Timberidge Guitars-TRC-4F Dreadnought Cutaway

aving never heard of Timberidge Guitars before, and knowing they were Australian designed but assembled in China,  I honestly didn't know what to expect... but was pleasantly surprised.

On first look in the case, I certainly found this dreadnought-shaped guitar to be visually pleasing. Solid Cedar top, with clean, smooth lines and a big body. This lovely lady comes with optional adhesive scratch plates in clear, black and tortoiseshell, but not having one definitely gives the body more room to breathe. The matte finish brings out the natural grains and tones of the Bubinga back and sides.

Out of the case, it's asking to be played! The Mahogany neck and rosewood fingerboard is smooth and has great action, making finger-picking a breeze, and makes for smoother transitions and less fret noise. Cross-bracing in the body makes this a super-solid guitar, allowing for very little movement over time, but it's very light-weight and easy on the shoulders. The black Grover tuners are comfortable and easy to tune initially, but I found that they did slip a little.

Acoustically, the Timberidge 4 series Dreadnought is quite bright and clear with a very even sound from the bass through to high tones. I found the D'Addario EXP Long Life strings a tad bright for my liking; however other players may enjoy that tonal range. Unplugged, it has a very mid-heavy sound that would cut through any loud pub, but again, a bit more bottom end would please this Soul/Blues/Folk performer.

The B-Band A3T piezo pickup, with pre-amp, has line level and mic level outputs. The onboard controls are sensitive and precise, featuring low, mids, highs and presence controls, as well as an onboard tuner for extra convenience. Plugged in, this baby packs a punch, but you do have to experiment with the settings quite a bit to find your own sweet spot. Once you find it, this guitar could rival any Maton or Cole Clark, giving clear and brilliant tones and a full bottom end.

Normally, smaller bodied guitars like Martins and Mini Matons, are more 'ergonomic' for the female performer, but this is one of the more comfortable Dreadnoughts to play, sitting and standing, and allows for smaller hands to get around the fretboard comfortably.

The free (that's right!) paisley case is light-weight and quite pretty for the gals, (indie for the boys!), and that new guitar smell is always a winner for me!

Comparable to the Maton EM320 Dreadnaught, the Timberidge 4 Series is bright, punchy and for under $700, a great first gigging guitar, or second guitar for that louder, rockin' gig.

Nyssa Bradsworth is a Melbourne-based singer-songwriter. Check out her Facebook page.