Fretboard Journal



On this episode of Luthier on Luthier, I’m joined by guitar maker Ben Wilborn. Based in Reno, Nevada, Ben brings a musician’s perspective to his designs, drawing on his background in performance and composition to build instruments that are focused on tone.

For episode 110, Ben shares the origins of his business and discusses how his instruments have evolved through prototype testing, data collection, and hands-on experience at the bench.

https://www.wilbornguitars.com

Luthier on Luthier is hosted by Michael Bashkin of Bashkin Guitars and brought to you by the Fretboard Journal. This episode is sponsored by the Looth Group, Dream Guitars and StewMac.

Want to support Luthier on Luthier? Join our Patreon to get access to exclusive photos and content from Michael and his builds.

The post Luthier on Luthier: Ben Wilborn first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Fingerstyle guitar authority John Stropes joins us this week to talk all about his new two-volume book featuring transcriptions of every track on Leo Kottke’s monumental ‘6 & 12 String Guitar’ album!

Get the book here: https://www.stropes.com/product/leo-kottke-6-and-12-string-guitar-a-companion-by-john-stropes-and-benjamin-kammin/

During our chat, we hear about Stropes love for fingerstyle, how the Old Town School of Folk Music (home of the Fretboard Summit) shaped his playing, collaborating with Kottke and Michael Hedges, and so much more.

Our 58th issue of the Fretboard Journal is now mailing. Subscribe here to get it.

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. https://fretboardsummit.org

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Stringjoy Strings: https://stringjoy.com

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

Mike & Mike’s Substack: https://mmguitarbar.substack.com

The post Podcast 535: John Stropes first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Touring musicians often bond over simple things: Favorite restaurants, hotel hacks, inside jokes, or a good book.

When Tyler Ramsey and Carl Broemel first met on the road over a decade ago (Tyler was in Band of Horses; Carl is in My Morning Jacket), they connected over a shared love for instrumental guitar records. “Isn’t it fun to find an old reissue of a cool guitar record that has a bunch of mystery to it?” Broemel asks. “There’s a mysterious guy who only made one record and it’s from the ‘70s and then he went off and he was a carpenter or whatever. I love that mystery.”

Having played together over the ensuing years, Ramsey and Broemel have just released Celestun, their first duo record. During the COVID lockdown, they exchanged tracks back and forth through the internet. When restrictions were lifted, they recorded the remaining parts at Broemel’s Nashville studio.

Like some of those mysterious private press recordings they love, it’s a throwback of sorts, a beautifully subdued record of intricate guitar interplay, a soundtrack for a movie that doesn’t exist. The tracks with vocals – “Nevermind,” “Flying Things,” and “Sail Away” – evoke a bit of a Topanga Canyon vibe, but listen closely and you’ll hear another big influence, bluegrass great Clarence White.

Fretboard Journal: When did you guys first meet?

Tyler Ramsey: Back when I played in Band of Horses, we opened some shows for My Morning Jacket. I’m not even sure how many shows, maybe 10 shows? So we got to know each other a little bit then, but not a ton. I was trying to stay out of their way most of the time! And then we reconnected. Carl was coming through town here while touring.

It was [Broemel’s 2018 solo album] Wished Out.  His backing band was Steeleism from Nashville and I went to go see him play and we talked afterwards. That’s when the little spark of like, “Hey, we should try and do something together at some point.”

We ended up just booking a tour together before we even had a chance to really know what was going to happen. It happened just quickly. It worked out pretty good.

FJ: And was that tour more singer-songwriter song-based or did you know what you were getting into with the instrumentals?

TR: The plan was we’d play on each other’s songs. We’d go back and forth between Carl’s songs and my songs and accompany each other and sing harmonies. We brought a bunch of different instruments out. I basically just drove to Nashville to Carl’s place and we rehearsed for maybe a day or two and then hit the road with all of our stuff. It was pretty magical.

Carl Broemel: We were already playing “Elizabeth Brown,” one of the songs on Celestun. That became part of the show. We also started doing a flatpicking bluegrass thing just to make the show have more variety.

The album was spawned from those things, trying instrumentals and being like, “Hey, every song doesn’t need to have vocals.” And it was fun to play.

FJ: Carl, on one of your Instagram posts you talk about Tompkins Square records. Were you listening to that sort of music – John Fahey, Robbie Basho, etc. – before you and Tyler collaborated?

CB: A little bit. Tyler was opening my eyes to it. He’s more steeped in that genre than I am. One of my favorite acoustic guitar players is Clarence White. I love Clarence White. He’s the guy that I’ve studied the most and tried to learn his approach to the acoustic guitar, which is crazy. To me, he’s like Eddie Van Halen. I love Eddie Van Halen as much as I love Clarence White as much as I love Nick Drake.

TR: I’ve known Tompkins Square for a long time. For my first-ever solo self-released, self-titled solo record, I went up to New York City and met [Tompkins Square founder Josh Rosenthal] at a record store. I was really gunning for that record to maybe come out with him. So we met and I handed him some copies of this CD that I had burned myself. He liked it, but he didn’t put it out. We’ve stayed friends over the years.

My guitar path has been that kind of [fingerstyle] music. I came across a Michael Hedges cassette in some random New Age store in Brentwood, Tennessee and my mom bought it for me.

