Taran "Tirga Beag" Cutaway - *One last clip added/final thanks*

Dustinfurlow · #1 07-23-2021, 01:41 PM

Greetings AGF,

A very fine way to start the day opening an email that my Tirga Beag build has just begun construction. It was a highlight of 2021 to receive the Taran Guitars "Young Player Bursary" award which included a handful of Scotland's finest songwriters and music producers in the judging panel which led to securing the build slot of this guitar. Very humbling.

I'm extremely thankful for the opportunity to work with Rory, Zach and Gemma putting together this build. Talking with Rory right away felt like talking to an old friend with generous servings of laughter and meaningful conversation. This being said, we agreed on a plan for me to fly to Scotland in Oct/Nov to hang out and film some content of the first impressions of the guitar, some live recordings and of course a small shop tour of Rory and Zach's awesome set up. I'm also a huge dog person so meeting their pup Nuala will be a nice treat.

Back story:
I first played a DS8 Tirga Mhor much akin to Martin Simpson's back in January while recording a batch of demos for Cedar Rock Studio Guitar Gallery. It was clear there was a unique tonal response which confirmed Rory's top-voicing prowess, and it had the perfect balance of powerful fundamentals to dreamy overtones in the tail-end which were consistent with the many other impeccable sound clips available online of his work. I'd be comfortable in saying it was in the top 5 personal best-sounding guitars I have played. The playability was remarkable, I'm not a fan of 12-fret bodies at all because my left elbow will often bump into or dig into my ribs when I move up the neck and the right hand placement just doesn't seem to assist in anything for me (though I occasionally see the tonal benefits) but this guitar felt extremely ergonomic with the body contour and rounded body bindings. There was no hint of boxiness, which you can often coax out of a 12-fret guitar. The neck, action and playability were right on the money, and made coaxing out desired technique/subtleties feel very transparent when playing complex pieces. Even with the slight fan fret I felt no difficult playing it, just a stronger connection to what I was playing which is how it should be when playing a fine guitar. This experience was more than enough for me to have the idea in the back of my head of ordering a 14-fret version of this or something similar down the line.

Cedar Rock demo (playing at beginning and 9:52)

Original DADGAD piece "Strange New World"

The build:

We both decided on the Tirga Beag cutaway body shape, which is essentially a 15 7/8" wide guitar with 14 frets to body and an OM body length which places the neck slightly shifted to the right, aiding in reduced hand fatigue at first position. We agreed on a 25" scale length which will further assist playability for the number of demanding chord stretches in a few of my pieces, and also add sweetness/purity to the trebles which is where the melody tends to live. Paired with Italian spruce, Rory said this will be a great choice for the guitar, providing warmth to the tone right off the bench. African Blackwood should need no introduction and I was very happy to nab the last set. My previous experiences with it is that the low mid's are smooth and unique while the trebles carry a beautiful complexity that is reminiscent of good Brazilian guitars. My goal for this guitar is to be right at home playing complex modern fingerstyle pieces but also be able to take a flatpack for bluegrass/folk/singer songwriter material I enjoy - I think if anyone is capable of achieving this trapeze-string balance, it is Rory. I love the purity of his guitars.

For those who may be wondering about choosing short scale for the style of playing that involves many drop-tuned strings - I have found that setup and top voicing is everything. Also string gauge, but mostly the aforementioned. I have also chatted with Will McNicol about his 24.75" scale Tom Sands Model S and his thoughts were that going down to C, even B, is fine as long as you adjust your technique accordingly to avoid pressing or picking harder than needed which cause excess sharpness and buzzing from either/or extreme. I have found in the last year with my 25" Urlacher that I can easily get away with going down to C with a 0.53 and be very happy with the sound - I no longer think fan frets or longer scales are necessary for what I do as the added projection isn't needed for high-end mic's in a studio setting and playability/ergonomics is always king in my book.

Another thing I am looking forward to - Rory mentioned when he A/B'ed two redwood/walnut models - one with a wenge neck and one with a mahogany neck - that the wenge brings an additional presence or "focus" to the sound that he thought would be great for this build but also stated that this is not always recommended for every customer, as it is very unforgiving because of how "direct" the sound is. For instance, Martin Simpson's Tirga Mhor was made with Adirondack/ABW and Wenge neck and he said it was a terrifying guitar to play because of how surgically-precise the response was. Count me in!

Additional specs below of what I've narrowed down to work best over the years, for anyone who may be curious.

