We just got back from the biggest Bluegrass Festival in the North Eastern United States... Grey Fox, in Oak Hill, NY.

Tanglewood was on hand to show off some guitars, and to take part in 4 days of pickin'.

The sun was out and it was a long weekend of great music, great food, great people... check out some photos on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/tanglewoodguitarsUSA

Check out Trailer Choir's video for 'Rollin' Through the Sunshine'... featuring lead-singer Butter playing his road-worn, duct-tape emblazoned (and very dependable) TW145-SC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sKIRjnDMH0

Trailer Choir is a country music trio out of Nashville, TN. The phrases, “high energy,” “good time” and “party hard” don’t do this group justice. If you’re not having fun at a Trailer Choir show, check your pulse to see if you’re still alive.

Back from the Summer NAMM show in beautifully sunny (and HOT!) Nashville, TN.

What a great town... less than 2 months after devastating (and deadly) flash floods, the city is bouncing back and the good ol' Nashville vibe was alive and well (and gearing up for yesterday's Nashville Rising benefit show for flood relief).

We had a chance to show off some NEW Tanglewood gear, including Banjos, Mandolins and Ukuleles that will be available in North America later this year (already available in Europe). Also on display was a nice selection of Rosewood Reserve models, which have just started shipping in North America in the last month or 2.

We also caught Tanglewood artist Lewis Copeland rocking a couple Tanglewood guitars in front of a few hundred people at The Stage, on Broadway Saturday night.

Check out a few videos of our good friend and Tanglewood artist JP Cormier at the 11th annual Mingo Music Guitar Show:

http://www.youtube.com/user/hubtowndave

Great feature article on Tanglewood Artist Brittany Kwasnik in today's Montreal Gazette.

Brittany just signed a 3-album deal with Justin Time Records, and launches her debut album this week at La Sala Rossa in Montreal!

All of this after being discovered on Youtube!

Check out the article here: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Montreal+songbird+YouTube+sensation/3005026/story.html

Tanglewood was on hand at the Dallas International Guitar Show this past weekend.

Check out a few pictures and a quick video on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tanglewood-Guitar-Company-UK/13762687758

Also, don't miss us at MerleFest 2010, in Wilkesboro, NC from April 29 to May 2!

Our friend Dan over at Share My Guitar gets his hands one of the MasterDesign by Michael Sanden instruments.

Here's his review of the TSR-2: http://sharemyguitar.com/blog/review-the-tanglewood-tsr-2-acoustic-guitar/.

Check out this string of videos of Canada's JP Cormier on stage at the London Music Club (London, ON), tearing it up on a Tanglewood MasterDesign TSR-2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRO4wvGjJ4A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciMG9_Je9jI

Tanglewood Guitars is thrilled to welcome Canadian bluegrass / folk / celtic singer-songwriter and all around guitar legend JP Cormier to our roster of artists.

The Juno-nominated and East Coast Music Award-winning artist (and veteran of the Grand Ole Opry stage) stopped by our Montreal distribution facility this week and added a MasterDesign TSR-2 and Heritage Series TW1000-H-SR to his arsenal. (JP already owns a TW45-DLX-B and a TW73.)

Watch for one of his electrifying performances in a town near you! We'll also be announcing some special clinic dates in the coming weeks.

In the mean time, here's a link to a story that appeared in the London (Ontario) Free Press earlier this week, previewing a show in his city of birth: http://www.lfpress.com/entertainment/music/2010/03/09/13169636.html.

You can also hear one of JP's songs at: http://tanglewoodguitars.com/community/members/jpcormier.