And then my uncle gave me a copy of Leo Kottke’s A Shout Toward Noon with Guitar Music on the other side of the cassette. From there, it was all in, finding all this weird stuff. Josh at Tompkins Square is great at digging stuff up and the compilations he puts together are good starting points for finding whole catalogs of people that I wouldn’t have known about.

FJ: Fingerstyle comes in many forms, from Michael Hedges to Kottke to Robbie Basho’s sprawling output and more. Tyler, what style do you gravitate towards?

TR: I gravitate towards more concise, composed lyrical instrumentals. Composition is part of what I try to do with it. I love sitting around and I could play for an hour just noodling on a theme or whatever, trying to play a raga-y kind of thing, but that’s not normally what I present to people that would want to come see me play. I’d rather play a concise, written out, or not technically written out, but a little composed piece of music. I do a lot of alternate tunings as well, so that always leads to new territory and stuff.

FJ: Did you record Celestun at Carl’s studio?

TR: We did. I think the first thing that was the song, “Celestun.” I recorded it here at my place and sent it to him. It was unplanned, but he sent back his pass over the top of it, and then all of a sudden, we were like, “Oh, let’s do this.”

CB: Yeah. Half the record we did in the same room and half was during the pandemic, long distance. He sent me “Celestun” and I sat with it. It made me realize that sometimes sitting with something and working on it for a while and getting the arrangement right is really cool. Also, doing things live is also a great way to record, as well, and we can do both. It was really a unique experience to get “Celestun” and listen to it a bunch of times and just sit with a guitar, try to play along to it, come back to it the next day, try to beat that, maybe do a couple edits here and there.

So I was learning where he left space for me to elaborate or just accompany. I really love that mindset. Should I step out? Do I need to accompany?

I think we both do that naturally and we’re trying to build that skill as we play more and more together. Then, he sent me “Elizabeth Brown” and I sent him one. Thankfully, things were wrapping up with the pandemic and we were able to schedule a time to get together. Originally, it was all going to be instrumentals. We didn’t even know we’re going to release it.

It was just something to do. It’s cool for me being in the music business for this long and strip things back and just start over again. Guitars, no equipment, no tour, no expectations, nothing.

FJ: I have to imagine that it was a lot easier to make spaces for each other when you finally were in the same room for the second half of songs?

CB: Oh, yeah. And then it does become a live action back and forth, stepping up or accompanying. We sat and played “Sail Away” front to back and that was it. I was like, “Wow, this is taking way less time. This is amazing.”

TR: My recording technique is based on my limitations. As a person who can operate any kind of recording program, I end up doing everything front-to-back mostly. If I’m recording a guitar piece, it’s like “press” and “record” on a tape recorder. I don’t even know how to go back and edit. If I don’t get it right, I have to do it over again.

What I was sending Carl might’ve taken me 15 passes, but finally, I got it right. And then when he was talking about filling in the spaces or leaving the spaces in the songs, it was fun to get them back. How much they were elevated by Carl’s playing just blew me away and made me so happy. Everything we’ve passed back and forth has come back better, elevated by us joining forces.

FJ: What kind of guitars did you use for this effort?

TR: My favorite acoustic guitar is a Harmony H162. I believe it’s from the ’50s, from [luthier and conversion guru] Scott Baxendale…

CB: I have two of them, too. Scott got his hooks in me when he had his store in Athens, Georgia. If you walked in there, you left with a guitar because they’re so inviting…these old beat-up instruments, but he makes them so you can actually use them. I have three of his guitars.

TR: Carl’s to blame for me having three of his guitars as well. When we did that first tour together, Carl was letting me use one of his Baxendale conversion guitars and I absolutely fell in love with it. Then we got done with that tour and somehow I accidentally ended up in Athens on my way back from a tour and stopped by Scott’s shop. I was like, “I’m getting one of these.” So that’s the one that I was just talking about.

FJ: How do you separate the sound of two acoustic guitars in a duo setting?

TR: They’re different styles. I think mine’s the H162. It’s a small body, like a 000. Do you have two of the [Roy] Smecks, Carl?

CB: No, one’s a Sovereign, like the Jimmy Page acoustic. And the other one is the Roy Smeck model. It’s interesting. We recorded one song on the record where we did it around one microphone and that was just supposed to be a demo. We were like, “You know what’s amazing? I can’t tell who’s doing what.”

To me, I want to make one big guitar. I don’t want it to be like, “Oh, that’s definitely Carl and that’s definitely Tyler.” I’m like, “Fuck it. Everything’s blending together.”

FJ: Do you know what Baxendale did to modify these old Harmonys for you?

CB: I believe he resets the neck and re-frets the guitars usually and then he re-braces the insides. And then he puts a K&K pickup in there, which I like because I never have to worry about the battery.

For me, instruments are a funny thing. I would love to have a vintage Martin. I have an old Gibson small acoustic because it’s great. But for what we’re doing, these guitars seem to work. They’re interesting sounding. You can’t put your finger on it. They don’t sound necessarily like a Gibson or a Martin. They’re in between. They’re a little rough and ready and I like that about these guitars.

FJ: And how did you record them? What microphone did you use or did it change from track to track?

CB: When we were together, we used KM84s and I think Tyler recorded some of his stuff which was a [Shure] SM57. I would record with a ribbon mic to have a slightly different sound, but that’s basically it.