-Nut width: 1.78” (Nut string spacing 1 9/16”)
-Bridge spacing: 2.31”
-Scale Length: 25”
-Gold Gotoh 510
-Fretwire: FS47104-EVO Medium Jumbo w/ Hemispherical ends.
-Neck carve: Medium-C, neck thickness at 1st fret: 0.84"
-Set up/playability: Like Martin Simpson’s, able to play comfortably in standard and dropped tunings without higher saddle height choking bass sustain. Straight-ish neck.
-Fingerboard side markers up to 19th fret
-clear pickguard to prevent nail dings
-gold strap pin, wood strap endpin
-16” fingerboard radius

ABW back joined with sides:

Previous examples of the Tirga Beag body shape:

Thanks for reading and have a nice day.

islandguitar · #2 07-23-2021, 02:53 PM

Dustin!
Congrats and good wishes on learning this and hearing your upcoming plans to travel to Scotland! Well deserved honors.....and we'll have a blast following your build and more info as it surfaces in the coming weeks.
All the best to you!
Fred

MThomson · #3 07-23-2021, 03:18 PM

Congratulations! And welcome to Taran build club. First rule of Taran build club...you must talk openly and often about Taran build club!

But seriously, this sounds really exciting and a GREAT choice of woods. I can't wait to see the outcome. And the photos should keep me entertained waiting for mine to get shiny!

I hope your trip over later in the year works out too. It's a really nice part of the world.

TomB'sox · #4 07-23-2021, 03:19 PM

If you need a traveling companion, I am indeed a member of the Taran club and would gladly tag along!!!

Nemoman · #5 07-23-2021, 03:52 PM

This so so cool, Dustin--very excited for you!

reeve21 · #6 07-23-2021, 05:45 PM

Congratulations Dustin! Scotland looks like such a cool place to visit, enjoy

Treenewt · #7 07-23-2021, 07:46 PM

Congrats Dustin! I was so stoked to hear you were this years recipient (of what I think is a wonderful program!). Your choices sound like they’ll enable you to have a superb instrument for just about every need. Really stoked for you! Can’t wait to follow along!

RodB · #8 07-24-2021, 05:25 AM

Congratulations Dustin on the Young Player Bursary, and great that you are giving us a look at this build.

I bought a Taran (Rory’s ‘100th Instrument’ ) back along and indulge in a bit of self congratulation every time I sit down to play it.

Enjoy the build and the guitar when you collect it, as well as your trip to Scotland.

steveh · #9 07-24-2021, 09:42 AM

Very exciting to hear about your thoughts on this build and, of course given your prior experience, you know you will not be dissapointed.

I also cannot agree with you more re scale-length and fans etc. One of the very best guitars I ever played was a 24.75 Traugott. Did it feel at all slack or whimp-out? No, never. In fact, the opposite. I really couldn't notice any substantial difference when flipping to my 25.5 instruments - there are several other attributes that are more noticable (like neck profile, and severe fans).

A good while back I was extolling the benefits of fans to a luthier fiend who simply said that it would far easier to mess around with string gauge to get the effect I wanted when downtuned. I have to say, I agree. Much cheaper as well, and easier to play.

I did shy away from a wenge neck on my own Taran though (I'll prob go Santos mahogany): these guitars are razor precise enough, which is fine for a dude with your chops, but for the rest of us...perhaps not.

Cheers,
Steve

FrankCousins · #10 07-28-2021, 01:41 AM

What amazing playing - truly inspirational!

Congrats on the Bursery and guitar will be amazing... would be great to hear you play it in the Autumn, as not too far from Rory's workshop!

Cocobolo Kid · #11 07-28-2021, 09:37 AM

Congrats Dustin! Can't wait to see and hear more.

Dustinfurlow · #12 08-03-2021, 02:37 PM

Hey all, thanks for following along and for sharing your thoughts. Still over the moon knowing this will be done by late fall if all goes according to plan. Rory has joined the back and top and just sent me a revised drawing of his Tirga Beag Cutaway shape which he felt needed a fresh update. I have zero qualms with it!

He also asked what wood I would like to go with for the interior veneer, as I requested to not have colored veneers anywhere on the guitar. It's between black walnut and Mexican Bocote. On one hand I have always loved black walnut (and the smell of it) and on the other I think the Bocote may look more cohesive and it is also a wood from Mexico where half my ancestry is from. It is also more dense so might reflect the tone I'm after with this build better than walnut, but who knows. What would you pick?

Bocote:

Black walnut:

SprintBob · #13 08-03-2021, 03:27 PM

Congrats Dustin on what is going to be an amazing guitar. Looking forward to following this build along and seeing and hearing this beauty.

Dustinfurlow · #14 08-03-2021, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SprintBob

Congrats Dustin on what is going to be an amazing guitar. Looking forward to following this build along and seeing and hearing this beauty.

Can't wait to play it! Never been this excited for a guitar before.

MThomson · #15 08-04-2021, 12:16 AM

Hi Dustin, the updated drawing looks great. I love the shape.

As far as the veneers go, I'm off the opinion that they won't have much influence on sound due to the stiffness of the side construction and thinness of the material so if it was for me, I'd probably go for the walnut to provide visual contrast against the blackwood. That being said, if I were you, I'd probably go for the bocote because of the reflection of my heritage! Good luck with the choice.