New Gear: Tanglewood Java TWJP E Parlor Guitar Review

It’s great fun to pick up the featherweight Tanglewood Java TWJP E. Only 3.8 pounds on a postal scale, this parlor guitar is big on sound, delivering the sort of warmth and roundness typical of, say, a small-bodied flattop from the 1930s. Making the instrument even more appealing is its meager price tag, only $449 street (or just $379 without onboard electronics).

It’s great fun to pick up the featherweight Tanglewood Java TWJP E. Only 3.8 pounds on a postal scale, this parlor guitar is big on sound, delivering the sort of warmth and roundness typical of, say, a small-bodied flattop from the 1930s. Making the instrument even more appealing is its meager price tag, only $449 street (or just $379 without onboard electronics).

Tanglewood’s TWJP E is designed in the United Kingdom and made in Indonesia. It’s based on a classic parlor design, with a slotted headstock and 12th-fret neck-to-body junction, but features some unusual choices in terms of wood selection. The sides and three-piece back are made of amara, a rosewood substitute, with a spalted mango center piece on the back. Sonokeling, a type of Indonesian rosewood, is used for the fretboard and bridge, while nato (sometimes seen in lower-cost instruments) is used for the neck. Meanwhile, the soundboard is built from a more conventional choice, solid cedar.

The test-model woods are beautiful: The cedar is a lovely tannish color with regular, narrow grains, while the figuring and varied coloration of the back woods offer a dramatic visual statement. And wooden details throughout—the neck and body binding, heel cap, rosette, and back strips—lend a classy, boutique-like feel to the instrument.

Fingerpicker’s Delight

The TWJP E is well built, with clean-enough fretwork, precisely cut nut and saddle slots, and tight, flush mahogany binding. Inside the guitar, the bracing and kerfing are fairly tidy, smoothly shaped and sanded, and for the most part lacking traces of excess glue. As is common on guitars in its price range, the polyurethane finish is a little on the thick side. All of the notes on the neck ring clearly and vibrantly, without any unwanted buzzing or dead spots, and the guitar’s intonation is spot-on. The Java’s moderately large C-shaped neck is very comfortable to cradle, too.

An instrument like this begs to be fingerpicked, and it really comes alive when country blues and other down-home styles are played. It sounds tight and focused, with a cool midrange bark and a surprising amount of projection. The guitar also sounds just as good in alternate tunings like open G and DADGAD as it does in standard, though things start to muddy a bit in a more slackened tuning like open C. It doesn’t fare quite as well as a strummer, losing some fullness of tone when driven hard, but that’s to be expected of this style of guitar.

Tanglewood is known for its smartly priced fretted instruments, and the Java TWJP E is a tremendously appealing guitar with great playability and sound—a tone that amplifies well, thanks to the onboard Fishman Sonitone electronics. The guitar would be a definite boon for players looking for an old-school sound but lacking the means to purchase a vintage or boutique example.

BODY

Parlor size
Solid cedar top
Amara and spalted mango back
Amara sides
Sonokeling bridge
Natural gloss finish

NECK

Nato neck with sonokeling fretboard
25.5-inch scale length
1.69-inch nut width
Open-back nickel tuners
Natural gloss finish

EXTRAS

D’Addario EXP16 strings
Fishman Sonitone electronics
Hard-shell case

PRICE

$599 list/$449 street

Made in Indonesia
tanglewoodguitars.co.uk