TR: I’ve got a couple of the mics, but once again, I’m not a proper engineer and this isn’t a proper studio, but I’m able to capture things that are passable. So, yeah, the 57 and I’m not even sure what else.

CB: A lot of the songs ended up going on to my four-track. We didn’t record to the four-track most of the time, but I did dump stuff on and off of there to try to achieve a little bit of that lost acoustic guitar record sound.

I really enjoy what tape does to an acoustic guitar. A lot of times people talk about recording the tape and it’s all about the low end and the bass and the drums. For me, it’s all about the acoustic guitar sound because the very highest part of the acoustic guitar sometimes is irritating to me. And if I put it on cassette, it gets a little mangled up there and I think that’s how we’re supposed to hear it, honestly. Either in-person or off a cassette to me is how you’re supposed to hear an acoustic guitar.

FJ: I love that you guys were just doing this to get through the pandemic. At what point did you know you had an album?

TR: That’s a good question. We had a few things that we started out with. Then, we were like, “Well, let’s just finish, round it out.” But it’s wild because this is the easiest album I’ve ever made in my life. The songs are definitely challenging, but the whole process of making the album just breezed by in this really relaxed way. It just felt like no effort to me.

FJ: And are you guys still trading songs back and forth like before?

CB: There are a couple already in the folder, a couple demos. I’m just stoked.

FJ: Carl, you were talking about Clarence White. Who are your living acoustic guitar heroes?

CB: I just got hip to Cameron Knowler. There’s a playlist of stuff that Tyler made that’s amazing, but Clarence is really my guiding light. Once I started trying learning bass intro to flatpicking and then I heard him do it, I was like, “I really like his approach to it.” He made all these cool little tapes for his students that are amazing to listen to. So I’m trying to slim down who I’m studying. I’m studying Clarence and Eddie Van Halen right now. That’s my thing.

FJ: You could spend the rest of your life doing that.

CB: Exactly. It’s fun to play “Hot for Teacher” and then “Black Mountain Rag.” They’re both great. I’m accepting myself that I am an ’80s rock guy. We just played some metal songs on tour and I was like, “Man, I’m feeling real comfortable right now.” And so I can’t deny that that’s part of who I am, so I’m leaning into that nowadays.

FJ: What about you, Tyler? Who are you listening to?

TR: I definitely have been following Cameron on social media for a while and really enjoying what he’s doing, but I tend to go backwards a little bit. I still will put on Michael Hedges’ Breakfast in the Field or those Leo Kottke records. I’m fully embracing my New Age nerd status.

I still have a huge love for country blues and ragtime, too. I spent a lot of time learning Mississippi John Hurt stuff.

FJ: Well, you did it. Even with your differing music tastes, you made a really cool, mostly instrumental acoustic guitar record. It’s almost unheard of to pull that off.

CB: Yeah, we were joking with someone else that we made the record we knew no one wanted, but we wanted to do. When I play with Tyler, I feel that spark and that challenge always and I get energy out of it. I’m just excited for people to hear the album and they can make what they want out of it.

Listen to Celestun here.

The post Interview: Tyler Ramsey and My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel on ‘Celestun’ first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



The Fretboard Journal’s Sofia Wolfson interviews musician, producer, and recording and mixing engineer Philip Weinrobe. Over the years, Weinrobe has worked with a wide array of artists, including Big Thief, Hand Habits, Adrianne Lenker, Theo Katzman, Marc Ribot, Lake Street Dive, and countless others.

It’s a great chat about Weinrobe’s roots as a recording engineer, his work at Figure 8 and Sugar Mountain studios, and so much more.

https://www.philipweinrobe.com

Above photo: Michael Buishas

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. https://fretboardsummit.org

Our 58th issue of the Fretboard Journal is now mailing. Subscribe here to get it.

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Stringjoy Strings: https://stringjoy.com

The post Podcast 534: Philip Weinrobe first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

In Valley Hill, North Carolina, 20 miles outside of Asheville, Will and Wes Wienman have quietly but quickly carved out a niche as highly respected mandolin builders. Referring to their sound and process as “Vintage by Design,” the first mandolin to leave the confines of their home shop made it into the hands of Jarrod Walker, mandolinist for Billy Strings, and they’ve been off to the races ever since.

The Wienmans’ music history goes back to the 1970s, when Will Wienman’s fascination with violins got him started as a violin dealer and repairman after college. Annual trips to the largest violin auctions in the country introduced him to a wide variety of violins. At the same time, he was learning about and acquiring mandolins, mandocellos, pre-war guitars and all manner of history’s best offerings from Gibson and Martin, as well as then-new-on-the-scene builders like Gilchrist. In the early 1980s, when his son Wes was an infant, Will acquired a 1924 Gibson Loar F-5—an early version with the fern headstock inlay—that would make its way into George Gruhn and Walter Carter’s Acoustic Guitars and Other Fretted Instruments. Though he eventually sold the Loar, Will always maintained an interest in the voice and construction of mandolins.

The idea of building professional-level mandolins had been in the back of Will Wienman’s mind for decades, ever since building his first mandolin in the late 1970s. He knew he’d need help, because he doesn’t believe he has all the attributes he considers required to turn out the master-quality instruments he envisioned (almost infinite patience, steady hands, the ability to spend countless hours in the shop day in and day out). Regardless, he was bitten by the bug and continued studying and experimenting with instrument sound, primarily by re-graduating, voicing and fitting bass bars inside over 100 violins. He even built a mandolin that had an easily removable top so he could change one aspect of the instrument at a time and observe the results. He also started buying high-end spruce and maple in the early 2000s, knowing that one day he’d find the partner who could bring to life the sound and design Will envisioned. At the time, Wes was a teenager with little interest in building mandolins.

