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 ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
IPC Expands Brazilian Presence with New Channel Partner CCATech
Industry veterans Carlos Abrah o and Bruno Lopes strengthen local support and expand IPCs prese...
20/08/2026
Zixi Enters Mauritius Market Through Strategic Deployment with MTC Jockey Club
Worlds Oldest Horse Racing Club in the Southern Hemisphere Selects Zixis Softwar...
20/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research assistant professor Tiantian Liu has received a five-year NIAID DP2 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Di...
20/08/2026
Audiences reveal appetite for multicultural Australia on-screen 20 August 2026
Dr Georgie McClean, Dr Rebecca Huntley (L-R)
By Dr Georgie McClean and Dr Rebec...
20/08/2026
How Mavis Studio Is Expanding Live Production Teaching at Sussex
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays a student about to mix be...
20/08/2026
Vertical Unscripted Series Legal Queens Captured with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Reality TV veteran Eric Gardner create...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
Building Resonance Merging his musical and mechanical skills, luthier Ben Wilborn carved a niche as an in-demand builder of high-end acoustic instruments.
