
Building Resonance Merging his musical and mechanical skills, luthier Ben Wilborn carved a niche as an in-demand builder of high-end acoustic instruments.
By
Nick Balkin
June 5, 2023
Ben Wilborn
For much of his youth, Ben Wilborn B.M. '92 could be found playing music or working with his father, an amateur woodworker, in the basement shop of their Reno, Nevada, home. So when Wilborn set out to build a violin in his senior year at Berklee, this seemed like a reasonable goal. After all, he had a decent grasp on how the instrument worked, having played it since the age of 6, and he'd learned the basics of carpentry from his father. How hard could it be?
Really, really hard, he conceded after reading a book on violin construction that year and promptly scrapping the idea. When I was young, I was extremely impatient, and impatience and lutherie do not blend very well, he says. When I started as a luthier, I was 40, and I'd gained perspective.
After earning his bachelor's in film scoring, Wilborn returned to Reno and formed an Americana band, the Lazy Eights, in which he sang, wrote songs, and played guitar, violin, and mandolin. The band toured for nearly a decade and built a strong local following but never achieved commercial success.
When the band broke up, Wilborn traded his pedalboard for a power drill to help a friend restore a warehouse in downtown Reno. This led to more construction jobs, and soon he was running his own contracting business. But while he liked the work and had a knack for it, he missed music and wanted to incorporate it back into his life.
Everything clicked into place shortly after the birth of his daughter. Needing an activity to focus on while the baby was sleeping-one that wouldn't make too much noise-he decided to give lutherie another try. This time, though, his sights were set on a different stringed instrument.
No one ever told me This is how you sharpen a chisel' at Berklee, but I learned about tone, timbre, sustain, decay-all the things that make music music.
- Ben Wilborn
I built a guitar shaped object, he says, and even though it really kinda sucked, I saw the potential. It was just such a joyful experience. So, with his wife's blessing, he canceled his contractor's license and launched Wilborn Guitars.
Wilborn's new venture got a big boost from folk singer Gillian Welch '92, who was the first artist to use and recommend his guitars. He'd met the future Grammy winner in a Berklee ensemble, and she later joined his college band, the Polka Masters. Ben is a truly artful maker, with a brilliant eye, a gifted hand, and an exquisite ear, Welch says in a testimonial she wrote for Wilborn Guitars.
While there's no direct line from Berklee to lutherie (the college now offers a minor in instrument repair), Wilborn says the breadth of his Berklee education gave him an edge in his field. No one ever told me This is how you sharpen a chisel' at Berklee, but I learned about tone, timbre, sustain, decay-all the things that make music music, instead of just noise-and that has helped me infinitely in my quest to be a good luthier, he says.
Wilborn's signature achievement is his Comma Series, a line of guitars that features an innovative support design, with fan braces arranged like spokes on a wheel, and an offset soundhole to produce extra vibration and amplification. Starting at $11,000, they're not cheap, but Wilborn, whose guitars are made to order and built entirely by hand, says the experience of working with a luthier on a custom-build-rather than buying a factory-made instrument off the rack-makes his guitars well worth the cost.
It's a price many are willing to pay: there's a three-year waitlist to get a Wilborn guitar. Given this demand, he's often asked if he'll hire employees to help him build more instruments. But he's a fully committed solo act.
I just want to keep doing this, he says. I have the perfect gig for me. I'm doing mechanical work with my hands, building beautiful things that people appreciate. I'm solvent. And I've got music. What else could I ask for?
This article appeared in the spring/summer 2023 issue of Berklee Today.
Related Categories
Berklee Today
Most Popular
Image by Libby Danforth
Viral TikTok Song If I Were a Fish Is a Joyous Call for Acceptance Berklee alum Corrine Savage, who performs as corook, wrote the song with their partner as a way to cope with feeling unaccepted by society for being different.
Latest
Ben Wilborn
Building Resonance Merging his musical and mechanical skills, luthier Ben Wilborn carved a niche as an in-demand builder of high-end acoustic instruments.
Image by Greg Mably
Key Changes: We Can't Give the Industry Enough Playback Engineers As live shows increasingly incorporate a synchronized audio-visual experience, playback engineers have stepped into the spotlight.
Illustration by Dana Smith
Music Licensing 101: How to Sync Your Music Learn how to create syncable music, stand out to music supervisors, and negotiate sync deals with these tips and insights from music licensing experts.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
28/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
27/03/2026
Comcast Business deployed network infrastructure for the 2026 PLAYERS Championsh...
27/03/2026
Czech production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast van w...
27/03/2026
Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Western Australia has developed new broad...
27/03/2026
Deltatre has announced that CEO Andrea Marini will step down after five years in...
27/03/2026
DAZN has announced plans to launch DAZN Inflight, a live sports service for airline and maritime passengers, slated for 2027. Aviv Giladi, President of DAZN Par...
27/03/2026
Grass Valley has announced the completion of a live production deployment with NVP, a European media company specializing in live sports production, for LALIGA ...
27/03/2026
The Masters and Prime Video will debut Inside Amen Corner, a dedicated feed that...
27/03/2026
ESPN and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) have reached a multi-year agreement to bring the WSOP Main Event back to ESPN platforms. Coverage will include a three...
27/03/2026
USSI Global has opened its Media Transport Solutions Lab on its Melbourne campus. The engineering center provides a platform-agnostic environment for testing al...
27/03/2026
From 14-camera coverage to official review from Variant Systems Group, Sellitto ...
27/03/2026
The United Football League (UFL) has named Sportable its Official Connected Ball and Player Tracking Partner. Sportable's connected football and wearable pl...
27/03/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
27/03/2026
The Atlanta Braves and FuboTV have announced a multiyear distribution agreement to carry BravesVision on Fubo's live TV streaming platform beginning Opening...
27/03/2026
Besides restructuring for Season 3, the league worked with FOX and ESPN over the...
27/03/2026
The Atlanta Braves open their 2026 MLB season tonight against the Kansas City Ro...
27/03/2026
With new teams and new venues to adapt to, the spring-football league's part...
27/03/2026
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
27/03/2026
New Classic, Amplitude & FlexRange units introduced
GIK Acoustics have just introduced a trio of new bass trap designs that bring improved low-end absorptio...
27/03/2026
Offers personalised Dolby Atmos headphone monitoring
Sonarworks have put their calibration expertise to work on a new mobile app that allows users to create...
27/03/2026
NITV to broadcast farewell to Rhoda Roberts AO with special coverage and week-lo...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Marshall Electronics Showcases New Feature-Rich CV320 and CV520 IP and 3G-SDI PO...
27/03/2026
Sony Electronics Inc. Elevates Professional Video Workflows with Powerful Update...
27/03/2026
GatesAir Extends AirWatch365 Managed Service with Edge Gateway Site Appliance
Brie Clayton March 27, 2026
0 Comments
NAB marks global launch of servic...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...
27/03/2026
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...
27/03/2026
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...
27/03/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...
27/03/2026
130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary
MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...
27/03/2026
Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...
27/03/2026
Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production
Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...
27/03/2026
San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...
27/03/2026
Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...
27/03/2026
Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...
27/03/2026
Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...
27/03/2026
RT Supporting the Arts
RT is Supporting 20 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this April
RT is proud to support an exciting month of arts and cul...
27/03/2026
Average of 1.37 million viewers watched Irish World Cup heartbreak on RT 2
Over one million streams on RT Player
Highest number of streams for any single eve...