Fretboard Journal



Singer-songwriter John Craigie joins us this week to talk about his new album, I Swam Here.

https://johncraigie.com

We also talk about Craigie’s unique humor during his sets, his Beatles covers, album covers, and so much more.

Plus…a really exciting Fretboard Summit update. Our next Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Register today: 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).

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

Above photo: Savannah Lauren

The post Podcast 542: John Craigie first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

For episode 112 of the podcast, I’m talking with Otto D’Ambrosio.

Otto wears two hats—as a solo luthier and Chief Designer at Eastman Guitars—and he walks us through his journey from working with legends like Flip Scipio, John Monteleone, and Carl Thompson to his role today, bridging the gap between hands-on building and production design.

We talk about how the pandemic pushed him into 3D CAD, changing the way he collaborates with Eastman’s workshops, and dive into some of his design work—including the Fullertone neck system, his boutique archtop builds, and an upcoming project comparing domestic and European tonewoods.
Links:

https://dambrosioguitars.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.

Michael Bashkin’s Hub of Acoustics 2026 US Academy: https://hubofacoustics.com/en/#Colorado_Academy

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

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This week, the Fretboard Journal’s Sofia Wolfson talks to Tulsa, Oklahoma-based songwriter Ramsey Thornton. Ramsey is a multi-instrumentalist with a love for both banjo and guitar. In fact, he’s one of those rare individuals who boasts a graduate degree in banjo!

We hear all about it and about Ramsey’s forthcoming debut album, I Called It! 

Follow Ramsey here: https://www.instagram.com/ramsey.thornton/

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

The post Podcast 541: Ramsey Thornton first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Our annual Fretboard Summit is a unique event where we spare no expense. For three days, attendees participate in workshops, panel discussions, jaw-droppingly great concerts and hands-on exhibits, along with one of the world’s largest showcases of modern guitarmaking. It’s like no other public guitar gathering out there.

We are grateful for all the attendees – literally from around the world – who show up to support this weekend. We also want our annual guitar gathering to be as diverse as possible and to inspire the next generation of luthiers, players and students.

With that in mind, we’re pleased to launch the Summit’s inaugural Pay It Forward program, a sponsorship program that will grant full, all-access passes to individuals who want to participate in the Summit but can’t due to financial hardship. (Note: We unfortunately cannot cover airfare, hotel or travel expenses.)

To apply for the program, simply fill out this questionnaire.

Thanks to a generous sponsorship from The Music Emporium, we’ll be granting ten full-access, three-day passes to players, builders, students or content creators in 2026. The Summit is a once-in-a-lifetime weekend where you can meet the leaders of the gear space and some truly inspiring artists. Connections get made in truly impactful ways. We’d love for you to be a part of our community.

Our team will review all the applicants and notify the recipients by May 15, 2o26.

The post Announcing the 2026 Fretboard Summit Pay It Forward Program first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Episode 162 of the Truth About Vintage Amps Podcast, where amp tech Skip Simmons tackles all of your questions about guitar tube amps! This week, we go deep on Canadian amps, tremolo tweaks, and tech tips. Plus: Rumors of a possible TAVA meetup at Skip’s and a (very short) poetry slam!

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars; and Amplified Parts / Mod Electronics. Use the discount code TAVA10MOD for a one-time, 10% discount on Mod Electronics orders at https://www.modelectronics.com. Usable on speakers, amp kits, pedal kits, reverb tanks, etc. Offer ends April 11, 2026.

Some of the topics discussed this week:

:00 Skip has a cold

2:04 SF’s The Fab Mab (Wikipedia), 1971 Guitar Player magazine advice; changing the vibrato speed on a Fender Super Reverb

8:42 The answer to last episode’s baffler: The Canadian Standards Association; TAVA merch?

11:30 Caveat emptor: A UTC output transformer; why is my reverb not working?

26:12 Lead dress 101

31:40 An amp sale/TAVA gathering at Skip’s? (Follow our Instagram for updates/polls)

40:01 Harmony H410 and speaker impedance

44:10 Why is the tremolo on my 1969 Traynor YSR-1 Custom Reverb head not working and how can I slow it down?

50:38 Can you put variable capacitors in a guitar circuit?

