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The Wiens F-5 Mandolin In the early 1900's, Orville Gibson's vision of a unique and distinctly American mandolin was evolving in his shop in Kalamazoo. It was a groundbreaking design which looked & sounded unlike anything that had come before. For over twenty years the instrument was slowly refined, until perfection was reached in the form of the F-5 master model of 1922. These instruments were never surpassed, and eventually became the standard for the mandolin as we know it today.
The Wiens F-5 is faithful to all the critical elements of the originals. Information from original instruments has been painstakingly gathered together and has resulted in a historically accurate design that evokes the same emotions that the originals do. Some of the more critical details like the body shape, rim depth, soundhole size & position were taken directly from a beautiful original F-5, signed by Lloyd Loar on March 31st 1924.
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The Wiens F-5 captures the refined, triple-bound look that was achieved during the last months of production in 1924. The hand-cut Abalone Fern inlay and Silver plated Waverly tuners, with their Mother-of Pearl knobs, complete the look.
Wiens mandolins feature a Dyed-pearwood headplate veneer... Not ebony. The abalone and Mother of Pearl is inlaid into a dyed-pearwood laminate, blacked-over and painstakingly scraped to reveal just the inlay and binding beneath. This was the original technique used on the Loars. The result is a very authentic appearance as well as a noticably reduced peghead weight compared to ebony. To further limit neck weight, Wiens necks are reinforced with the Steve Smith "Loar-style" truss rod. Besides being accurate replicas of the originals, Steve's rods are the correct weight. I find they positively affect both the sound and feel of the instrument when compared with modern double-rod systems. Necks are joined to the body using a very labor-intensive compound dovetail joint...easy to overlook an invisible detail like this, but the way this joint fits is also very important to the sound.
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Tapered peghead.
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Genuine bone points are dovetailed into the binding. This is an odd detail that appears on most Loars, though it is not always seen on both points. Impact resistance and joint stability must have been foremost in the designers decision to include this feature on the originals, as it required time & skill to install cleanly. Wiens F-5s feature two genuine bone points precisely dovetailed into the binding as a loving tribute to the craftsmen who built the Loar mandolins.
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Scooped fingerboard extension allows for clean picking. The inlaid faux frets are sterling silver.
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Faux tortoise position markers.
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Authentic binding material: Cellulose nitrate is a primitive plastic that came into use around the turn of the century. Engineers developed a way to make it appear as grained ivory, and it soon became a substitute for real ivory on decorative items and stringed instruments, including Loars. Wiens mandolins feature this binding painstakingly sized, heated, shaped & joined by hand, one piece at a time, in the 1920's style. In this photo, the sensual humped profile and crisp point of the fingerboard extension can also be clearly seen.
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James tailpiece with its hinged cover allows easy string changes. The Wiens version features a hand-engraved logo and silver plating.
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Waverly tuners, Silver plated with genuine Mother-of-Pearl knobs.
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Attention to detail…Such as the tapered
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Hand applied stain and French polished varnish give a vintage look.
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Authentic pickguard bracket hardware.
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