Check out some photos of the Tanglewood team from North America at the 2010 NAMM trade show in Anaheim, CA:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=147250&id=13762687758

thanks to Steve Hanjos over at JV music for mentioning Tanglewood in this story in the local paper. Always great to see independent dealers like JV getting some love from the local press!

http://www.clarkedailynews.com/a-universal-language-spoken-at-jv-music/1561/

Visit them at:

JV Music
13 S. Church St.
Berryville, VA 22611
540-955-5545
www.jvmusicstore.com

Tanglewood Guitars feature artist Lili Anel has her latest CD, "Every Second In Between, reviewed in the current issue of JazzTimes Magazine! Check it out here: http://jazztimes.com/articles/25590-every-second-in-between-lili-anel.

That same album has also been voted one of the "Top 10 Best New Jazz Releases of 2009 by the website All About Jazz.  Here's the link: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=35142&pg=5.

Visit www.lilianel.org for more about Lili!

From all of us here at Tanglewood Guitars to the members of the Community, happy holidays and all the best in 2010!

Thanks for being part of the Tanglewood extended family!

Erik

Great story from the Montreal Gazette newspaper about a young local artist who's making it big via Youtube... and doing it all on a Tanglewood guitar!

http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/music/Brittany+Kwasnik+YouTube+self+starter/2294954/story.html

first it was Wayne and Garth... now the Muppets do their thing with the classic Queen song (and video).

this is pretty good... funny, and a good take on the song. gotta love the Animal part:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY

check this article out: http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2009/Oct/Tales_from_the_Six_String_Nation.aspx

I saw (and played) this guitar last year at a Hockey Tournament in Toronto for musicians/artists (how oh-so-Canadian of me)... very cool to see that it's getting some love in the mainstream U.S. guitar media.

as a proud Canadian myself, the idea behind this axe is captivating... and the fact that Jowi Taylor, its builder, managed to collect all of these pieces is amazing.

this guitar is built from a collection of 63 pieces of Canadian history and heritage... including pieces of famous ice hockey sticks, parts of the Parliament buildings, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's canoe paddle, Native artifacts, and a piece of the oldest rock in the world, just to name a few.

if you're lucky enough to be at (or near) and event where Jowi is showing this guitar, do yourself a favour and go have a strum. even if you're not officially Canadian, I promise it'll make you want to watch some ice hockey and hug a Mountie...

Check it out... the TSF-CE-BK Super Folk acoustic-electric model from our Evolution Series.

In a knock-out Gloss Black finish, with Fishman Ion-T electronics, bone nut & saddle, maple binding... a whole lot of guitar at an entry-level price.

http://tanglewoodguitars.com/community/gotm/evolution/TSF-CE-BK.pdf

Recently reformed Wolfmother are set to release their new album, 'Cosmic Egg' on October 26th 2009.

Original band member & founder Andrew Stockdale, along with new drummer Dave Atkins, guitarist Aiden Nemeth & keyboard/bass guitarist Ian Peres make up the Australian rock band which was formed in Erskineville, in Sydney, Australia. They have previously released two EP's and one album. The new album 'Cosmic Egg' will be their first album as the newly reformed band.

Stockdale recently visited a local music retailer in Brisbane and walked away with a brand new Tanglewood Sundance TW73 VS.

For more info on Wolfmother & their new album visit www.wolfmother.com

here's a short video brought to you by the kind folks over at Premier Guitar Magazine, as they check out the new Tanglewood MasterDesign Series at the recent 2009 Summer NAMM show in Nashville:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqD93OqK45Y

hey guys,

From time to time in this blog, I'm going to feature one of our authorized Tanglewood Guitar dealers. These are the guys that believe in our brand... so much so that they've made the choice to fill hooks in their stores with Tanglewood Guitars. With so many acoustic guitar brands out there, and especially in these tougher economic times, that means a lot to a company like ours.

With that said, here's our Inaugural Featured Dealer:


Crossroads Guitar Shop
5610 Scoville St
Bailey's Crossroads, VA, USA
(703) 931-2139
http://www.crossroadsguitarshop.com

What Tanglewood says about Crossroads: We've been dealing with Vince and the gang at Crossroads for just over a year now. One of the best shops in the D.C. metro area, with great service and friendly people. They recently took hold of a Plek Pro machine, meaning not only can you purchase your Tanglewood guitar at Crossroads, but you can now have it (or any other guitar) go through the most precise set-up/ fret dress you'll ever see.