53:11 Series filaments and a Berlant Concertone MCM-2; the Epiphone Rivoli EA-65 schematic

1:00:27 Gibson Falcon mods; whatever happened to the reissue Falcon?

1:07:24 Tech tip: Hammond 154M chokes (Amplified Parts link)

1:12:10 Guitarist Chuck Wayne

1:14:05 Spaghetti sauce with meat; getting Skip an iPhone; tremolo using bias modulation on the power tubes; the Ampeg Supereverb

1:22:21 Garnet amps and Kale; the Garnet Herzog

1:24:43 A listening room for Dynaco amps and Acoustic Research turntables

Above: Listener Bruce’s Berlant Concertone MCM-2, which he definitely shouldn’t mod

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.

Want to support the show? Join our Patreon page to get to the front of the advice line, see exclusive pics, the occasional video and more.

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

The post The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 162 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Portland, Oregon-based musicians Eric Skye and Jonah Sissoyev join us this week to talk about Jonah’s beautiful new EP, ‘A Place Called Nowhere.’

The EP’s origin story begins with Jonah asking Eric, an acclaimed fingerstyle guitarist and Santa Cruz Guitar Co. signature model artist, for guitar lessons. Once he heard Jonah’s songs, Eric offered to produce and record this project.

During our chat, we hear all about their collaboration, Eric’s recording techniques (including some DIY home recording advice), the Stew-Mac kit guitar that Jonah built for himself, and so much more.

Listen to Jonah’s EP here:
https://jonahsissoyev.hearnow.com/a-place-called-nowhere

Follow Eric: https://www.instagram.com/eric.skye.guitar/

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Register today: 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 540: Jonah Sissoyev & Eric Skye first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Episode 161 of the Truth About Vintage Amps Podcast, where amp tech Skip Simmons tackles all of your questions about guitar tube amps.

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars; and Amplified Parts / Mod Electronics. Use the discount code TAVA10MOD for a one-time, 10% discount on Mod Electronics orders at https://www.modelectronics.com. Usable on speakers, amp kits, pedal kits, reverb tanks, etc. Offer ends April 11, 2026.

Some of the topics discussed this week:

:42 Phil Upchurch and ‘What It’s Like to Be a Musician’

3:25 On the Bench: A non-working outboard tremolo by Skip, a unique Massie trem circuit, putting trem in a Bassman 100, bias modulating tremolo

9:57 A TAVA giveaway (Thank you, Union Tube & Transistor and Exile!)

14:44 An Electro-Music Baffler, answered; a vintage Roberts electric mandolin; Tiny Moore; Bob Wills in Sacramento

25:12 Follow our Instagram page and help us get to 10,000 followers, the Garnet amp book (link), the Garnet Herzog

28:16 An amp tech for Guam

36:12 Working on a Johnson Celestion, why were some volume pots in front of the first tube? the best spare 6V6s to seek out

42:02 Talking Micro-Frets guitars on the Fretboard Journal Podcast (link)

43:13 Why is my Fender Super 60 so noisy?

49:30 A 1968 Fender Super Reverb with replaced transformers, using the extra secondaries? bias talk

56:03 Homemade salsa

59:19 Recommended reading: Proper Records’ ‘Hillbilly Boogie’ box set (Amazon link)

1:00:33 Recommended watching: ‘The Life We Have’ (YouTube link, warning: it’s a tear jerker)

1:01:46 The Webster-Chicago 166-1 vs. the Voice of Music 160 amp schematics; homemade chicken wings

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.

Want to support the show? Join our Patreon page to get to the front of the advice line, see exclusive pics, the occasional video and more.

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

Win these shirts (details around minute 10)…   

The post The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 161 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



For Episode 111, I’m joined by highly respected guitar builder Raymond Kraut.

Ray shares why he’s embraced unconventional sound ports while staying true to his traditional tone, how his porting designs have evolved over time, and what he’s learned through real-world testing.

We also dive into Ray’s Derrio Wood Company, which sources and supplies desert ironwood and other unique tonewoods. Ray talks about what makes desert ironwood so special, its tonal character, and why it’s becoming an exciting alternative for guitar builders.

