Name: Taran 'Taran Mhor' 12-Fret in Master Grade African Blackwood & Master Grade Italian Spruce
Brand: Taran
Price: 39495.0 GBP
Availability: InStock

Rory Dowling, founder of Taran Guitars, is one of the UK's, and the world's, most revered luthiers. Combining modern techniques to both aesthetically and sonically enhance their guitars, the instruments built by the Taran team are able to pay homage to Rory's celtic origins while challenging the limitations of what an acoustic guitar can be.

Starting his career as a furniture maker before moving into world of lutherie, Rory is a prime example of a luthier who is largely self-taught. "I had no preconceived ideas about what the limits of a guitar were. Over the sixteen years of my career I have constantly asked questions, tested ideas and sought to understand the limits within these. Through this questioning and experimental approach I have gained a vast understanding of the elements that make up an instrument’s complex sound and its requirements over its long life."

Rory continues, "It is because of this and the combined understanding of the team that we are able to offer instruments that are unique to their owners taste and desires."

Taran is gaelic for 'thunder', and their models are named after hills and peaks on the isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides, which Rory has regularly visited since his childhood.

Taran Guitars offer six acoustic guitar models, as well as a tenor guitar, bouzouki and mandolin.

A key feature of any Taran guitar is its cylindrical back, which helps the guitar's projection but also makes the playing experience much more comfortable, giving the illusion that the guitar is shallower than it actually is.

In recent years, Taran paired this with compression braces, to provide greater stability while allowing the team to increase the cylindrical profile of the back of their instruments.

Taran Beag

The Taran Beag is the smallest model in the range. Just slightly smaller than an OM, it is a wonderfully intimate instrument. Predominately designed for fingerstyle, its voice is big, bell-like and powerful even to the lightest touch, defying its small footprint.

Taran offer a modern Florentine cutaway on their guitars, giving greater access to the upper frets.

Measurements:

Frets to body - 14
Body length - 480mm
Max body width - 382mm
Standard Depth - 113mm
Scale length - 645mm
Width at nut - 45mm
Spacing at saddle - 59mm

Taran Mhor

The Taran Mhor is the big brother to the Taran Beag. Its 12-fret neck join keeps that same intimate feel of the Taran Beag while delivering even more of the big-bodied sound you’d expect from the likes of the larger Tirga Mhor.

Signature features of many of Taran's builds are the burled woods used for the arm bevel and headstock overlays, paired with hot sand fades that provide an incredible level of detail.

The Taran team offer multi-scale, fan fret designs, which make the scale length longer on the bass side to give a tighter bass response and allow for better tonal clarity when using drop tunings.

Measurements:

Scale - 635mm
Frets to body - 12
Body length - 493mm
Max body width - 398mm
Standard depth - 115mm
Width at nut - 45mm
Spacing at saddle - 58mm

Tirga Beag

Tirga Beag, pronounced ‘Chigora Beg’ is the little sister of Harris’s second highest peak. She faces north east looking out over the forgotten ridges of North Harris and on to the plains of Lewis.

The Tirga Beag is larger than an OM in width and depth but not in length, making it feel very compact and comfortable for its size.

The Tirga Beag is designed with volume and headroom in mind enabling it to be heard in noisy sessions, but with a full rich tone perfect for smaller audiences and solo playing. It is perfect for flat picking and accompaniment with good separation between its strong clear bass and thick trebles.

The Taran team worked with US fingerstyle guitarist Dustin Furlow, who was awarded Taran's 2021 Young Player Bursary award, on his very own Tirga Beag. The collaboration lead to a complete redesign of the model's bracing and the topography of the soundboard.

Measurements:

Scale: 635mm
Frets to body: 14
Body Length: 495mm
Max Body Width: 402mm
Standard Depth: 122mm
Width at nut: 45mm
Spacing at saddle: 59mm

Tirga Mhor

Tirga Mhor, pronounced ‘Chigora Mor’ is Harris’s second highest peak.

The Tirga Mhor is Taran's take on a 000, and was borne from their long discussions with Martin Simpson about all things guitar. The Tirga Mhor is designed with an open voice enabled by the 12th fret bridge position with lots of 'spit' in its powerful attack. As with its sister model the Tirga Beag, the Mhor has good separation across a very dynamic range.

Taran often choose to add a soundport to their guitars, which gives the player some of the great tone that usually only comes from the soundhole out to the listener.

Measurements:

Scale - 645mm
Frets to body - 12
Body length - 510mm
Max body width - 402mm
Standard depth - 122mm
Width at nut - 45mm
Spacing at saddle - 59mm

Oreval

The Oreval is based on the Tirga Beag Mk II shape and has a more traditional, non-cutaway style.

Stripped back detailing gives it an austere, clean and striking look. Its own unique bracing pattern and greater depth give the Oreval a big voice, perfect for noisy sessions. At home, solo, the Oreval offers a large dynamic range.

Oreval is one of the furthest west hills on the Isle of Harris.

Measurements:

Scale - 645mm
Frets to body - 14
Body length - 495mm
Max body width - 415mm
Standard Depth - 125mm
Width at nut - 44mm
Spacing at saddle - 57mm

Oreval 12-Fret

The Taran team went back to the drawing board to completely redesign the 12-fret version of the Oreval to make a guitar for a dynamic player, capable of soft playing with a nice warmth and balance of overtones. It was also designed to have an enveloping almost intimate sound but be capable of delivering plenty of power when needed.

Rory says, "The guitar we created, the Oreval 12 fret, is a true testament to our key principles at Taran Guitars; pursue excellence in process and product; foster innovation in sonic and aesthetic design; responsibly source the highest-quality materials; collaborate."

Measurements:

Scale - 645mm
Frets to body - 12
Body length - 510mm
Max body width - 415mm
Standard Depth - 125mm
Width at nut - 44mm
Spacing at saddle - 57mm