In junior-high woodshop I built an explorer-style electric body,it was my first attempt at actual instrument constuction and I ended up selling it to a classmate. At age 16 I finally completed my first playable electric guitar using the few tools that we had at home. It was a purple flying V. It wasn’t too long before I ended up selling that one too.

I spent the next few years learning to play the guitar quite seriously and at 19 I decided to move Vancouver to explore the possibilities of a musical career.

By chance I moved into a house just a block away from guitar making legend Jean Larrivee’s shop and it wasn’t long before I walked over and introduced myself. I guess Jean could see I was genuinely interested and I soon found myself employed. The year that followed gave me my first look into the world of acoustic instrument making . I would often work a full day then come back at night to spend extra hours working with Jean , I remember loving the smell of the place …rosewood and lacquer. I got to work on guitars being built for many notable players.

Knowing the piece before me would be seen and heard by thousands of people was exciting to me. I was very keen on learning as many lutherie techniques as I could …I designed and built a very original electric guitar before my first year at Larrivee was through.

After 14 months I decided I wasn’t playing enough guitar and I left Jean’s shop to concentrate on my music once again. A few years of playing in local bands went by and lo and behold I came back to Vancouver and Larrivee’s shop once again. It was during this second tenure with Jean that I decided that I’d like to make a career of Luthiery. Some of my friends from the Larrivee shop were going out on their own and starting businesses and I realized that perhaps this was the path for me. Around this same time I was introduced to Bluegrass music, thanks to Vancouver’s Pacific Bluegrass and Heritage society , and began to study it. I was particularly fascinated by the F-5 mandolin with it’s unique scroll.

So, in 1994 I moved back to my hometown and slowly began to gather the tools and develop the techniques to start doing luthiery full time. I built my first F-5 mandolin that year.

In the following years I did many repairs and mods on both acoustic and electric instruments for many local players as well as build D-28 and F-5 copies. In 1998 I embarked on a large guitar project. I designed and built an original Wiens Guitar “family”. It consisted of 5 completely different yet related instruments. From smallest to largest: parlor, auditorium, concert , concert –12 string and a 5-string concert bass. I considered each of them a great success and they were all well received.

By this time my earlier F-5s had begun to get around and I had started to receive orders for a few of more of them. I found the mandolin was becoming an ever-increasing source of interest and enjoyment for me, so in 1999 I left the guitar-making and repairs behind and began concentrating strictly on building custom F-5 mandolins.

The next few years saw my F-5 design undergo some major refinements. I was finally able to closely examine and measure a genuine 1924 Loar F-5, and that experience influenced my work tremendously. My building philosophy shifted and I began to focus on building “vintage style” instruments, avoiding modern materials and shortcuts. Every inch of my F-5 design was then revisited in this new light and refined. Noteworthy was my switch to the age-old hide glue for every stage of construction, and many months spent learning the art of french polishing.

Today I’m happy to say that I’m still living and breathing F-5 mandolins and always researching ways to make them better. . My greatest hope is for that fascination and passion to always show through in every instrument I make .

- Jamie Wiens