I bought a Canyon 1 about a year ago after reluctantly selling a 1978 Jazz bass (natural,maple) in mint condition. I part-exed a Ned Callan (knobbly) fretless for the Canyon and only had to put another £150 in. The bass seemed fine when I tried it in the shop - flawless black finish, not a huge variety of sounds as there's only one pick-up but a welcome relief from the Jazz in that I didn't need a forklift to pick it up. However, once I got it home and started playing, some technical problems became apparent. The first - and most serious - was that batteries lasted for about a day. As it was the first active I'd had I wasn't sure how long they should last but but assumed it was longer than that. Then the volume dropped significantly. Then it stopped producing any sound whatsoever. This was over a couple of weeks. The neighbours were happy but I wasn't, so I took it back to the shop. They kept it and had a look at the innards. I went to pick it up a couple of weeks later and they said that they couldn't really find anything wrong but they'd re-soldered a couple of joints. Great - after two guitarless weeks I couldn't wait to get it home. Unfortunately, it was hardly any better - thanks JG Guitars in Storrington! Despatate, I took it to a guitar shop in Brighton and they got a proper guitar tech to look at it. He couldn't believe the state of the wiring and ended up resoldering everything and changing a couple of components. Result! Fifty quid lighter but no further problems.
I think this this is a fantastic guitar - light, fast, great-looking and (electronics aside) very well finished. I wish I still had the Jazz, but mainly for sentimental reasons. The Canyon is much nicer to play and I'm currently looking for another one. I've read a lot of comments of a similar nature to this which suggests Tanglewood have neglected to invest in a quality control department. If they ever do they'll be onto a winner.