Fast-forward to 2014, and Will had relocated to western North Carolina, living on his own in a house with a workshop, lots of tools and lots of aged tonewoods. Wes was in his early 30s and living in Florida, but he was open to a change of scene. The two began exploring the idea of making mandolins, and soon Wes joined his dad in North Carolina.

Will and Wes have fairly different personalities yet complementary skills, which is apparent when they are interviewed together. It becomes clear that their partnership building mandolins is about more than familial convenience. Speaking to Wes, Will notes Wes was always “fascinated by sound.”

“Let’s be honest—you turn your own drum edges. You shape your own piano felts. You mod your own microphones.”

Wes began to think about his own skills and dispositions: “People have to do things for a living, but it turns out I was fired from every desk job I ever had.” He nonetheless realized that he has a deep capacity for focusing on one thing for long stretches of time—the kind of patience required for building carved instruments. “You can’t be in a hurry. You can’t get mad at inanimate objects.”

Will agrees. “His ears are really good. His hands are really steady. He’s really good with numbers, he can envision the geometry of 3-D shapes, and he’s really meticulous. And he’s absolutely relaxed about going slow and getting things right. And that’s what it takes to build a mandolin. If you’re going to build something really good, you just gotta be willing to stick with it.” Some of those things are likely natural gifts. And some are probably the product of osmosis from growing up in a household with a violin dealer and instrument repairman.

Regardless, with more than a hint of sarcasm, Wes responds, “So I figured, what better to do in my mid-30s than move up here and move in with my dad?”

Building Mandolins
The Wienmans’ workshop is full of the usual tools (many hand-made to accomplish specific tasks), dehumidifiers, jigs and raw materials that high-end luthiers are expected to have. But there is also a sizeable collection of files and pictures and historical materials about artisan-made instruments. Plaster casts of early 20th-century Gibsons. Graduation maps and technical drawings of several Loar mandolins. Tracings of various holy grail instruments. Files full of notes about world-class mandolins from the Loar era to the present. A perfect lab for Wes and Will to begin the inductive process of designing and building modern instruments inspired by vintage tone. There’s a reason the Wienmans call their mandolins “Vintage by Design.”

While Wes honed his artisanal skills, Will was involved in the big picture: “I knew how the tops should be graduated, how to get the tone bars to fit, what kinds of wood to use, how to tune the wood to itself…and the finish.” Basically “how to know when the wood wants to speak.” Wes likens those first years that he was in the shop to an anecdote in Ravi Shankar’s book about playing sitar: “He was recounting how he learned, and the first thing they would make you do is learn to sit in a lotus position for like a year, before they even put a sitar in your hands.” The first two years or so were dedicated to planning and design and good old trial and error. After a while, “we thought that, once we spent this much time doing it, we might as well spend even more time doing it, just to see it through. I knew it could be done. I knew we could do it. I just knew it.”

Spending time with the Wienmans, it is evident that this is much more than a business venture. Their partnership is fundamentally existential and based on intuition, rather than based on a business plan designed by an MBA. They didn’t start doing this to provide something no other builder was doing, or to take advantage of a market inefficiency or opportunity. Instead, Will says, “I know how it feels to have an instrument that just inspires you. I know what it is like to have an instrument in your hands that will do whatever you ask it to, whenever you ask it to—one that, when you play it, you find yourself doing things you didn’t even know you could do. That was my vision and my passion, and I knew we could do that.”

The Loar Mystique
One model of mandolin looms large over any builder of high-end mandolins primarily used for bluegrass: the F-5 model designed by Gibson, and more specifically, the 250 or so F-5 mandolins built under the oversight of Lloyd Loar in the early 1920s. Advertisements and forums and review videos are replete with strong opinions about how similar a particular modern mandolin may be to these mythic forebears. As for the Wienmans, while the majority of their mandolins built to date are heavily influenced by and in the Florentine F-5 style of the 1920s, there is a lot of nuance to how they think about the influence of Loar mandolins on their process.

“I’ve owned a ’24 Loar and have been studying them since about 1978,” says Will. And along the way he had friends with several Loars that he had the opportunity to measure and examine closely. Comparing these Loars side by side (and more since), Will was astounded how different they can be instrument to instrument—not only in voice, but also in construction. “I’m seeing these minor differences in the graduation of tops, side depth, break angle, neck shape and the arching of the back from Loar to Loar.” The real eye-opener for Will was when he had the opportunity to study six Loars at the same time: “They all had something special, but they were all a little different.” Accordingly, you’ll never hear the Wienmans say their mandolins are “built to Loar spec” (though that won’t keep you from finding the occasional aftermarket listing of a Wienman that describes it that way…).

“If you want to build an instrument that responds like a 100-year-old instrument within just a few years, you can’t build it like it was built 100 years ago,” says Will. This has led Will and Wes to slightly deviate from some of the most general Loar specs: The plane of the arching is different, the break angle and the way the neck attaches are different, the necks tend to be thicker and less v-shaped, and they tend to carve tops so that the symmetry of the graduations are different than those observed in many Loars.

