Wiens A5 #54, signed Feb 18. 2026 is the first A-style mandolin I’ve ever built. This one is a tribute to the “Griffith” A5 mandolin signed by Lloyd Loar on Sept. 26 1923. The only Loar-signed A model mandolin.
It’s built like my F-5’s with the same vintage features. “Style 5” triple binding throughout including the snakehead peghead with it’s hand-cut abalone Fleur-de-lis inlay and scaled-down “Wiens” logo cut from gold Mother of Pearl. The dark hand-stained sunburst brings out the mystery in this first Wiens A5.
I was after a more complex and fuzzy sound on this instrument. Still spanky and loud, but not too bright. So wood choices on this first A5 take a bit of a turn compared to my typical hard spruce and maple. The soundboard is a Sitka Spruce top cut in 1980 on the Olympic peninsula of Washington State. Wood cutter Bruce Harvie supplied this one. It’s braced with stiff Adirondack spruce braces in a tone-bar arrangement. The back, sides & neck are figured Red Maple. A softer variety from the eastern US.
It has nickel-plated hardware throughout, including the James tailpiece and Golden-Age tuners. I’ve shortened the tuner shafts to appear more like the original Griffith Loar’s . A bone nut tops an ebony fingerboard with a compound radius and EVO gold frets. Fingerboard is gently scooped with inlaid faux frets made of the same EVO fret material. Strings bear down on a Wiens replica Loar bridge with a slight radius to match the fingerboard’s curve.
Pickguard is custom for this particular instrument of course. It features celluloid tortoise in full triple binding with inlaid steel reinforcement rod like you’d see on the original Loar. The silver-plated Pickguard bracket hardware was made by Steve Gilchrist. It took awhile to source those components, but the legend himself helped me out for this project. What a cool blessing!
This instrument is sold. If you are interested in acquiring a Wiens A5 mandolin. Please contact me directly at wiensluthiery@gmail.com
Phone 250-421-1550
Priced from $8,500. USD Deluxe fiberglass case included.
