Incoming Taran Tirga Mhor Model Heading To TNAG Nashville

[The North American Guitar - Richard Poll]

Here you can see the incredibly clean and precise neck joint which Rory uses on his guitars. This method allows him to create an entirely glueless neck joint, further demonstrating his innovative and forward-thinking approach to lutherie.
"In the past I’ve used 3 different types of neck joints-
1. Slipper heel neck joint- derived from the classical way of building nylon strung guitars, but I did it so that it was slotted and the neck went on after the body was built up
2. Bolt on- smaller instruments
3. Dove tailed- the way most of my instruments have been made
All these joints are successful, very strong and have great transfer of energy. However, I’m always looking to develop on things, so I wanted to revisit the Bolt-on neck. I feel for longevity there is an added benefit of having a neck which is totally removable and has a glue-less joint. Because there is a lot of tension in the neck of a guitar, this can create a lot of problems in terms of neck angles changing over time or the belling of the top making the once correct neck angle wrong. If the neck is removable then these things can be addressed easily. For me this was only a small benefit when thinking about neck joints. Without talking about neck material, very important consideration when designing any instrument. The most important thing is energy transfer between the neck and highly responsive body. If the neck absorbs vibrations you lose sound quality and if the joint isn’t solid or its to small the same thing happens.

Q - I wanted the joint to be bigger, I also wanted the heel to be much thinner

A - Put the heel inside the body.

Using the wonders of a dovetail joint and a mortise and tenon this can be achieved. It is now glue-less, 2 bolts will take the neck off, but I have made it so that there is a greater amount/area of wood joining the neck to the body. In theory and principle, the energy transfer is better as there is more physical contact between the woods. The mass of the joint is greater and the heel can be thinned.

In terms of making- it is much harder to make than the dove tail because the joint is twofold. There is an extension which runs out underneath the end of the fretboard, past the 12th and 14th fret, down to the 18th fret. That is the critical point of the glue-less joint. It’s easy to bolt the neck onto the heel but it is difficult to tie the fretboard extension down without any glue. This area must be tied to the body as over time the joint would rise upwards under the string tension. Bolts could be used but why when the dovetail will do it as well?

So, the major benefits to this joint,

solidity

removability

Slimmer Heel for access to high frets

Increased wood contact from a standard Dovetail therefore increased energy transfer

Longevity of instruments life being increased

I get to machine a beautiful joint and it makes me very happy!"

[The North American Guitar - Richard Poll]

And the woodwork is finished! This guitar is currently in finishing and will be ready before Christmas.





















Please get in touch if you'd like to know more. You can email us on [email protected] or call us on 020 7835 5597.

Have a lovely week!

[jaymarsch]

Thanks for all of these fabulous photos. Really beautiful work and I will be excited to hear about the voice on this one.

Best,
Jayne

[steveh]

This is painful: I am on Rory's list for a Tirga Mhor but Rory is (rightfully) in tremendous demand so my guitar won't drop until late 2021 / early 2022 I think.

In the meantime I'll have to live here vicariously, which is no bad thing. Sometimes the wait is the best bit.

Cheers,
Steve

[Nemoman]

Looks like a beautiful instrument with many innovative features.

Love the back of the neck into the backstrap detailing--sublime.

Look forward to the review and video once it's in hand!

[TomB'sox]

Love it, beautiful.

[MThomson]

I'm currently on the Taran guitars build list and had the pleasure of being one of the first to get to try this guitar at the Taran workshop as we explore what I would like for my guitar. It should be noted that when I played it, it was only 2 days old and still hadn't had its final set up so I'm sure it will be an even better instrument by the time it finds a home. With this disclaimer, my thoughts are as follows.

Once again, Rory has made a fantastic instrument.

Aesthetically, it's clean and elegant with lots of little details that you only find on closer inspection. On top of this, the wood figure is lovely and really stands out under finish.

Tonally, I really liked the guitar. It was well balanced with a strong fundamental and a moderate level of overtones supporting it and allowed real control of the tone produced. I also thought it was a fantastic instrument to sing with - I even felt like a better singer because of it!

As a relatively light fingerpicker, I found I had to work quite hard to drive the adirondack top but the guitar really came alive when strumming or flat-picking and had real presence and projection.

All in all, it's a wonderful instrument and I'll envy whoever buys it up until the point Rory builds mine.

[The North American Guitar - Richard Poll]

Here is the completed Guitar. Safe to say we are all absolutely blown away by the outcome.

























And finally... here is a demo from the one and only Will McNicol...



This guitar sold within days of completion, however we have got one more 2020 bespoke build slot available with Taran Guitars, if you'd like one for yourself.

Please email us on [email protected] or call us on 020 7835 5597 if you'd like to know more.

[TomB'sox]

Wow, fantastic on all accounts, but holy cow Will??? That right hand technique on that piece was amazing and the guitar just is exploding with sound. Not a surprise on the quick sale there, congrats Rory and TNAG.

[SJ VanSandt]

Blown away! Everything - design, woods, sound, Will's playing. Virtuosity at every level. That neck joint, though - that's just genius. I can't wait to see and hear a Taran in March at Tom's place.