“In general, I’d say that those early Florentine examples followed more of the German school of violin making, whereas our mandolins are influenced more by the Italian school. Regardless, what we really wanted was that response and that power and the ability to finesse” that the best Loars have, and they believe the trade-offs above help them find the sound that has made their F-5 Artist mandolin model so desired. Without a doubt, their admiration for the Loar era of mandolins is evident in every mandolin they have built, including recent mandolins modeled from the voices of some very specific Loars.

The First Wienman Sale
The story of how the Wienmans sold their first mandolin is one of those amazing quasi-mythical stories that seems possible only in Nashville, especially when told by Will Wienman, but it’s true.

“To our ear, we thought our first three mandolins were just incredibly responsive and balanced and powerful, but we’re not professional players. We thought the finish was good too, but you know…we were in a bubble. So we went to Nashville because we wanted to see how our mandolins stood up against all of the mandolins. We had no intention of going to Nashville to sell mandolins. As a matter of fact, none of those first mandolins even had labels in them.

“We made an appointment with George Gruhn at Gruhn Guitars. When we got there, he sent Greg Voros, one of the managers at Gruhn, down to look at our mandolins. He looked at our F-5 mandolin, then he went away and he came back down and said, ‘George wants to see your mandolin. Come back after lunch.’”

When they returned, after a few hours of George Gruhn and the Wienmans comparing their mandolin to a few Loar-era F-5s kept in the famed upstairs of the shop, and George giving them some good-hearted grief about their unrecognizable name on the headstock and a few differences in arching and F-hole shapes, George continued with his obvious interest in the Wienman mandolin. Before they knew it, it was closing time at Gruhn and George asked if he could take one of their mandolins backstage to the Opry that night to show it to some friends. Not wanting to miss the opportunity for their mandolin to get in the hands of seasoned players, the Wienmans quickly filled out a consignment sheet with George, left one mandolin with him and drove themselves and their other two mandolins back to North Carolina.

Legend has it a number of luminary players enjoyed the mandolin left behind in the care of Gruhn. But ultimately, about a month later, Jarrod Walker walked into the upstairs of Gruhn Guitars and made a connection with that Wienman F-5. This was after Jarrod’s stint touring with Claire Lynch and just before he got fully underway as the mandolinist for Billy Strings. Jarrod promptly shot off a message to the Wienmans: “I’m excited to say that I bought your mandolin from George Gruhn today! George took me upstairs and we A-B’d yours with three Loars, a Monteleone, and a handful of Gilchrists. I can honestly say that I preferred the tone of the Wienman over all of them with the exception of one Loar. Even that was a close call. Unfortunately I was short $160,000. I took the instrument home on loan last night, and in the several hours that I played it, it dramatically opened up. The mid-range is out of this world. Balanced, responsive and immediate…I know a good mandolin when I play one, and this one has something special.”

It’s certain that none of the Wienmans or George Gruhn or Jarrod Walker knew that this same mandolin—the Wienmans’ first F-5 (still without a label!)—would, within a few years, be played in arenas and stadiums for hundreds of thousands of fans a year, given the meteoric rise of Billy Strings. Regardless, they all knew that mandolin—and the way the Wienmans were building—was something special.

The Wienman Process: Then and Now
Talking with the Wienmans makes it evident that the combination of Will’s eye for design and Wes’ hands have worked in concert to build mandolins that are consistent from instrument to instrument, both in terms of aesthetics and sound.
Will’s experience in the vintage instrument world over decades has given him an intuitive sense of all manner of instrument design features. And while Will focuses on design ideals, Wes focuses on the slow manual labor required to execute the vision: “It boils down to the pressure of imagining what it’s like to spend so much on an instrument and what [the buyer] expects from it, because I’ve never spent that much on an instrument.”

This combination of the ideal and the practical go hand in hand for Will and Wes. For example, when it comes to knowing when a mandolin is finished, Will says, “When that carved top gets to the point where it wants to speak, then that’s where we slow down…when it really wants to speak, we set it aside and we make tone bars for it. And then we work the tone bars until they really want to speak with the top…and then you get the tone bars talking with each other in this real harmonious, nice sound.”
Wes saw things pretty differently, especially early on: When it comes to carving those last thousandths of an inch from a mandolin top, “you’re inside a cloud of anxiety, and at some point you just have to trust your ears and take it right to the edge but not go over.”

However, in building mandolins full-time since 2017, their process has brought about a consistent product and tone, coupled with those initial aesthetic ideals and meticulous focus. Since those early days, they’ve found efficiencies, built jigs and acquired specialized tools, but it’s still a highly manual process that is a lot more art than science.

At the end of the day, a Wienman mandolin is about Will and Wes’ collective experience, applied to pieces of wood that are by their nature unique, until the point when the wood speaks to them.

Photographs by Trevor Anthony

The post The Wood Wants to Speak: The mandolin-building team of Will and Wes Wienman first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

As we celebrate our 20th anniversary of the Journal, we’re pulling out all the stops. In each 128 page issue, we’ll be celebrating some of our favorite musicians and builders of the past, present and future.

Here are some highlights found in this issue’s 128 pages.

Trevor Barnes goes deep with Chris Thile about his latest Bach on mandolin undertaking.