Links
https://www.derriowoodco.com/

The post Luthier on Luthier: Raymond Kraut first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Acclaimed vintage guitar repairperson Mark Stutman (Folkway Music) joins the Fretboard Journal Podcast once again.

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Register today: 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 539: Mark Stutman (Folkway Music) Returns first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Fretboard Journal contributor Seth Lorinczi joins us this week to talk about the rise and fall of Micro-Frets, the upstart electric guitar brand launched in the late 1960s.

Seth penned a lengthy story on Micro-Frets for our magazine’s 58th issue (available now), and we talk about the brand’s launch in Maryland, its unique offerings, the short-lived attempt to revive the company, and so much more.

We also talk about Seth’s history in the DC punk scene, his writing projects, and the impact psychedelic therapy has had on his life.

Follow Seth here: https://www.sethlorinczi.com/

Get issue 58 of the FJ (with Seth’s Micro-Frets story) here.

Also mentioned: Steve Melkisethian on the Truth About Vintage Amps Podcast: https://www.fretboardjournal.com/podcasts/the-truth-about-vintage-amps-ep-38-with-special-guest-steve-melkisethian/

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

Seth Lorinczi photo: Cheryl Juetten

The post Podcast 538: The Story of Micro-Frets Guitars with Seth Lorinczi first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Episode 160 of the Truth About Vintage Amps Podcast, where amp tech Skip Simmons fields all of your questions about tube amps.

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

Some of the topics discussed this week:

1:09 Fishing and weather report, Tule fog

4:43 Skip’s amp backlog

5:19 A West guitar amp with a Dynaco 454216 transformer, a paper plate breakfast hack

10:45 Our sponsors!

12:56 What’s on Skip’s bench: A 1950 Princeton, a White amplifier, a Tweed Deluxe AND a Vibrolux; Electromuse amps

14:39 The Lonesome Captain’s music video (YouTube link)

17:31 A Webster-Chicago 166-1 with a post phase-inverter tone control

20:36 The Valco/National/Supro single 6V6 with reverb and tremolo

28:06 A Silvertone 1472 with replaced parts; terminal strip grounds

30:55 Two filter cap Princetons (link to TDPRI forum)

32:11 An original Garnet Session Man; modding a Masco ME-27; recommended reading

39:49 The Wood Wire & Volts show; the Benson Babylon (as mentioned on episode 158!)

44:16 Speaker impedance mismatch on a Danelectro amp and its effect on tone, Spanish rice, Goya pasta

50:21 Suggestions for an unused triode in a Geloso G226A amp

54:32 Bill Krinard’s return?; Dr. Z’s new, single-ended PhD amp; Emery Sound amps

57:18 A new speaker for my Traynor YGM-3?; Peavey amps; smoked pork tenderlions

1:03:35 Making a baby Leslie speaker at home and adding caps to filter out EMI/interference (check out more pics on our Patreon)

1:11:00 Getting spray paint off a grill cloth (3M Safest Stripper); fixing a Fender speaker baffle; and a cursed reverb unit

1:16:50 A Cunningham CX322 tube giveaway; Alembic stereo pre-amps, redux

Note: Starting around minute 60, our Zoom connection went bad and Skip can be a little hard to hear. We tried to clean it up as best we could. Sorry!

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.

Want to support the show? Join our Patreon page to get to the front of the advice line, see exclusive pics, the occasional video and more.

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

Above and below: Listener Bruce’s West combo, with a Dynaco transformer. 

The post The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 160 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



In what has become an annual tradition, Evan Gluck (NY Guitar Repair) hosted a guitar repair roundtable at the 2025 Fretboard Summit. This year, he brought Ceil Thompson (StewMac); TJ Thompson (Pro Luthier Tools); Mamie Minch (Brooklyn Lutherie); and Mark Stutman (Folkway Music) onstage.

It’s an insightful (and often hilarious) talk about the realities of running a guitar repair business. Very quickly, these five guitar repair experts go deep on customers, the surprise revelations they’ve had in their careers; the tasks (and people) they avoid; and much more.

Give it a listen. It may just make you a better customer the next time your guitar needs to be repaired.

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

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

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

The post Podcast 537: The 2025 Fretboard Summit Guitar Repair Panel first appeared on 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.