https://guitarvioldocumentary.com/soundtrack/

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Some words from Jonathan:

This documentary, like the instrument itself, has a life of it’s own! While it is true that I have been chasing this (Arpeggione/bowed guitar) thing since I was a kid in early 1980’s boarding school and throughout the 90’s, it is also true that the GuitarViol did not just come out of nowhere. Actually, it was an incremental process of fits, starts, blood, sweat, and tears to make the thing come to life. And, in it’s raw 2002 GuitarViol prototype stage, took off (and consumed my entire life bandwidth) in unexpected ways! What began as a personal instrument meant for my quirky heretical playing approach became a must-have for upwards of 400-430 iMDB adjacent film/TV composers, producers, and yes, movie directors who either demanded it for their scores “yesterday” (as if I magically had all of the R&D bugs, engineering, trials, worked out and a staffed factory to facilitate such demand - ever-present backlog which I never eclipsed!). I attempted scale with a mini-factory and a few eager skilled pros throughout the 2010’s, hit Fillmore city hall troubles (a brutal tale itself), and eventually landed in Valencia November 1, 2019 with what was to be the ultimate staffed and tooled up GuitarViol mini factory. By January 2020, production was on fire and cranking!

One of the early visitors to the new Valencia space was a certain Dale Turner. In fact, that picture was taken a couple of weeks before Covid lockdown. By early 2022, I was holding Open house and Meet-up events as the “Muzzle-fest” (KN95 masks, hand sanitizers on loop) was easing up and attendees were thrilled to escape COVID quarantine captivity and make new friends! One of the regulars was, you guessed it, Dale Turner (Always a welcome early arrival!) and we got to hang out quite a bit! Anyway, later that year, I got a call from my cinematographer friend (from the late 90’s) Terry Davis (MTV, walk of fame) who was circling back from earlier 2014 era efforts to do a documentary about the GuitarViol. I was a bit reluctant to commit given the fact that shop-keeping was taking 1000% of my bandwidth and I could not be the Anthony Bourdain style front man/producer/organizer/interviewer etc. while running shop (at that point solo) which took more than I could give it. It was out of my wheelhouse. I told him I needed to think about it. A day or two later, I face palmed and went “Duh! Dale would be perfect!!” given his love for the GuitarViol and his background as a MI instructor, editor/interviewer for Guitar World magazine (and I knew already his publishing and wiki skills). I proposed a Zoom meeting with Terry Davis and Dale Turner. (Spoiler alert, it went well!) By October we had our first on-location shoot at Kevin Kiner’s studio. In the months ahead, Dale not only conducted the interviews, he did the impossible “herding of cats” (i.e. getting busy VIP composers and busy people in the same room for a dozen onsite locations). As time went along, Dale became the de facto director = “Director Dale”.

If all that was not enough plates to spin, cats to herd, chainsaws to juggle into a demanding schedule, Dale also got deep into the minutia of sequencing the timeline and clearing various IP and curating the soundtrack in the film itself. But, wait, there’s more!! In addition to all of the devastating live DAW queues by the 11 featured composer’s in their own habitat, a few tracks of a Lakeshore album by yours truly (another case study in “you can’t make this up”), Dale also acquired a couple of GuitarViols and AUGMENTED the Score with a collection of his own!! This is the original soundtrack by Dale Turner! Bravo and congratulations “Director Dale” - “Producer Dale” meet “Composer Dale”. He certainly put much joy into it and I hope you dear readers enjoy it as much as I do! (Time to start the play loop again!) :)

Stay tuned for the documentary itself (festivals pending September on!)

Much gratitude for this adventure

Jonathan

STAY INSPIRED!