Bluegrass fanatics know Martin #58957 for its affiliation with Tony Rice and Clarence White. In this issue, guitarist Willy Watson talks about Clarence’s other cherished Martin, a D-18 with an equally fascinating backstory.

FJ publisher Jason Verlinde interviews Canadian indie artist Mac DeMarco about his new Guitar album, his minimalist gear philosophy and more.

Sofia Wolfson talks to Meg Duffy of Hand Habits, who has graced stages with Perfume Genius and Kevin Morby for years, but has now found their own voice as a singer-songwriter.

Frequent FJ contributor Jamie Etherington visits Australian luthier Steve Brown (Wallace Brown Guitars). This farmer-turned-guitarmaker sources his instruments’ raw materials locally and has a unique slant on the acoustic guitar.

Michael Watts sits down with Martin Simpson for a mini string-changing session to get a peek at Simpson’s vast instrument collection.

Live from the 2025 Fretboard Summit, acclaimed luthiers TJ Thompson, Mark Stutman and Steve Nall (Collings) talk about the tiny minutiae that separates a great guitar from a merely really good one.

…and so much more.

Want this issue? Subscribe today and we’ll send it to you.

The post What’s Inside: Fretboard Journal 58 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Episode 159 of the Truth About Vintage Amps: Beans, two-prong ASMR, peeling diodes (and faceplates) and more!

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts. And honarary mention to Rancho Gordo beans.

Some of the topics discussed this week:

1:32 Rancho Gordo beans in the WSJ, corn sticks

8:13 What’s on Skip’s bench: All the early Fender Princetons; a baffler!

11:20 Our sponsors: and (unofficially) Rancho Gordo beans

15:15: What should I do with this extra Bell Sound 2122-C hi-fi amp?; hear the TAVA All-Stars: Bob Armstong, Keith Cary, Charles Batey, Leff Jeffries (YouTube link, audio only)

25:20 How can I remove and save my tube chart when I replace the baffle?

30:09 Comparing a 5F2A kit schematic to the original; cargamanto beans (see below)

40:34 What does Skip always replace? Sello Rojo coffee; Lustre Craft pots

47:48 A Tweed Vibrolux with rusty faceplate; WEST amps transformers?

55:48 A broken, yet soothing two-prong plug question; Stephen King’s ‘It’

1:01:57 Are the diodes in my Premier B-220 Custom Bass amp okay? Can Switchcraft jacks go bad?

1:10:50 Real death caps; Fantastic Fungi

1:13:05 Kraft dinner; replacement transformers for 50-watt Rickenbackers; WD-40 for joint pain

Want amp tech Skip Simmons’ advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too.

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Don’t forget, we have a Patreon page. Support the show, get behind-the-scenes updates and get to the front of the line with your questions.

Above: Listener Richard’s Rickenbacker amp, which needs a new transformer.

The post The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 159 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Guitarist/composer/improviser Shane Parish is about to release a truly astounding project, Autechre Guitar. The Athens, Georgia-based guitarist has transcribed and recorded an entire album of acoustic guitar arrangements featuring the music of electronic music duo Autechre.

This is no small feat. Autechre’s atmospheric compositions were made with layered synths and drum machines. Shane has somehow distilled them to their essence and arranged them for solo guitar. Best of all, they sound great.

On the podcast, we hear all about this Mt. Everest of a project, the Taylor 214-GE he used for the task, Shane’s background as an arranger and so much more.

The full Autechre Guitar album comes out on February 27, 2026 via Bandcamp: https://shaneparish.bandcamp.com/album/autechre-guitar-2

Watch Shane play another classic electronica track, Aphex Twin’s “Avril 14,” below.

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. https://fretboardsummit.org

Our 58th issue of the Fretboard Journal is now mailing. Subscribe here to get it.

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Stringjoy Strings: https://stringjoy.com

Above photo: Rachel Orcutt

The post Podcast 533: Shane Parish first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Troubadour Charlie Parr brought a bit of history to the Fretboard Journal headquarters, a circa-1950 Gretsch acoustic that was owned by Spider John Koerner. The guitar was gifted to Parr by Koerner towards the end of his life.

It’s an unusual instrument, even by acoustic Gretsch standards. For starters, the headstock sports a mispelled logo. Beyond that, Koerner modified the instrument to be a 12-string, using mandolin tuners and a relocated pin bridge. “The top is wildly crooked. It shouldn’t work at all, but it does,” Parr explains. “I’ve been carrying it with me ever since John handed it over.”

The post Case Study: Charlie Parr on Spider John Koerner’s Gretsch first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



On this week’s podcast, UK-based author and guitar fanatic John Stubbings returns to tell us all about his new book, ‘The Guitar Detective.’ The follow-up to his monumental ‘The Devil Is In It’ publishing project, ‘The Guitar Detective’ is a “non-fiction novel” based around a riveting guitar mystery.

We discuss the format John chose for this book, his inspiration for the story, and so much more.

Order ‘The Guitar Detective’ here: https://orpharionpress.com/

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. https://fretboardsummit.org

Our 58th issue of the Fretboard Journal is now mailing. Subscribe here to get it.

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Stringjoy Strings: https://stringjoy.com

The post Podcast 531: Author John Stubbings first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



For episode 109 of Luthier on Luthier, we’re joined by Juha Rukangas, a Finnish guitar maker pushing the boundaries of instrument design.

