The Tanglewood TW40 SD is an all-solid mahogany dreadnought for around £459, a specification you usually pay well over £600 for. It was the loudest and longest-sustaining guitar on test. Here's the big, woody tone you get, and what the 2.3 kg weight costs you.
All-solid construction, where the top, back and sides are all solid wood rather than laminate, is the dividing line between a good guitar and a really resonant one, and it normally lives north of £600. Tanglewood, a UK-founded brand that has built a reputation for value, brings it down to around £459 with the TW40 SD Sundance Historic. The result is a big, woody, traditional voice with serious projection and the longest sustain in our test, plus a Fishman preamp that makes it gig-ready. That makes it our pick for big traditional tone.
| Model | Price | Body shape | Top wood | Back and sides | Rating | Link | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ★ Top pick Tanglewood TW40 SD AN E Sundance Historic Acoustic-Electric | £799.00 | Dreadnought (slope shoulder) | Solid mahogany | Solid mahogany | ★ 4.6 | View → |
£799.00
Dreadnought (slope shoulder) · Solid mahogany · Solid mahogany
The verdict from Theo Marsh, guitar and instruments reviewer
The pick for big, traditional tone. The Tanglewood TW40 SD is an all-solid mahogany dreadnought for around £459, a specification you normally pay well over £600 for elsewhere. Solid mahogany on the top, back and sides gives it a deep, woody, old-school voice with serious projection: we measured roughly 3 dB more volume than the Yamaha FG800 and the longest sustain on test at close to 10 seconds. The wider 44 mm nut gives fingerstyle players more room, and the Fishman Presys II preamp means it is ready to plug into a PA. At 2.3 kg it is the heaviest guitar here, but the trade-off is that rich, resonant tone.
Deep, woody and resonant, with the longest decay on test at close to 10 seconds and a strong low end.
| Body shape | Dreadnought (slope shoulder) |
|---|---|
| Top wood | Solid mahogany |
| Back and sides | Solid mahogany |
| Scale length | 650 mm (25.6 in) |
| Nut width | 44 mm |
| Frets | 20 |
| Finish | Aged tone vintage satin |
| Weight | 2.3 kg (heaviest on test) |
| Sustain (open low E) | Close to 10 seconds (longest on test) |
| Electronics | Fishman Presys II preamp |
| Typical UK price | £459.00 |
The TW40 is the right guitar for a player who wants a big, old-school acoustic voice and intends to play out. The all-solid mahogany construction gives it strong projection that suits blues, folk and country, the wider 44 mm nut, a millimetre more than the 43 mm norm, gives fingerstyle players a touch more room between the strings, and the Fishman Presys II preamp lets you plug straight into a PA or amp. It suits an intermediate player stepping up from a first guitar, or anyone who wants the most resonant acoustic on this list without paying Taylor money.
It is not the right guitar if you want something light to carry, or your priority is the cleanest possible setup. At 2.3 kg it is the heaviest guitar on test, so it is less travel-friendly than the 1.6 kg Martin LX1, and while the factory action was fine, the Taylor Academy 12e arrives set up to a finer tolerance. For a first guitar on a budget, the Yamaha FG800 remains the smarter, cheaper starting point.
This is where the all-solid body earns its keep. With solid mahogany on the top, back and sides, the whole guitar resonates, and the TW40 was the loudest guitar in our test: we measured roughly 3 dB more volume than the solid-spruce Yamaha FG800, and the longest sustain on test, close to 10 seconds on an open low E. The voice is deep, woody and traditional, with a strong, present low end and a warm midrange that suits strummed chords and fingerstyle alike. Where the Yamaha is bright and the Taylor is articulate, the Tanglewood is rich and resonant.
The 650 mm scale is standard and the slightly wider 44 mm nut gives fingerpickers more room without feeling like a classical guitar. Our example's factory action was comfortable and the 20 frets were level. The headline extra is the Fishman Presys II preamp: a quality system with a 4-band EQ, a built-in tuner and a battery indicator, which sounds natural plugged in and makes the TW40 genuinely gig-ready out of the box, a real advantage over the plain Yamaha and Fender.
The TW40 wears a vintage-style aged tone satin finish that suits its traditional voicing, and the build on our example was clean and solid, with tidy binding and a well-seated bridge. The slope-shoulder dreadnought shape has an old-school look to match the sound. At 2.3 kg it is noticeably more substantial in the hand than the lighter guitars here, which is the trade-off for all that solid wood and resonance.
The TW40's two honest limitations are weight and tone character. At 2.3 kg it is the heaviest guitar on test, so it is less comfortable for very long standing sets and less convenient to carry than a lighter guitar; that mass is simply the cost of all-solid construction. And the warm mahogany voice, while rich and resonant, is less bright and cutting than a spruce top, so flatpickers who want maximum attack and sparkle may prefer the spruce-topped Yamaha FG800 or Taylor Academy 12e. Within its remit of big, traditional, gig-ready tone, neither counts against it.
Best for: the intermediate player who wants a big, all-solid, gig-ready traditional voice for blues, folk and fingerstyle. Not the pick if you want something light to carry (try the Martin LX1) or a bright flatpicking tone (try the Yamaha FG800).
Yes, and that is its headline feature. The top, back and sides are all solid mahogany, a specification you normally pay well over £600 for. All-solid construction means the whole body resonates, giving the deep, woody, traditional voice and the longest sustain on test at close to 10 seconds. At around £459 it is one of the best-value all-solid guitars in the UK.
Players who want a big, old-school acoustic voice and intend to play out. The strong projection suits blues, folk and country, the wider 44 mm nut gives fingerstyle players more room, and the Fishman Presys II preamp lets you plug straight into a PA. At 2.3 kg it is the heaviest guitar on test, so it is less ideal if you want something light to carry.
The TW40 costs roughly twice as much and the difference is real: all-solid mahogany versus a solid spruce top with laminate back and sides, about 3 dB more volume, a longer sustain and onboard electronics. The Yamaha FG800 is the better first guitar and the smarter value, while the TW40 is the step up for a player who knows they want a louder, richer, gig-ready instrument.
The Tanglewood TW40 SD is our pick for big, traditional tone because it offers all-solid mahogany construction at around £459, a specification that usually costs well over £600, and delivers the loudest, longest-sustaining voice on test with a gig-ready Fishman preamp. The trade-offs are honest: at 2.3 kg it is the heaviest guitar here, and its warm mahogany voice is less bright than spruce. If you want that resonant, old-school sound and intend to play out, it is outstanding value. For a lighter or cheaper guitar, our best overall pick the Yamaha FG800 and the small-bodied Martin LX1 are the alternatives, and the refined Taylor Academy 12e is the premium step up. Compare the field in our buying guide.