Tanglewood Electric Guitar roundup
The Best Tanglewood Electric Guitars for the Money
These are the Tanglewood electric guitar models that consistently deliver the most for the price, by playing style and budget.
Tanglewood doesn't compete at the top end of the electric guitar market, but within its price bracket — roughly £150 to £500 — several models stand out as genuinely strong buys for the money. Here are the picks that consistently deliver.
Best for Beginners: Crossroads Strat-Style
The Crossroads SSS Strat-style model is the best entry point in the Tanglewood electric guitar range for a complete beginner. It comes in at around £160–£190, includes three single-coil pickups covering clean, blues and mild crunch tones, and the Strat-style body is one of the most versatile platform shapes available. It's not a performance instrument, but it's a reliable, affordable guitar to learn on.
What makes it stand out at this price is the range of included hardware — a standard tremolo, 5-way switch and three tone controls — rather than stripped-back economy spec. It plays better than many similarly priced competitors when set up properly.
Best Value Overall: Evolution III HSS
The Evolution III HSS is the strongest value proposition in the entire Tanglewood electric guitar catalogue. It sits at around £280–£320 and offers a humbucker at the bridge for crunch and overdriven tones, two single-coils for clean and twangy sounds, and noticeably better construction than the Crossroads range. The neck profile is comfortable and the fret ends are tidier than budget models typically offer.
At this price, it competes with Squier Classic Vibe and Epiphone Slash guitars, and holds its own on build quality. Players who want flexibility across genres — clean to classic rock — will get more from this model than from anything in the Crossroads range.
Best for Heavier Styles: Evolution III HH
For players who lean toward classic rock, hard rock or heavier styles, the Evolution III dual-humbucker configuration delivers. The HH layout gives the output and sustain those styles require, with a coil-split option on some models that adds single-coil tones for versatility. A Tanglewood electric guitar at this spec level in the £300 range is a credible gigging instrument for the styles it targets.
Best Aesthetic: WET Relic
If you want the look of a worn, played-in instrument on a new guitar, the WET series delivers the aesthetic convincingly. The aged nitro finish, reliced hardware and distressed body edges are well executed for the price. The underlying spec is similar to the Evolution III, so you're paying a small premium for the look — entirely reasonable if that matters to you.
Best for Jazz and Clean Tones: Evolution III Semi-Hollow
The semi-hollow model in the Evolution III line suits jazz, blues and clean-tone playing better than any other model in the range. The thinline body adds warmth and sustain that solid-body designs don't produce, and the neck humbucker rolled off into the tone control delivers a genuine jazz-ready sound. It's the most specialised instrument in the range and the right choice for players who primarily want clean, warm tones.
For a full overview of the range, see the guide to Tanglewood electric guitars.
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