Tanglewood Sanden Master Design Electro Acoustic

Tanglewood Sanden Master Design Electro Acoustic

Designed By Michael Sanden, Built by Tanglewood in Asia

In collaboration with the renowned Scandinavian luthier Michael Sanden, MasterDesign by Sanden represents the zenith of Tanglewood guitar manufacturing. Michael builds luxury boutique guitars at his workshop in Southern Sweden and has designed a range of guitars incorporating some of his most functional and stylistic handcrafted features into a concise range of 6 models, three Mahogany & three Rosewood, all made to a precise Sanden blueprint and incorporating Michaels signature features.

The famous Sanden Ebony Japanese brushstroke bridge, the delicate Rosewood face unbranded headstocks, the zero fret to offer precise intonation, and the charming and tasteful "T" emblem fashioned in green Abalone on the 12th fret of all models, the only visable sign of branding on each instrument. Each guitar is quite unique in its handcrafted manufacture and the simple and understated elegance of MasterDesign by Sanden is a breath of fresh air. Each model has a personally selected premium grade Solid Sitka Spruce soundboard and is fitted with a B-Band A1 EQ system with inner sound hole control for pure and refined electro-acoustic performance.


Michael Sanden:
"After building guitars for 25 years, it is a pleasure to be able to bring my designs to a wider market by collaborating with Tanglewood Guitars.

MasterDesign has the combined DNA of Michael Sanden and Tanglewood and every aspect of my luthiers experience is evident in these wonderful guitars which I am proud to put my name to.

Our combined aim was to build guitars for the 21st century. Guitars that fitted the contemporary guitarist. After several years of development, I think we have succeeded. It is our sincere hope that you will find great joy every time you pick up your guitar to play."

The story behind MasterDesign

We set out to build a very special line of guitars. Guitars for today’s guitarist. The brief was to produce a big, clear but well balanced sound, coupled with the best materials and the highest level of hand craftsmanship available in a large production facility.

It would have been a relatively simple task to “improve” upon our existing standard acoustic guitar designs, by increasing material budgets and increasing the amount of luthiers handcrafting on each instrument. But we felt then that the guitar would have been “MasterDesign” in name only.

We wanted these new instruments to have fresh highly innovative features. They had to have their own unique cosmetic style and character, an unparalled sound and most importantly they had to be a robust, reliable roadworthy musical tool.
   

Tanglewood contacted well established Scandinavian luthier and designer Michael Sanden. Michael and his small team have been building fine acoustics for over 30 years in idyllic Tommarp, a picturesque rural area of Sweden. Michael, having been a Master member of the Guild of American Luthiers since 1983, had quietly and prudently been building a reputation across Scandinavia as the foremost, and creatively innovative luthier of his generation. Building instruments for almost every musician in the region for over 25 years, he maintained his core design principles all those years and developed a loyal following of players who would happily sit on the Sanden Guitars waiting list until their personally built instrument was ready.

The beautiful unique constructive lines of the Sanden instruments set the general first impression. When most of us see a Sanden guitar, we recognise that due to the inevitable cost of ownership of a guitar hand built by Michael, and the small capacity of the Swedish workshop, Sanden guitars would always remain an aspirational purchase for the very privileged few.

So we asked Michael, would he consider a collaboration with Tanglewood Guitars, and help us to bring his elegant designs and craftsmanship to a larger market. We would make, in collaboration with his master luthier knowledge, a genuine Tanglewood MasterDesign range of instruments by Michael Sanden. Michael recognised the potential of a marriage between Tanglewood Guitars, the #1 brand of volume production guitars in the UK & Eire and his own boutique Sanden workshop. The economies of scale we could bring to the project, the unique structural and aesthetic features Michael could bring, we both felt would add to our individual brand image and create a collective production guitar masterpiece... we hope you agree.

GUITARS
Each MasterDesign guitar is built from only the very best materials which are first selected from country of origin, cut, kiln dried and most importantly, stored correctly pre production.

The top on each MasterDesign guitar is made from the highest grade Tibetan Sitka spruce, tight grained, rigid along the length, yet flexible across the grain and when this is married to the unique Sanden bracing pattern, we have the heart of the MasterDesign sound, a sound that matures beautifully over time.
   
The back and sides, whether you choose the Mahogany or the Indian Kerala Rosewood model, are both traditionally quartersawn. The back itself is graduated by highly skilled craftsmen until it resonates with the top which has an incredible impact on the overall sound.
 
The neck is made from two pieces of individually selected top grade mahogany, which is then laminated together to make an incredibly strong neck. The headstock is also designed for strength with a thick Rosewood veneer on top and in typical Sanden detail, one on the back as well!
   
The binding on these MasterDesign guitars is of course all natural wood, which gives these instruments a rural elegance. The finish is gossamer thin but durable, enhancing the sound characteristic of the instruments and allowing the wood to breathe to generate superb physical resonance.
 

http://tanglewoodmasterdesign.com/

Important Note
Price errors and omissions excepted - An order is considered finalised on dispatch. No monies are debited from your card until the item is in stock or by prior arrangement.