Tanglewood Canyon III Base Review

Sounds

Our first impression of the Canyon is pretty good. The sound has plenty of natural width and a pleasing, if slightly conservative, growling edge. Clarity is excellent and unfettered by any noticeable bias and the overall response is lively and detailed.
Adding a little bass EQ increases the Canyon’s authority and forces the detail in the sound further forwards: the open-string growl is more audible, fretted notes have a smoother edge and the impact or punch that naturally comes from a single, centrally-sited pickup becomes a more powerful element. Further advances of the Bass EQ continue to increase size and impact and soften the note edges, until you get to full boost, where the room begins to shake. Not very practical in most applications, but all this low-end power retains enough definition to make it practical for dub-based styles or retro rock and soul.
Leaving a little bass boost in the mix and adding a touch of middle produces a tight sound with a pleasing snarl and plenty of bottom-end booty. The thinner strings are brighter but hold on to their width, making this setting snappy and funky as opposed to brittle and cheap. Adding more middle gives a burpier sound with extra impact and attack, but the Canyon’s natural warmth remains audible all the way to gurgling full boost.
A quarter boost of treble adds a snappy rasp to the Canyon’s higher notes, while half boost is really lively with plenty of edgy harmonic action, while full boost is a little synthetic and tends to overpower the bass end.