Taran guitar, beautiful Claro walnut headed for B.I. G. (er)

[fregly]

Rory comes across really well on camera. If he had a youtube channal on builds or just walking around Scotland I'd be a subscriber.

[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by Feste

I have been hankering for a Taran guitar since Rory went online.
I should have made move then, he prices certainty have increased.
Deservedly so with the quality of his workmanship. I envy you on this build

Thank you, I am assuming you are in Scotland? If not come to B.I.G. and meet Rory and the guitar in person!

Originally Posted by Haasome

Beautiful Tom, great thread. We visited near the Taran shop last year (near St Andrews), and it was beautiful.

We are definitely needing to go. We were just talking about it yesterday as a matter of fact. I am hoping this fall or next if everything works out. I hear September is a good time to go, a little less crowded, but still a chance at decent weather.

Originally Posted by fregly

Rory comes across really well on camera. If he had a youtube channal on builds or just walking around Scotland I'd be a subscriber.

Ha, well I am sure he will be glad to hear that. Maybe he can start doing walking tours of Glascow LOL!!!!

[TomB'sox]

This next set of pictures, are definitely different then most side constrution. Rory is a proponent of the stiff sides making for a better vibration of the back and top. The sides are three layers, Walnut on the outside, then the entire inner layer of Western Red cedar is kerfed throughout its width and then the inner layer of red, which I am not sure what it is. If I am wrong here, maybe Rory will see this post and explain a little more for us.

Anyway, here are the pics: The first pic is Western Red Cedar that is being kerfed it's entire width

ataran guitar cutting wrc for kerfed sides.jpg

ataran guitar kerfed sides 1.jpg

ataran guitar kerfed sides.jpg

ataran guitar kerfed sides bending.jpg

Gluing the laminated sides together in a vacuum set up.

ataran guitar vaccum gluing sides.jpg

[TomB'sox]

I think these next photos will help to fully explain the side construction. As you can see, it is quite unique and Rory told me he has been quite happy with the results!

Laminated pieces ready to go together along with what appears to be a little Scottish nutritional supplement!

a taran guitar sides done ready to assemble.jpg

Cutaway being attached to the sides.

a taran guitar sides assembly.jpg

Close up showing the three layers of sides.

a taran guitar sides done close up.jpg

Neck block constructed and ready to go.

a taran guitar neck block ready.jpg

Almost there.

a taran guitar sides with neck block.jpg

[Guitars44me]

Very interesting and unique sides! This is fun

Paul

[Nemoman]

Interesting--should definitely make for some stiff sides.

So does the the red layer have a structural significance (helping to reinforce the kerfed layer perhaps?) or is it purely decorative?

Looking forward to seeing more!

[ianLP59]

I host an annual guitar meet at our place near Southampton in the south of the UK. Rory has attended for the past couple of years and last year, July 2019, brought a Tirga Mohr with him which he'd literally only just strung up. Once I got around to playing it, I was pretty smitten. Rory's work is world class.

It so happens that it was me who introduced Rory to Martin Simpson, probably around 8 years or so ago. That introduction and their subsequent collaboration led to the genesis of the Tirga Mohr model.

I am very pleased to say that I now have that particular guitar in my collection and find it particularly fitting that the whole story has come round full circle, so to speak. My Tirga Mohr is Adirondack over Malaysian Blackwood, I love it.

I help Martin out with his annual workshop up in Sheffield and back in November last year we had three of Rory's Tirga Mohr models; mine, Martin's and a workshop attendee. All three are fantastic but obviously differ a little. I really am a fan of twelve fret guitars and a twelve fret guitar with a cutaway is a great combination.

All the best,

Ian

BTW - my annual guitar meet is always on the third Saturday in July and increasingly attracts builders as well as guitar afficionados. Anyone interested in attending should PM me...

[WilbornGuitars]

Wow, this is a really interesting and beautiful build. I can't wait to see and hear it at BIG! I love the bow like back braces. What a cool idea.

[TaranGuitars]

Originally Posted by fregly

Rory comes across really well on camera. If he had a youtube channal on builds or just walking around Scotland I'd be a subscriber.

Hey fregly, there's a few more videos here on the Taran YouTube channel, if you are interested in seeing more. Not so much of me walking around Scotland but that's an interesting angle!

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

This next set of pictures, are definitely different then most side constrution. Rory is a proponent of the stiff sides making for a better vibration of the back and top. The sides are three layers, Walnut on the outside, then the entire inner layer of Western Red cedar is kerfed throughout its width and then the inner layer of red, which I am not sure what it is. If I am wrong here, maybe Rory will see this post and explain a little more for us.

Hi Tom, I actually came across this side-construction a few years ago through Dion James who I spoke to about using this specific construction, he in turn, had learned it from his mentor at 52 Instruments. The layer of red is a dyed veneer and to answer your question, Neomoman...

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Interesting--should definitely make for some stiff sides.

So does the the red layer have a structural significance (helping to reinforce the kerfed layer perhaps?) or is it purely decorative?

Looking forward to seeing more!

It is indeed structural as the two .6mm veneers are glued together to create an inner lamination which is, effectively, an internal monocoque construction and then of course, dying the veneer red gives it some decorative punch!

Originally Posted by ianLP59

I host an annual guitar meet at our place near Southampton in the south of the UK. Rory has attended for the past couple of years and last year, July 2019, brought a Tirga Mohr with him which he'd literally only just strung up. Once I got around to playing it, I was pretty smitten. Rory's work is world class.