What the Dealer Says: "We are the new guitar shop in the Northern Virginia area! Visit us in our intimate showroom and play anything we've got. You will appreciate The Crossroads Guitar Shop's commitment to providing the best product value and friendly customer service.

"Not just the same ol' selection you find every where else!" We offer a beautiful selection of new and used, acoustic and electric, guitars and amps. We have entry, mid and high end guitars for you to choose from. We offer guitar setups and repairs, too!

We have the "State of the Art," PLEK PRO, computer controlled, fret dressing machine. There are only 30 of these fantastic machines in the world and we are one of 10 located in a stand alone retail shop and available to the general public. Check www.plek.com for more info about this exciting new technology.

 

 

hey guys,

swing on over to Facebook and join the NEW Tanglewood Guitar Company UK Fan Page:

hey guys,

Just a quick note to mention that each Community Member profile page now has its own unique URL. This makes it even easier to share your Community Profile Page with friends, fans, family, etc.

The format of your URL is: http://tanglewoodguitars.com/community/members/username.

(Your unique URL is shown below your name on your Profile Page).

Erik

hey guys,

don't forget to head on over to the "Contests & Promotions" part of the Community (if you haven't already) and enter the contest to win a new TW45-DLX-B Tanglewood acoustic-electric guitar.

every member of the Community is eligible to enter!

Erik

OK, so we may be plugging a competitor's guitar brand... but I couldn't not share this...

Dave Carroll is a musician from Halifax, Canada who took a flight on United Airlines from Halifax to Nebraska for a 2008 show with his band Sons of Maxwell. He arrived in one piece... his guitar did not.

After getting the run-around from the airline for almost a year, he came away empty-handed and guitar-less... and decided to tell the world (or at least the guitar-playing, air-traveling world) all about his experience - in song.

Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

Read the story here: http://www.davecarrollmusic.com/story/united-breaks-guitars

so 810 people on hand yesterday at a matinee performance of "Rock of Ages" (a Tony-award winning musical), including the audience, cast and crew, broke the Guinness World Record for "Largest Air Guitar Ensemble":

see more photos HERE



OK, so that's pretty cool...

but i still think 1623 people jamming on real, tangible guitars (including a few Tanglewoods, no doubt) to Neil Young's "Helpless" last month in downtown Toronto, Canada is still cooler - even if it did fall 179 people short of its own record. Click HERE to read more

we came across this video one of Canada's best songstresses (and Juno-award winner) Serena Ryder, singing the gorgeous "Dark As The Black" on one of Canada's greatest radio shows: Q, on CBC Radio.

Oh, and she's playing a Tanglewood TW73 parlour guitar.

Check it out on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwU1tU5-Ng4

Be sure to check out the artist. And the radio show. And the guitar.

Chris Vinnicombe over at musicradar.com writes about some of the do's and don'ts of "gig etiquette"... a good quick refresher worth reading before your next show:

Check it out here: www.musicradar.com/tuition/guitars/the-ultimate-gig-survival-guide-139150

Ahhh, spring time... the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the guitars are healing...

Huh?

Yup... it's a good time of year to be an acoustic guitar repair person.  The inevitable line-up of cracked solid-wood guitars that appears at so many acoustic guitar warranty centers in March and April (particularly in colder, drier climates - hello Canada and Northern States) is just as much a sign of the passing of another harsh winter as are the pot holes on our roads and our chapped lips.

But why? Do months of being cooped up inside lead to an abundance of normally serene acoustic musicians to unleash their inner Pete Townsend and smash their instruments in celebration of approaching summer?

I doubt it.

It's all about humidity.