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Many people first encountering GuitarViols (these days, instagram etc.) may be under the false impression that this was an overnight idea to Instagram. Boom: trendy! To add more to the confusion, there are emulators falling out of the sky! It is to a point where the public does not know who the (GuitarViol) originator is; even to the point of thinking I am copying the copy-cat! (Yes, I coined “GuitarViol” back in 2001/2002). Thankfully, the documentary “GuitarViol: The film composer’s secret weapon” tells the REAL story of how GuitarViols became the “Go-To” bridge between Guitar format and Viola/Cello sounds in a contemporary package - setting it apart from Viola Da Gamba and the original influence: Johann Stauffer’s Arpeggione of 200+ years ago. In fact, *GuitarViols are very much 21st century *Arpeggiones with my own caveats. Nowadays, new Arpeggione builders are echoing my (GuitarViol) design features! (my electric Arpeggione of 1993 - I never saw a picture of the original! Just went for it!)

In 2002, I re-branded my Arpeggione as the GuitarViol (previously ViolaTar but there were trademark concerns and it looked like “Violator” at a glance). Part of me wishes I went with the former (ViolaTar) but by the time I found out that the French translation was a bit close to “Guitar-Rape” it was too late! (oops) Google search was less corrupt back then (2002-2004) and it was working! So, I did not mess with it! The “TogaMan” icon was inspired by Paolo Veronese’s “Noces de Cana” painting and well depicted the so called heretical bow-grip/stance my particular instruments were designed for. After all, it was my particularly quirky approach that defined the parameters of the design.

Anyway, back to “Old Faithful”. (Bear with me a minute). Previous to the acoustic models, I was building exclusively Solid Body electrics. Those particular ones were built to overcome the electromechanical physics; the planar motion of bowed strings and featured the proprietary (then patented) BOWD Horizon bridge pickup system. An over-engineered system (which is WHY the thing defied physics and actually worked with a sound you can not get any other way! Why the imitator solid bodies don’t sound so great). In the end, the electric TogaMan solidbodies were bottlenecked to the moon due to the limited batches of solid machined bridges and the multiplicity of parts and components; multiple potential failure points of fragile wiring. At it’s best, it worked great! But, it was a logistical nightmare few understand! (Hard to explain to those fans of the early 2000’s models!) That was a big motivator for the Acoustic model (which was a layered study in violin/cello physics!)

The first prototype was fabricated by my friend Jim Dugan (a master builder of Martin style acoustic guitars). In those days, I was still full time assistant manager of Cassells Music and I delegated in parallel to my day job. Jim did a precise and delicate job of bending the purpleheart back and sides. The neck was originally an electric neck that was converted with an added on acoustic heel. Initially, the first models had bolt in neck/body systems similar to Taylor Guitars (but found out the hard way that the immense force of high bridge/neck pitch actually multiplied the force and literally pulled epoxy reenforced threaded inserts and ripped the wood with it! Yeah, I was back to traditional violin style dovetails within a few builds!) Anyway, the first iteration had a fine Adirondack spruce top with a very questionable sound port pattern (I eventually ditched by 2008 - more on that in a minute). The top bracing was perfect for steel string acoustic dreadnoughts (but not so much bowed string movement - it did make some cool sounds that were recorded in the day).

This was an actual video taken on my Canon Powershot (Pre-iPhone days) so the audio us what it is. But it is also a time capsule of the state of it at the time!

The transformation:

Yes, this is the same unit (with another top design - it stuck!). So, what happened? I loaned it out to Barry Cleveland when he was still an editor at Guitar Player magazine. (Barry had reviewed the very electric that later became famous in the hands of Tyler Bates and 300). When the acoustic prototype came back, it was apparently run over by a pallet truck (tire tracks told the tale). The top was smashed to splinters. DHL honored the claim and I took it as an opportunity to try out a new waist port silhouette design updated with things I learned from Lloyd Loar’s Physics of music. Rather than practice on AAAAA spruce block, I opted for pine just to test the concept. (It still lives on “Old Faithful”. I suppose after being the original benchmark that went through these iterations, the name stuck. Since late 2008, it has been in daily use in Kevin Kiner’s studio - the voice of many movies and TV tracks!)

