As Arnold moved towards pop music, Wiggins' instrumental work was faded to the background, and then dropped entirely.

[2][3] At the age of six, Wiggins became fascinated with the Hawaiian guitars he heard on Grand Ole Opry broadcasts, and particularly the playing of Burt Hutcherson, who was also a family friend.

[3][5] He developed his skills quickly enough that by age fifteen he was playing professionally for Paul Howard and his Arkansas Cotton Pickers.

[2] In 1943 he joined Pee Wee King's band the Golden West Cowboys, an outfit which included Eddy Arnold.

[6][5] When King's regular guitarist, Clell Summey, returned from participation in World War II, Wiggins was out of a job.

[5] Soon after, still in 1943, Arnold left the Golden West Cowboys to pursue a solo career, and on the advice of King he hired Wiggins as the first musician in his new backing band.

[3] He also joined Arnold's accountant, Charles Mosley, in an insurance and real estate establishment in Brentwood, Tennessee.

[4] Wiggins owned and operated a music store close to the Grand Old Opry's Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville beginning in 1968, after leaving Arnold.

[11] His "ting-a-ling" sound, a "high-pitched, vibrating effect", was developed from listening to acoustic dobro players, particularly Brother Oswald, but the technique had not been used on the electric steel guitar until Wiggins adapted it at an octave higher for the style with which he was associated for his entire career.

[2][4] Wiggins' effect was accomplished by using the index finger and thumb to create a fast tremolo on adjacent strings, while simultaneously vibrating the steel bar to add additional vibrato.