We dive into his innovative Valve Bucker pickup, the Captain Nemo guitar prototype, and his use of local Arctic Birch and wood torrification to create unique guitars. Juha shares his journey from student to professional luthier and his vision for the future of guitar making, blending tradition, technology, and artistry.

Link: https://ruokangas.com/

Luthier on Luthier is hosted by Michael Bashkin of Bashkin Guitars and brought to you by the Fretboard Journal. This episode is sponsored by the Looth Group, Dream Guitars and StewMac.

Want to support Luthier on Luthier? Join our Patreon to get access to exclusive photos and content from Michael and his builds.

The post Luthier on Luthier: Juha Rukangas first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Episode 158: Chris Benson of Benson amps and Bryan Sours of Soursound transformers make their long-awaited returns to the Truth About Vintage Amps. Why? They want to tell us all about the logging truck of an amp they are currently building, a 700-watt(!) all-tube beast dubbed Babylon!

The Babylon will feature 14 KT88 tubes, 16 total speakers, three knobs, and two power cords. It’s literally the most powerful tube amp they could make without requiring a dryer outlet.

Check our Instagram for a sneak peek at the creation.

https://www.bensonamps.com/

https://soursound.com/

and honorable mention to…
https://bottosbbq.com/

Hear the Babylon in person at the 2026 Wood, Wire & Volts festival (or anywhere within a mile or two radius of the show).
https://www.woodwirevolts.com/

Deep cuts: Bryan’s first appearance on our show can be found here (it’s pretty epic) and Chris originally appeared on our 30th episode.

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts. And happy holidays to all of our listeners and Patreon members for their support! We’ll be back in 2026.

Want amp tech Skip Simmons’ advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too.

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Don’t forget, we have a Patreon page. Support the show, get behind-the-scenes updates and get to the front of the line with your questions.

The post The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 158 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Nearly every guitar player has daydreamed about running their favorite guitar company. On this week’s Fretboard Journal Podcast, we hear from two individuals currently living that dream: Nashville’s Pete Mroz and Shannon Pollard. Earlier this year, these two guitar fanatics and businessmen became the new owners of Bend, Oregon-based Breedlove Guitars.

During our chat, we talk about the realities of running a guitar business in 2025; the surprises they weren’t anticipating; what changes they are implementing at the 35-year-old company; and where they see growth in the guitar space.

Whether or not you’re a Breedlove owner, Pete and Shannon’s enthusiasm for guitars is downright infectious. We think you’ll love this chat.

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. https://fretboardsummit.org

Our 58th issue of the Fretboard Journal will mail later this month. Subscribe here to get it.

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Stringjoy Strings: https://stringjoy.com

The post Podcast 530: Breedlove Guitars’ Pete Mroz and Shannon Pollard first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Hayden Pedigo performs “I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away,” the title track from his 2025 album, at our headquarters.

For this recording, he borrowed our ladder-braced Waterloo WL-14 guitar (the same one that Bill Frisell used for prior FJ sessions).

Follow Hayden’s Instagram here.

The post Hayden Pedigo – “I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away” first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



It’s the 157th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amps.

Some of the topics discussed this week: 

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts

:42 Atmospheric rivers

3:52 Skip’s appearance at the Bay Area Guitar Show (Jan 10-11, link)

8:46 Fretboard Journal 58 (coming soon!)

9:57 Unsung electronics hero (and possible con man) Lee De Forest (read his memoir here); power conditioners

17:44 Skip’s new trail cam

20:47 One man’s trash: Repurposing the square capacitor/resistor found in a Gibson GA-19 RVT/Falcon

22:44 What’s on Skip’s Bench: A clean early 1969 SF Fender Vibro Champ with a trem that didn’t want to go slow; an Ampeg J-20

29:11 Advice on an amp road trip (New Orleans, Phoenix, LA, and Denver)

34:25 What’s louder: Two 50-watt halves or one full 100-watt stack of amps

37:29 Using the potentiometers in hi-fi speaker units from the 1950s; the Christmas Jug Band; ukuleles

42:10 What’s up with this Winson combo amp? EL84s vs 7189s; garlic bread; Roy Buchanan’s The Messiah Will Come Again (YouTube link); Roy Clark and Joe Pass; Van Morrison’s “You Are My Sunshine;” The Fretboard Journal’s You Are My Sunshine project (link)

50:29 Gigging a 1947 Fender Deluxe 5A3, Brookwood leather

55:40 6L6s in Deluxe Reverbs and Princetons? wild mushrooms

1:00:43 Are all trebles created equal?

1:05:38 Greetings from Canada; Slow Horses (redux); Life on the Line featuring John Travolta (Wikipedia link); chicken curry

1:13:26 Questions re: a Knight 93SX670 PA amp and the phono wiring

1:17:23 WD-40 musings

1:19:33 Just completed my Mojotone Tweed Princeton kit, but what’s with this hum?

1:22:50 An RCA MI12155 PA head with no output; Chuck Prophet; Mosquito Coast cocktails; recommended book: ‘The Night Train to Nashville’ (Amazon link)

1:26:40 The Whole Earth Catalog; Stewart Brand (Amazon link)

1:30:30 Vacuum Tube Valley

Want amp tech Skip Simmons’ advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too.

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Don’t forget, we have a Patreon page. Support the show, get behind-the-scenes updates and get to the front of the line with your questions.