Bistro Blog 08/05/2008 was shot in the back patio area of “the Bistro” which was named after the creative mural I painted on the wall (derived from grandparents 1950’s pictures of Europe). It was to cover a drab boring white walls and concrete slab in the back of a 1930’s cottage adjacent to Cassells Music.

The above video 12/16/11 captures a field blog I did at Kevin’s studio on my Zoom Q3 of the day. Worth a watch! :) Lot’s of “Old Faithful” action!

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The myth of the independent creator who needs nothing but grit.

The romance is useful to the culture. It sells the myth of the independent creator who needs nothing but grit. The human cost is inconvenient, so it is reclassified as individual shortcoming. The artisan who survives the gauntlet and continues at a sustainable (read: reduced) pace is no longer the inspiring figure. He is the cautionary one - until the next romanticized garage story appears and the cycle repeats.

Physics does not care about the romance. Load, resources, recovery time, age, and cumulative stress are indifferent to narrative. When the tower falls, the remaining creator is not a failure. He is the evidence that the system preferred the myth over the maintenance of the actual human who made the myth possible.

Thank you to those who “Get it”

Jonathan

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Reach out:

https://togamanguitars.com/contact/

Stay inspired!

J

I have played fender Stratocaster‘s for almost 50 years. I’ve always loved how thought out they were ergonomically and with their quirks - still the perfect electric guitar of the 20th Century. It was the next logical step after the telecaster in terms of contours and balance. I’ve probably worked on so many of them (thousands in busy shops) it would not be surprising if I was able to disassemble one and put it back together blindfolded.

Fenders contribution to guitar history is quite unique. They were designed by Leo Fender’s engineering/problem solving mind in contrast to traditional build approaching . The thinking process was if they could be modular assemblies it would be cheaper to ship a replacement neck then it would be the whole Guitar if something went wrong with the neck. I don’t think that they ever thought (at that time) that they were essentially creating an aftermarket parts-caster market that would particularly thrive after CBS era Quality issues were the situation of the day. I actually owned a couple of late 70s Stratocaster‘s and I do know their issues: weight, neck pocket fit, excessive tone condom poly finish as if it was dipped like a frozen ice cream bar into chocolate. There affectively became an aftermarket of better parts for the same guitars. Eventually kits. Many people know the history of Eddie Van Halen, Charvel, Jackson and eventually Kramer. Oh yeah Schecter was originally in the parts business. So The super Strat market grew. During the 80s, pretty much every (spandex wearing Bad haircut band) was playing some form of a super Strat - often not made by Fender. Some of these companies have either gone away or have been actually bought and are part of Fender’s catalogue. (so the big bad F word now owns them - well played…..).

Now 72 years after the Stratocaster was launched, several company iterations in ownerships later, Fender has become a conglomerate gang bang lawyer festival. There is no resemblance to the company that Leo Fender started. It’s now a brand and asset on a corporate conglomerate spreadsheet and a rabid herd of lawyers. No real innovations just selling exact replicas of the past. I get why the brand wants to protect its recognizable identity (I have some things to say about that later). But 70 years of Stratocasters later, these asset manager litigators are trying to bully/intimidate any and every aftermarket Fender offender? The question is - has the Stratocaster achieved public domain given the very late date and decades and decades of after market? (some of those companies have been acquired and swallowed up by Fender). They effectively own their previous competition. (Fender - where old competitor brand acquisitions like SUNN and SWR et al. go to die). Perhaps this bully stance that they are lashing out on at such a late date and time is the biggest PR misstep ever. Not that they are wrong for protecting their intellectual property - it’s just that they hit the snooze button for so many decades (under different management regimes) - why now?

Is it because the Guitar market is in crisis and they are feeling threatened by anything with a shrinking pie? Many retailers and makers closed their doors in this decade.

