April 2011 - It's a boy!
Spring has sprung, and love is in the air! Even the mandolins are getting into the action! The latest ultrasounds are in and the first Wiens H5 Mandola is giving birth to her 2nd child, tentatively named Wiens P5 Piccolo. Curious? See the photo of the Piccolo 'in utero' for yourself. |
January 2011 - 1st Annual Wiens f-5 Reunion
Three Wiens mandolin owners ran into each other recently at a Bluegrass workshop in Alberta, Canada and discovered they were holding 3 consecutively numbered instruments. Left to right are Matt Garnett with #19, Colleen Whaling with #18, and Rob Baker with #17. Thanks to Rob for sending this great photo. |
December 2010 - Tom Ruzum gets #30
Tom Rozum received his long awaited Wiens F5 #30 just in time for Christmas. Check the mandolin archive to see more photos of it. Tom liked the instrument enough that he’s already put it to work and taken it on the road with him. Check out Tom & Laurie Lewis in concert if you get a chance (www.laurielewis.com) |
November 2009 - New fall photos of #26 etc.
I spent a day out at Fort Steele, BC. and managed to get some nice photos of #26. You can see it with the new hand-cut fern inlay, Paganoni case, and a few other random things at my Flickr photostream. |
February 2009 - Fretboard Journal Article
An article by Dan Beimborn about his Wiens mandolin experience is featured in the the spring 2009 issue of the Fretboard Journal. Check it out... And while you're at it, check out www.fretboardjournal.com and get a subscription. It's a quarterly publication full of beautiful photos and in-depth articles for anyone interested in the world of stringed instruments. |
November 2007 - June '23 Loar visit
This fall, I had the pleasure of having a rare June '23 Loar at my shop for some fretwork. This instrument is unique in that it has the triple side binding that appeared on the July 9 batch which included Bill Monroe's legendary mandolin. |
October 2007 - John Reischman played Cranbrook
I was happy to have presented John Reischman & the Jaybirds in concert in Cranbrook BC on Friday Oct. 5th 2007. John is one of the all time mandolin greats, and I feel very fortunate to be have introduced him to my hometown. |
June 2007 - New Making the Body page
I have added a new page to the building section that shows how I do some of the tricky work on the bodies of my F-5 mandolins. Be sure to click on the thumbnails to get a large version of each photo....read more |
December 2006 - New Instrument Page
I have updated the photos and layout for the intsruments page with new shots of the Wiens #22, the first of the completely re-designed mandos to leave the shop. We have also added a page for each style of mandolin, the F-5 page is up, and the H-5 and P-5 pages are coming soon. Check it out...read more |
June 2006 - New Building Page Launched
I have been putting together a new building page to show all of you some of the crucial steps to putting together a Wiens F-5 mandolin. There are plenty of nice, high-res pics to zoom in on and my first-hand account of the process. Check it out...read more |
June 2006 - Interview for Mel Bay Mandolin Sessions:
I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed for "Mel Bay's Mandolin Sessions" online magazine. Check it out....read more |
February 2006 - LoarFest West, Bakersfield, CA:
In February, I managed to get down to Bakersfield for the first, and hopefully annual, Supergrass Bluegrass Festival. This festival featured "Loarfest West"...An historic event that combined a public display of over twenty examples of original Loar-signed instruments, performances on the instruments by top players, and a panel of the top Loar experts discussing the finer points of "Loar lore"...read more |
January 2006 - Refinements to the Wiens F-5:
After spending a couple months with a beautiful March '31 1924 Loar F-5 (read story) and absorbing it's wonderful vibe, I decided that there was room to further refine my mandolin design in a way that reflected what I was seeing and feeling in that Loar. So back to the drawing board I went...read more |
October 2005 - Loar Visit:
This fall, I had the pleasure of having a Loar signed '24 F-5 at my shop for some maintenance and minor repairs. The time spent with it gave me a good chance to closely study and document a very fine example of these great instruments. It's beautiful tone and form left a deep impression and resulted in dozens of new refinements to the Wiens F-5 design...read more |
