Monday 27 June 2011

Tansen Guitar Review - V Shaped

Ever since Tansen guitars had hit the Indian local guitar market they developed quite a fan following. These guitars soon started to be known for their international guitar-like craftsmanship that to at very affordable prices. The difference between the pricing was very big which led to lot of people buying these. Let me start off in providing you with the Tansen Guitar review.

Before I straight away start off with the Tansen guitar review, let me present you a basic outline of the features. The Tansen is an assymetrical V-shaped electric guitar made after the widely popular Jackson RR models and looks stunning.I bought this guitar used an year and a half back and it was in great condition. This one has a transparent red finish which looks great and you can see the wood grains on it to. The features are pretty much standard with two humbucker pickups,licensed floyd rose floating bridge,three way pickup selector switch,locking nuts,a single volume knob and 22 frets.

The build quality is very good ,other local brands dont even close to it. Tansen guitar manufacturers could've added a tone knob and two more frets,but for the price I cant really complain. Theres a post in one of the old guitar forums saying the wood type being Indian Ash. I am no expert on guitar tones but this guitar does have a nice deep tone and good sustain. The neck pickup is exceptionally good for a stock pickup,It sounds very smooth and pleasing especially while playing fast licks. The bridge pickup sounds decent and is trebly compared to the neck pickup good for heavy rhythm. You cannot compare these pickups with the likes of EMG and DImarzios but compared to the stock pickups on other entry level guitars they do great.

Coming to the playability of the guitar the neck is very smooth and surprisingly is compound radius. Compound radius necks usually come in guitars with higher prices ,so to see one on this was a pleasant surprise . For those not familiar with the term ,compound radius necks are ones with a round profile towards the headstock and gets flattened moving away from the headstock. The round part makes playing chords and riffs on the top easier while the flattened neck profile is great for playing fast. The neck is made of maple with a rosewood fingerboard which is very typical on most guitars.

This guitar comes quipped with a licensed floyd rose floating bridge and is similar to the ones found on other entry level guitars. It stays in tune very well and is good for slight whammy ,I wouldnt recommend it for someone who uses extensively. The locking nuts are decent and work well until you go whammy crazy. Like the other hardware the strap nuts are very sturdy and even after two years of use neither of the two nuts have come loose. Tuners are decent and very smooth to tune.
The volume knob does it job well and is very smooth to turn though its not loose which would make controlling it a real pain. The knob is screwed into the pot so it wont come off if you accidentally hit it. The three way switch comes very handy adn all the three positions give you useful tones. Again a tone knob could've been a great addition but it doesnt matter much since the guitar already sounds good to my taste. The strings that came with guitar were'nt great so I suggest you going for somthing like D'addario rotosound or whatver brand you prefer. I have fitted it with Dimarzio locking type ever since I dropped my other electric guitar accidentally which had those el cheapo straps.

I own four electric guitars including an Ibanez RG370B but I must say the Tansen V is the one I love the most not only cause of its great looks but also its great to play on. The compound radius neck is extremely comfortable to play on compared to Ibanez's popular wizard II neck personally. It did take me a while to get accustomed with its shape as I was used to strats and super strats ,but soon got used to it. I would love to try more guitars by Tansen and recommend them to everyone. Well this was all from my side on the Tansen guitar reviews.

Keep rocking.

Author: Priyank Warthe