Hello and welcome to the new site of the Outlier Workshop, makers of handmade mandolins, flattop guitars, and violins. Here you can find out more of what we do through images of the work as well as other evidence of our passion for making the best stringed instruments available anywhere.
Feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions about what we do or what we can do for you.
Sincerely,
Ben Pearce
For us the shop is where we go to bring meaning to the day, usually every day. It is the biggest reasons for getting out of bed and drinking 2 pots of coffee in the morning.
There are really only 2 things in the shop, people and wood. Fortunately, aside from a few very sharp tools, that is all we need to craft amazing instruments. Here you can find out a little more about the people, the process, and the results produced at the Workshop.
click on an instrument to view photo gallery.
All instruments that come from the Workshop are made using only ultra premium materials and crafted in a way that can be executed by only the most patient and skilled of workers. Every part of the process, from being assembled with crystal clear chromated hide glue to the brushed on oil varnishes for our mandolin family instruments, reeks of quality, passion, and compulsion.
Each instrument is made one at a time, or in a batch of two to ensure that their unique qualities are built upon and that the continuity of the process is not lost to larger modes of production. This assures the highest quality instrument possible as well as allows input from the specific player for whom the instrument is created.
Virtually all instruments are built to order. Our standard model is custom.
"Ben Pearce is one of the finest new mandolin builders I've encountered anywhere. As someone who makes his living playing the mandolin, I've played mandolins from hundreds of builders all over the country, and Ben's Outlier Mandolins jump out from the crowd. They are beautifully conceived and meticulously executed instruments, and with regards to tone they speak for themselves. I always look forward to the chance to play his latest creations. "
- Joe Walsh
mandolinst, The Gibson Brothers
"I recently had the pleasure of meeting Ben Pearce and got the chance to play several of his mandolins from the Outlier Shop. Ben's work is clean and tasteful in every detail. The tone of his F5 model was clear and smooth as silk. I played a brand spanking new mahogany A model that had been strung up just that day that had depth beyond belief. I think we have a lot to look forward to from the Outlier Workshop in years to come. Keep an eye on Ben!"
- Mike Compton
Mandolin Legend who has played with Nashville Bluegrass Band, John Hartford, O Brother Where Art Thou, and many others...
"My solid body eight-stringed electric Outlier mandolin has been nothing short of a blessing. Growing up playing bluegrass and old-time music, I fell in love with the sound of the acoustic mandolin. But after playing with my band "The Boston Boys" and hitting rock clubs with drums and electric bass every night, I needed something with some different capability. The mandolin Ben built me has huge punch, beautiful clean tone, and a great setup that makes it fun and easy to play. In my search for the perfect axe, I found many mandolins that are electric just for the sake of being electric... but Ben's made a REAL instrument, something completely unique, and I couldn't be happier."
- Eric Robertson
& The Boston Boys
I love my Outlier! Since getting my guitar close to two years ago I’ve had the delight of playing my brand new mahogany dreadnought and hearing it open up to a whole new acoustic dimension. I’ve performed, recorded and laid alongside many a campfire with this gem of a box that never ceases to inspire. Playing in a band with three other fiddles, my Outlier cuts through with a thumping low end, paired with an even high end for flat-picking melodies. Ben Pearce’s guitars play themselves and inspire overtone explorations in jams and musical situations letting your voice ring true and clear!
Stash Wyslouch, Guitarist
Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers
Eric Robertson & The Boston Boys
The Deadly Gentlemen
"Ben's flatops are build the way good guitars should be, with great materials, hide glue and care. They are loud, clear, balanced, and sound great on a mic. If I wasn't also a builder I would buy one!"
-Matt Arcara
2006 Winfield Flatpicking Guitar Champion
Guitar Maker,
Joy Kills Sorrow , Founding member and Guitar Player
Ben Pearce is an artist whose talents shine through every instrument he constructs – most recently evidenced by the beautiful OM he built for me. Ben tends with great care to every detail in the building process which make his distinctive instruments both visually stunning and tonally precise. My OM is incredibly responsive and balanced across the strings with a capacity for volume that belies its size. It records beautifully and sings in a variety of musical settings. I look forward to showing it off to every musician I meet.
Avril Smith
Lead Guitarist
Della Mae
Big Chimney
"I played a couple of the first mandolins that Ben Pearce made, I was very impressed. Ben's instruments have all the attributes a first rate mandolin should have - Good projection, tone and playability... and I like the Squid!!"
-Kym Warner
mandolinist, The Greencards
Here are some of the goods being put through their paces. This video and the recordings on the website feature 2006 Winfield Guitar Champion Matt Arcara on guitar, Grand National Fiddle Champions Tristan and Tashina Clarridge on fiddles, groove master Charlie Rose on bass, and yours truly, Ben Pearce on mandolin.
Well, if I had to thank everyone who has helped me try and get this ship-shop sailing then I would never have anytime to make any instruments or even play the ones that I love. But there are some people that have been indispensable to this project I have come to call the Outlier Workshop and a few of them are:
My Parents and Brother Jef, my mentor, Karl Dennis of Karl M Dennis Violins , my fellow instrument makers in RI: Otto D'Ambrosio , Tucker Densley, Zachary Martin , Winnie Lambrect at The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts , John Buscarino at Buscarino Guitars, Jim Walton, Tony Watt , Avril Smith, Matthew Arcara and Joy Kills Sorrow , Tristan and Tashina Clarridge , Charlie Rose , Wes Corbett , The Bee Eaters , Cassandra Jenkins and Chris Thile, The Acoustic Artisans in Portland ME, Sam Grisman, Dominick Leslie , Stash Wyslouch , Eric Robertson and the Boston Boys , Scott Tichnor of the Mandolin Cafe, ...
Each of our guitars and mandolins is a unique, handmade, and highly functioning work of art. They are not manufactured in a factory or mass produced. Much love, time and patience are put into each instrument to make them immediately discernible and irrefutably distinct.
If you're interested in becoming the owner of one of these unique instruments, please contact us to begin the process of creating your own Outlier.
Thanks,
outlierworkshop_gmail.com
401.484.8236
