View Full Version : taggart mandolins
Hi my name is andy I have been a member of this sight for awhile, but never introduced myself. this is a great sight with a wealth of knowledge and i am hoping for some info on the taggart mandolin that i'm playing right now. it's #50 jan. 1983. it has been owned by a few people and thought maybe someone here had owned it at one point. here in south east indiana they're very well known but wondered what other folks thought of them
8ch(pl)
Aug-12-2006, 8:49pm
There is an A model here in Nova Scotia that I played about a year ago. I really liked it. Lovely tone and great volume.
JimRichter
Aug-12-2006, 9:31pm
I, who live in Bloomington Indiana and live 25 miles from Bruce Taggart's shop in Nashville Indiana, used to own that Taggart A5 that is now in Nova Scotia. That was a killer little mandolin that I bought used from Taggart himself. It was made back in the early 80's when Greven was doing his inlay (has the Taggart banner inlay).
Bruce is talented but I do say that I've preferred his earlier mandolins to many of the new ones I've played, but of course, part of that may be due to the aging process.
Doug Hardin, of the Not Too Bad Bluegrass band out here in Bloomington, has played a Taggart F for years and gets an excellent tone out of it.
Don't know that 83 F5 you have, but there was a good bunch between 81 to 83. Maybe if Scotti Adams reads this thread, he can relate about one he owned a long time back. Good mandolins from a good builder.
Jim
steve V. johnson
Aug-12-2006, 9:36pm
Hey Jim,
I've been in Bloomington a long time and Bruce Taggart and his instruments are pretty well legendary, but I don't really know
much real information about them... I've heard about a lot more of them than I've seen. I think that I've only seen Doug Hardins and one other one in person.
How many of Bruce's mandolins are out there, and is he still building 'em?
What are his price ranges? Does he build octaves? <GGG>
Thanks,
stv
JimRichter
Aug-12-2006, 9:54pm
Hey Steve
No octaves or extended mandolin family instruments that I know of. Bruce is primarily a fiddle maker and is also into converting/fixing-up old open back banjos. He does the mandolins, but I don't get the feeling he defines himself as a mandolin maker.
I don't know how many he's made. All the good ones I've heard about are that group from the early 80's, of which my A5 was a part. He started building mandolins, if I remember what he told me correctly, in the mid 70's and I played one at his shop from that period and it was truly amateurish. That A5 I bought was the only one from that period he had. He had an 82 or 83 F5 that ended up with David Joest in Indianapolis a couple months before I hit the shop. That may be the one that ended up with the thread starter, hard telling.
I think he built occasional mandolins through the 90's and kind of increased production some time in the past 5 to 10 years.
The pricing seems to be $3500 and up for an F, but it's been a couple years since I was out there. The $3500 is pretty stripped down. The new one I liked--and it was a good mandolin--was sort of his artisan model which was selling for $5500 and was a twin to one he made for a guy out west. Blonde/amber mandolin very good volume and playability. That was the only one out of three newer mandolins I played that I liked--but I felt the tone out of the A5 (which I bought for around a grand) was on par with it.
Jim
earthsave
Aug-13-2006, 9:39am
All the ones I have heard have been great sounding. Randy Hensley, used to be in Sweetgrass, plays an A Taggart. Jake Brown has/had an F model, might do a search on here for the info on it. He had it last year at Bean Blossom.
newbreedbrian
Aug-13-2006, 10:04am
I own that A5 in Nova Scotia. Great little mandolin. I've done a little messing around with setup lately and it has improved even more
8ch(pl)
Aug-13-2006, 11:43am
You lucky dog Brian.
bluegrassjack2
Aug-13-2006, 6:25pm
I priced his 'A' models and he was asking $2500 just month or so ago. The mandolin player with the Wildwood Valley Boys in Indiana plays one of them. He sure makes it sound good.
steve V. johnson
Aug-13-2006, 9:15pm
Thanks for the info, fellas!!
stv
newbreedbrian
Aug-13-2006, 10:13pm
You lucky dog Brian.
we'll have to get together again sometime again glen and you can have another go at her.
JimRichter
Aug-14-2006, 9:12am
I'll be bold and post a photo headstock of Brian's (my former) Taggart. I thought I had more photos, but I only have a headstock one left.
Jim
it's good to hear all the great experiances with the taggarts. i had to have one after hearing jakes at a festival a couple of years ago. he told me that mike clevland had owned his at one time. mine sounds old, and woody with plenty of volume, hard to beat
I have a Taggart A. Bought used from Elderly many years ago. Label inside says '82, re-topped in '83. Narrow neck with a pronounced radius. The body is thinner than typical though the tone is rich and musical. Overall excellent tone, one of the best I've run across. It's aged quite well, solid as a rock. It's a low two-digit serial number, possibly #24.
Charlie Ayers
Aug-16-2006, 4:10pm
Sims of Harmonious Wail has played a Taggart for years - I think he still is. The one I've played was very nice, and also was thinner in depth than most F-5's I've seen.
Charlie
JimRichter
Aug-16-2006, 7:00pm
Sort of interesting that the mandolin in question is up for sale now.
Lawrenceburg Indiana is an old stomping ground of mine. My dad worked at the Seagram distillery for 45 years. I grew up/went to school over in Ripley County. One of my favorite areas of the state.
Jim
the mandolin was going to be mine. i kind of explain it in my add. it was a freind of mine who owned it and he was going to let me make payments, unfortunately he needed the money before i could get it. so i offered to sell it for him. trust me i would never sell it if i could afford it. if someone buys it they will make the payment out to him and i will have made nothing. but while it is for sale he is letting me use it, so the more people make me out to look bad the longer I get to play it so hit me with your best shot http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
seagrams is supposed to be shutting down in the next few years, that will put a big hurt on our area
JimRichter
Aug-17-2006, 6:39pm
Seagram's--or at least the company that bought Seagram's--has put a big hurtin' there. My dad took early retirement after Seagram's was bought out just to try to guarantee his pension, even though that may still be messed up.
Sometimes on the Cafe you see people brag up an instrument right before they intend to sell it, in an effort to get some marketing for it. I'm glad you clarified that that isn't the case here. Just a pet peeve of mine.
Jim
Joe Singleton
Aug-18-2006, 8:50am
very sporting of you Jim
I understand exactly what you're talking about. I just thought things were going to work out different, so I wanted to show my excitement and see what other folks thought of them.
8ch(pl)
Aug-19-2006, 11:39am
Hello Brian, we should get together. I have left the folk group, it seemed to be more into drama than music. They do have a monthly kitchen party in Cole Harbour that will be starting up again in October. I live within walking distance of the venue. I am thinking of trying the Sackville Coffee House when it reopens next month.
E mail me if you get a chance.