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Thread: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mandolin

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    Default Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mandolin

    Here is an interview/chat about the first of the Taran "Springwell" mandolins completed by Rory Dowling recently, with three comparison sets of tunes. Hope it is of interest!


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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    excellent interview,and great mandolins from Rory.

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    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Great stuff, lovely sounding mandolins!
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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Ohhhhh. I can feel the MAS. I slightly prefer the sound of the second one. All three were over the top.

    Just wonderful.
    Last edited by JeffD; Jun-19-2016 at 12:03pm.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

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    funny....

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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    What an excellent interview, Kevin. Rory has such great ideas and it's inspiring to see the use of Scottish woods. The laminated sides and no kerfing is another interesting concept when applied to mandolins. Tone and balance of sound across all the instruments are really amazing.
    I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. - Eric Morecambe

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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    While I could see the Sobell similarities I hadn't realized that they'd used Kevin's Sobell as a reference. Makes me want one even more now!
    2018 Girouard Concert oval A
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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Totally unbiased of course but the sycamore sounded the best to me. Great pop for session playing I think and I will confirm it later this week.
    John Liestman -
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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Excellent video and comparison between the three differerent wood models, all wonderful in their own different ways (I have one of the Indian rosewood ones). Many thanks Rory for a great instrument and to Kevin for taking the time to demonstrate the mandolins!
    Last edited by Shelagh Moore; Jun-19-2016 at 3:55pm.

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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Quote Originally Posted by liestman View Post
    Totally unbiased of course but the sycamore sounded the best to me. Great pop for session playing I think and I will confirm it later this week.
    I love sycamores, we have a lot in my neighbourhood along with several London planes. Really cool to hear it can be made into such fine instruments!
    "But wasn't it all stupid nonsense, rot, gibberish, and criminally fraudulent nincompoopery?"
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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Here's the individual mandolins being played for comparison, though it is hard to separate them, in truth.
    These had only just been strung up, and never played, so it was a real thrill to play them all from fresh, all utterly superb!






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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand


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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Fantastic stuff.

    Ruth and I are just back from the "original" Springwell in Polbain and I've just been catching up with this video - really delighted to hear and see how well the mandolins have turned out.

    Huge congratulations to Rory for all the hard work, care and dedication he's brought to this project - and to Kevin for his energy, enthusiasm and encouragement.

    Also - congratulations to the new owners - you're going to enjoy yourselves.

    Tim
    Tim Jones

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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Click image for larger version. 

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    A very special day for me collecting my Taran Guitars Springwell mandolin no. 14 from master luthier and complete gent Rory Dowling. Swiss spruce with the most beautiful tight grain, glorious figured Mexican cocobolo, with reclaimed Scottish lime as the inner laminated sides, salvaged from an old bar in Anstruther! And beachcombed paua shell from NZ, by Rory himself as fretmarkers and the t. But what a stunning sounding instrument, tight, punchy, warm and ringing, balanced and loud. And the most beautiful classy skills evident in the woodwork. And brillianty set up, plays itself!
    Rory has created a distinctive and unique mandolin in the family of mandolins pioneered by Stefan Sobell, with Rory's superb take on this. I cannot wait to play it out and about. Delighted beyond words with the whole spontaneous collaborative project. Ever upwards Mr Dowling!
    Video will follow in good time ....

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    Registered User liestman's Avatar
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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Congrats Kevin! You will love it. I am sure it is ALMOST as good as mine! :-) (Which you are largely responsible for me getting in the first place, so thanks for that!)
    John Liestman -
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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Looking forward to seeing it. Certainly curious as to how it compares with your Sobell and Gibson.

    You certainly look happy enough. Cheers for Rory.
    David A. Gordon

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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Lovely looking mandolin - I'm sure it sounds even lovelier!
    2018 Girouard Concert oval A
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    2018 Frank Tate tenor guitar
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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Hugely enjoyed my visit to see Rory with Kevin yesterday. I had been very interested in hearing and seeing more about the cedar topped Springwell he had produced as I have an older Sobell with a cedar top that I've much enjoyed.
    Suffice to say we left with 2 mandolins - and I'm just bowled over by the quality of the instrument and its musicality - look out for Kevin's videos as there's some wonderful work coming out of Rory's workshop - and I'm very pleased to have been able to move on from being an admirer of his work to join the growing group of Taran Springwell owners.
    Tim Jones

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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Luthier Rory Dowling of Taran Guitars studying his Springwell mandolin, in Mexican cocobolo and spruce alongside the 1983 Sobell mandolin owned by Ke,vin Macleod, that inspired his mandolin range.

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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand




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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    It is quite a difference in tone between spruce and cedar top models. How would you describe the tone since you got to play them? Beautiful instruments both!

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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Kevin shot a video of the 2 instruments when we were at Rory Dowling's workshop -
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADKm...ature=youtu.be
    This gives you an idea of how the 2 instruments sound - the spruce is punchier - the cedar more mellow - both are fine instruments and it would be wrong to say one is better than the other - but they are different and suited to different styles.
    I'm hugely happy with the cedar topped one and 2 weeks in I'm really pleased I bought it.
    Tim Jones

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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    Thanks! I got that sense from the video, but in real life you do have a fuller experience of the difference in tone and resonance. I own a Sobell style copy made by an Ottawa luthier with a cedar top and the mellow warmth is quite apparent.

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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand

    They were not hugely different, given that all the rest of the components of theses two instruments were identical, but my opinion, and I haven't played cedar topped mandolins is that the spruce is brighter, slightly more punchy and marginally more responsive when driven harder with the pick. And that the cedar shimmers more. Perhaps when our instruments - Tim Jones is my brother in law - have settled and matured a wee bit, I will do another AB comparison. Hope that helps, but the best person to describe this would be Rory Dowling himself, perhaps. Cheers, Kevin

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    Default Re: Interview with Rory Dowling of Taran on new "Springwell" mand


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