Meilein

The Meilein was the outcome of a project we worked on with Dougie MacLean on in 2016. Dougie, who also plays a Tirga Beag, was looking for a Tenor to do accompaniment work on his album 'New Tomorrow' which he released in 2017.

Dougie was seeking an instrument that had a woody cut with good separation and chunky trebles. What we came up with was a Mahogany and Adirondack Tenor with a scale of 580mm. Using bracing inspired by the Taran I build, it allowed this small guitar to sing and have a surprisingly full bass as well as the chunk in the trebles needed. Since then, the addition of our compression braces to the design has given the Meilein more depth and richness to its voice, it’s everything we waned from a Tenor guitar.

Meilein is a small hill surrounded by water. Fresh to her east and salty sea to the West with views over to the island of Scarp. This now abandoned island was once the epicentre of life on Harris. We’re sure music could be heard as generations sang together, working the fertile ground on Meilein's slopes.