It so happens that it was me who introduced Rory to Martin Simpson, probably around 8 years or so ago. That introduction and their subsequent collaboration led to the genesis of the Tirga Mohr model.

I am very pleased to say that I now have that particular guitar in my collection and find it particularly fitting that the whole story has come round full circle, so to speak. My Tirga Mohr is Adirondack over Malaysian Blackwood, I love it.

I help Martin out with his annual workshop up in Sheffield and back in November last year we had three of Rory's Tirga Mohr models; mine, Martin's and a workshop attendee. All three are fantastic but obviously differ a little. I really am a fan of twelve fret guitars and a twelve fret guitar with a cutaway is a great combination.

All the best,

Ian

BTW - my annual guitar meet is always on the third Saturday in July and increasingly attracts builders as well as guitar afficionados. Anyone interested in attending should PM me...

Hi Ian! Great to hear you are still enjoying the Tirga Mhor and also delighted that the guitar and story came full circle. Martin actually has another instrument on order for later this year, this time with a Fanfret and a Soundport!!

.......

Rosette fitting today - always love seeing the details start coming together!

[steveh]

Originally Posted by ianLP59

Rory has attended for the past couple of years and last year, July 2019, brought a Tirga Mohr with him which he'd literally only just strung up. Once I got around to playing it, I was pretty smitten. Rory's work is world class.

I am very pleased to say that I now have that particular guitar in my collection and find it particularly fitting that the whole story has come round full circle, so to speak. My Tirga Mohr is Adirondack over Malaysian Blackwood, I love it.

If the neck had been wider, there's no way you would own it now! I was completely uninterested in a new steel-string but that guitar was a real Holy Grail for me in that it combined the best virtues of the Sobell type sound (reminiscent of Rory's earlier work) with a more mellifluous treble than I'm used to hearing from that type of instrument. And comfortable (due to the 12-fret and arching). And extraordinarily well built. I've not come across a better woodworker than Rory.

Alas that guitar cost me dearly: I am now on Rory's wait list, and some way out. I like a wide neck (pretty much identical to the one Martin Simpson plays) and find myself tripping up on more conventional instruments, otherwise I'd have nabbed that one before Ian got to it.

Interested in what Martin has got coming next Rory: Whats the brief vs. his current instrument?

Cheers,
Steve

[TomB'sox]

I love how you fellows describe Rory's guitars, I am in for a treat!

For the record, it was the stories I had heard about Ian's party in England that inspired my attempts to do B.I.G. in Texas. I thank him.


Rory has begun work on the rosette. If you have heard of a technique called a hot sand fade, Rory seems to be quite a master of it. I poorly understand it, but I believe it is as it sounds, heating sand and placing the wood in that to darken it. How you control the amount of color change I assume is due to the heat and the duration, but I don't really know that.

For my rosette, Rory has done a double hot sand fade with Scottish Burr Elm with white and red detailing as you can see below. I am hoping the next time Rory drops in he can explain what the double fade refers to. You can see three bands of the Burr Elm with the accents in the final rosette.

First is the Scottish Burr Elm chunk

ataran rosette burl.jpg

Burr Elm Fillet with red and white accents and top

ataran rosette burl and trim colors.jpg

Burr Elm after hot sand fade process:

ataran rosette.jpg

Rosette close up, you can see how Rory has alternated the dark from the hot sand fade with the lighter bits on each ring, I believe this is where the term double fade comes from.

ataranbuild rosette.jpg

Mocked up rosette and top

ataran rosette and top.jpg

[Zandit75]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

I love how you fellows describe Rory's guitars, I am in for a treat!

For the record, it was the stories I had heard about Ian's party in England that inspired my attempts to do B.I.G. in Texas. I thank him.


Rory has begun work on the rosette. If you have heard of a technique called a hot sand fade, Rory seems to be quite a master of it. I poorly understand it, but I believe it is as it sounds, heating sand and placing the wood in that to darken it. How you control the amount of color change I assume is due to the heat and the duration, but I don't really know that.

For my rosette, Rory has done a double hot sand fade with Scottish Burr Elm with white and red detailing as you can see below. I am hoping the next time Rory drops in he can explain what the double fade refers to. You can see three bands of the Burr Elm with the accents in the final rosette.

First is the Scottish Burr Elm chunk

Attachment 33187

Burr Elm Fillet with red and white accents and top

Attachment 33188

Burr Elm after hot sand fade process:

Attachment 33194

Rosette close up

Attachment 33189

Mocked up rosette and top

Attachment 33190

Loving the Rosette design!!

[Ludere]

Wow ... that rosette ... !

Reminds me of M.C. Escher ... quite possibly my favorite rosette ever.

...

[MThomson]

Originally Posted by Ludere

Wow ... that rosette ... !

Reminds me of M.C. Escher ... quite possibly my favorite rosette ever.

...

I love Rory's rosette for the same reason - it's just so hard for the eye to settle on what's going on.

I was interested to see how this looks on the redwood, as it has great contrast against to spruce and really catches the eye. I think on the redwood, it looks much more understated but is none the less attractive as a result.

And since Tom's getting so excited hearing about how they sound, the thing that blew me away about Rory's guitars wasn't so much the tonality, but the dynamic range. The best way I have found to describe it is that I couldn't find the edges of the instrument. When I played as quietly as I could, it still rang and sustained, but when I opened up and strummed as hard as I could, it just got louder and louder with no change in the character of the instrument. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun exploring what it can do.

[SJ VanSandt]

Hey Tom, can I post a couple of these in my Facebook B.I.G. album? That thing is getting lots of likes.