Humidity. Hard to think of another single word that unifies the long list of otherwise fiercely competitive acoustic guitar companies as much this one. But as we end another winter season, it's clear that the manufacturer-lead mission to educate guitar owners about the importance of humidiying solid-wood guitars - call it the "humidity crusade" - is still very much an ongoing challenge.

As there are already countless articles availble online describing in great detail the concept of relative humidity, and why (and how) low humidity in particular negatively affects a guitar, I'll try to sum it up in one long, comma-spliced sentence: A low relative humidity level (which occurs especially during winter), means the air is more dry, which causes the solid woods of a guitar to lose moisture and shrink, leading to all kinds of messy situations like cracking and warping of the body, sharp fret ends, lacquer cracks, fret buzz, etc, etc.

But why is such a simple yet crucial element of acoustic guitar care all too often overlooked?

Most manufacturers will admit it probably comes down to consumer education. Many guitar owners simply aren't aware of the benefits of keeping their guitar properly humidifed... or more importantly, the consequences of not. I've heard many a new guitar owner surprised to learn that the extra money they spent to obtain an all solid-wood guitar did not necessarily mean they were purchasing a more durable instrument. That's the payoff, of course... Solid-wood guitars are sonically and tonally superior to laminate wood instruments - but they also require a higher degree of care than their lesser-expensive counterparts.

On the other hand, with solid-wood guitars increasingly affordable, the price paid for on a mid-range solid-wood guitar might not always be enough drive the purchaser to fully research proper care techniques.

As a manufacturer, getting past the consumer awareness issue is by far our biggest challenge. Once a guitar owner is aware of the importance of proper humidification (whether they've learned the easy way or the hard way ), keeping their guitar humidified does not require a lot of money or effort. There are plenty of different options available. The simplest is to store the guitar in its case when not in use, and to use a soundhole humidifier. A small cigar hygrometer inside your case will tell you if you're doing your job (at room temperature , the relative humidity level inside the case should be kept between 40% - 55%).

It's commonly said that if you're comfortable in your environment, your guitar will be too... that's OK in general, but some of us may have adapted our own selves to feel quite content even in drier winter conditions - while our guitars have not. In more challenging climates, better to be safe than sound. Humidifier + hygrometer = happy guitar. 

(I write this from the perspective of someone who lives in a colder, drier climate - where the greater risk is of low humidity levels. Of course, too much humidity can also wreak havoc on solid-wood instruments... so if you're reading this from a wet climate (where regular RH levels are 60% and up), reducing your guitar's humidity exposure becomes the task. Silica packets, or other moisture absorbing materials, are the way to go.)

Hey guys,

So June will see the first Tanglewood MasterDesign guitars ship to North American dealers.

These are some special instruments. We asked the extremely talented and widely-respected Michael Sanden to become involved in designing a new series of guitars.  For over 30 years in the picturesque rural town of Tommarp, Sweden, Michael and his small team have been building the fine acoustics that have helped him solidify his reputation as one of the most creatively innovative luthiers of his generation. 

That said, there is only one Michael... due to the inevitable cost of ownership of a guitar hand built by Michael, and the small capacity of his Swedish workshop, we recognized that Sanden Guitars would always remain an aspirational purchase for a privileged few.

So we asked Michael to consider a collaboration with Tanglewood Guitars that would allow us to bring his elegant designs and innovative craftsmanship to a larger market. And to our delight, Michael was thrilled to come aboard.

People may wonder why Tanglewood chose to develop such high-end guitars. Truth is, if we had felt that these new instruments would just be versions of our existing guitars with more "bling", we wouldn't have gone through with it. It was going to take more than fancier inlays and rarer tonewoods. The guitars were going to have to have their own unique cosmetic style and character, an unparalled sound and most importantly they would have to be a robust, reliable roadworthy musical tool.

And so behold... MasterDesign.

While a hand-built, custom guitar built by a master luthier will always have that little extra "something", it's not for everyone... or at least not for everyone's budget. If it's a production guitar that you're after, you'll be blown away by MasterDesign. These instruments are in a league of their own.

Erik