Above and below: Listener Rick’s Winston amplifier, as discussed on this episode.  

The post The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 157 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Mandolin hero John Reischman joins us this week to talk about his new album, The Salish Sea.

We chat about the influence the Pacific Northwest has had on his music-making, discuss his famed Lloyd Loar-signed Gibson F-5 mandolin, and so much more.

Check out ‘The Salish Sea’ here or on your favorite streaming platform.

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. https://fretboardsummit.org

Our 58th issue of the Fretboard Journal will mail later this month. Subscribe here to get it.

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Stringjoy Strings: https://stringjoy.com

The post Podcast 529: John Reischman first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Every year during the holiday season, we chat with Guru Singh, a third-generation yogi and spiritual teacher who also happens to live and breathe guitars.

On this installment (Guru Singh’s third visit), we go deep. This former Reprise artist and friend of Janis Joplin talks to us about the spirit of giving, the benefits of A.I. (even for musicians), how he stays optimistic during difficult times, and so much more.

We’ll be sharing the video from this interview on our YouTube channel soon.

https://gurusingh.com/
https://www.fretboardjournal.com/
https://fretboardsummit.org/

Our 58th issue of the Fretboard Journal will mail later this month. Subscribe here to get it.

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Stringjoy Strings: https://stringjoy.com

We are also brought to you by Seattle’s own Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar. https://mmguitarbar.com

The post Podcast 528: Guru Singh Returns first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



It’s the 156th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amps. This week: Special guest Jack Weston joins us with a great Allman Brothers story.

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts.

Some of the topics discussed this week: 

:43 What’s on Skip’s Bench: a Fender Princeton with reversed input jacks

5:41 Special Guest: Jack Weston, author of ‘The Allman Brothers Band: Classic Memorabilia, 1969-1976’ (Amazon link)

46:17 The Magnatone Triplex; ultralinear output stages, redux; Bob Wills’ The Tiffany Transcriptions

47:35 Raising kids and running a small business; tractor rollovers

51:13 A cooking baffler: Potatoes cooked in resin

52:30 Will my Airline 9003 amp kill me?

55:11 Traynor YGL-3A amps

56:43 Is it possible for a fuse to blow when the amp is fine? Best-case scenarios for a speaker mismatch? Jerry Portnoy’s autobiography, ‘Dancing with Muddy’ (Amazon link)

1:03:02 Movie recommendations: Come See Me in the Good Light; The Lost Bus

1:05:28 The greatest Thanksgiving side dish of all-time? A corn-bread concoction; the 2026 Fretboard Summit (www.fretboardsummit.org); the TAVA Cookbook (Dropbox link)

1:07:37 Good goo: Oxalic acid/wood bleach (Amazon link); Permalac sealer

1:10:43 Using a 6SL7 as a long tail pair

1:13:03 Amps made with 6N2P pre-amp tubes and 6N6P power tubes? Ashen amps

1:15:16 The resurrection of Australia’s GoldenTone amps? https://goldentone.com.au/

1:18:39 What should I do with this West Mini IR combo amp?

1:23:37 Hopefulness and despair with a reissue Twin Reverb and a Silverface Champ

1:31:06 What should I do with my Wilcox Gay Recordio recorder

1:38:31 A Califone SP-30 powered speaker; chili

Want amp tech Skip Simmons’ advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too.

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Don’t forget, we have a Patreon page. Support the show, get behind-the-scenes updates and get to the front of the line with your questions.

The post The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 156 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



On this episode of Luthier on Luthier, I talk with the endlessly creative Fred Carlson.

Fred shares his path into instrument making—from early sculptural dulcimers with mentor Ken Ripartella, to studying with Charles Fox, to building in communal workshops surrounded by musicians, woodworkers, and fellow artists. Fred also shares his thoughts on inspiration and reflects on appreciating a charmed life.

Link: https://www.fredcarlsoncreativeluthier.com/

Luthier on Luthier is hosted by Michael Bashkin of Bashkin Guitars and brought to you by the Fretboard Journal. This episode is sponsored by the Looth Group, Dream Guitars and StewMac.

Want to support Luthier on Luthier? Join our Patreon to get access to exclusive photos and content from Michael and his builds.

The post Luthier on Luthier: Fred Carlson first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Nearly a year ago, we published our first hardcover book, The Luthier’s Tool Box. This is a collection of stories – love letters, really – from luthiers around the world, describing the tool they cherish the most in their builds and repairs.

Compiled by frequent Fretboard Journal contributor Jamie Etherington, it spans a wide array of makers, builders, and repair people, famous and not-quite-famous. Included are submissions by Andy Powers, Linda Manzer, Michael Bashkin, amp builder Chris Benson, Michael Greenfield, Dick Boak, Kevin Ryan, Joshia De Jonge, and John Monteleone. 

Note: This is not just a book for luthiers. We’ve sold nearly 2,000 copies to guitar fanatics around the world. It seems as though everyone with a love for music, fretted instruments and craft can appreciate these short tales. In fact, we’re down to our last 500 copies. When they are gone, they are gone.

For the holiday season, we’re discounting our remaining inventory to make room for our next hardcover book project. Nab your copy today (yes, we should also add that it makes for a great gift).

Order the Luthier’s Tool Box here.

The post On Sale (and Almost Sold Out): The Luthier’s Tool Box first appeared on Fretboard Journal.