.5 out of 10

OVERALL UKULELE SCORE - 7.9 out of 10

UKULELE VIDEO REVIEW

© Barry Maz

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