A Sensational New Taran Tirga Mhor Arrives!

We've been working with Taran Guitars for about a year now and are excited to have received our fifth Taran into our UK showroom. Rory Dowling, aka Taran Guitars, is based up in Pittenweem, a small fishing village on the east coast of Scotland and is consistently making the highest quality and sonically supreme guitars we have had the pleasure of getting our hands and eyes upon.

Rory has a large collection of the highest grade tonewoods and uses a variety of (mostly) hand tools to craft his instruments. With an in-depth understanding of the materials he uses, each set of wood is treated with an individual, mindful and knowledgeable approach, to ensure it reaches its maximum potential.

With over a decade of practice, experience and wisdom, Rory is constantly trialling new processes, designs and experimenting with the instruments he makes. A recent development is the use of 'Compression Braces', a bracing system unlike any we have seen before. In a nutshell, this is a hollow bracing structure which supports the cylindrical back profile of the instruments, whilst remaining as light and flexible as possible. You can find an in-depth blog about this feature here.

In addition to this, the top rim of the guitar features a lining of African Blackwood- massively increasing the responsive nature of the soundboard. This technique essentially channels more energy into the top of the guitar, creating a drum-like, receptive output.

We absolutely love the Taran Tirga Mhor model and couldn't resist bringing another one in. The Tirga Mhor is Rory's take on a 000 and also the product of a long discussion with his friend and guitar virtuoso Martin Simpson. The Tirga Mhor is designed with with an open voice enabled by the 12th fret bridge position with lots of 'spit' with its powerful attack. This guitar features a stunning African Blackwood 4-piece back, paired with an Adirondack Spruce top. With a subtle fan fret, it is an infinitely comfortable and responsive instrument, the ultimate player's guitar.

"The Dowling Signature is a series of my guitars which allows me to propel tonal developments and aesthetics. The DS8 is my 120th guitar." says Rory.

"This guitar was an incredibly special build as it harnesses all of the developments in my last 13 years' building and uses a set of very rare, perfectly quarter-sawn African Blackwood that I bought in my first year as a luthier. This incredible African Blackwood combined with compression braces, fully-kerfed sides and top edge reinforcement, gives the Mastergrade Adirondack soundboard the stage to perform which ultimately results in a tonality which is expansive and dynamic. This accompanied by a fan fret on a Cuban Mahogany neck and sound port gives an intimate and encompassing player experience."

"Over the years, I have become used to seeing guitars leaving the workshop, however this one was difficult to part with!" - Rory Dowling