The pandemic was part of a perfect storm that has taken out many prominent companies and retailers in the industry. (My nervous system got trashed it in real time!) There was a brief period of time when the stimulus checks were flowing with people stuck at home and bored. There was a brief uptick in instrument and accessory sales. But it was a false flash event, The musical chairs of stimmy checks stopped and what followed was eventual crash in slow motion. By mid 2022 Fender had laid off a significant amount of its longtime employees (career names I recognize and I’ve known for a long time). Apparently they were 100 million dollars in the red after over producing just before the market collapsed. Dealers were dropping like flies and I think eventually they started selling directly to the public. I can’t help wondering if Fender sees a shrinking pie and wants to make sure that they get their lion‘s share of it? But yeah they tried this move before back in 2009 and apparently that didn’t go well. They are taking some random default judgment case in the European Union and using it as some sort of optical bully leverage to any (and every) company that makes something that at the blink of an eye looks like a Stratocaster. Again the question is why now?

On the other hand, some of you are aware of my work on a unique guitar formatted viola, modern arpeggione, I branded as the TogaMan GuitarViol back in 2002. It was a newer version of something I had worked on a decade prior. Anyway, it was literally designed from cardboard and foam blocks in the hand before I committed it to a draft drawing or template. Completely by feel for intended ergonomics for the quirky way that I approach playing these. The challenge also was to have a distinctive aesthetic that set it apart from anything else yet had a certain slight familiarity or at least a compelling design. The damn thing worked! Unexpectedly, I went from creating an instrument for my own recording career ambitions to building the instrument full-time and unknowingly abandoning my first purpose or what career. (A golden first world problem I know!) But I did put a lot into the design and developments over the years staying somewhat on theme with my earliest caveats. No opinion committee allowed, just bring to hand! Inevitably, A couple of decades later, I’m seeing more and more instruments that resemble my designs. Many of them are not GuitarViols/arpeggione‘s. Some are guitar companies aping particular template pattern shapes. In some cases actual body patterns. In some cases my earlier uni-slot headstock patterns I eventually pivoted from out of annoyance. It’s gotten to the point where the copy cats or even copy in the other copy cats and it’s not clear who the original was. That’s where it gets kind of strange. So my initial intention of creating an identifiable that’s a TogaMan GuitarViol” as a silhouette and look is now being emulated by a generation that doesn’t respect The lifetime of penciling signature lines. The funny thing is that the arpeggione concept inspired me but I never saw a picture of the original until many years later (post early 90’s prototype attempt). There has been growing interest in the Arpeggione thanks to the instant access of the Internet. When I started off it was an obscure paragraph in a 1948 encyclopedia Britannica and we did not have Google. Now it’s a thing and there are many wonderful builders out there doing re-creations of the original Stauffer as well as ones that look a lot like mine - my particular combination of lines. The funny thing is that some of the copy cats don’t understand the functional aspect of some of the lines - even to the point of putting a plug jack where the leg stabilizer curve is. (I digress). They might even copy my early mistakes?

So this particular thing with Fender feels pretty ridiculous. On the other hand I get the feeling directly as to what it’s like seeing a lifetime of work being casually emulated. The first mouse gets caught in his own trap; The second mouse gets the cheese with less work involved. Just simply walk up to the ladder and get on the roof; no rock climbing required. So, patents have a limited shelflife. Trademarks only go so far. Now I’m copyright your work of art. All these legal work arounds to attempt being a brand bully. I did have a Utility patent back in the 2000s. So it’s a no-win situation. It’s not like I’m gonna go after some of the smaller builders who are walking (running) down the paved trail I blazed and took the initial scars for. My proof of concept that is heard in almost a quarter century of film and TV soundtracks. Heard by millions every day (who do not know what they’re hearing- they know the sound). On the other hand, going up against Goliath (A certain well-known (Japan based) company that has shamelessly aped my lines), Can be a fool‘s errand. I’ve had many friends in the industry deal with similar things. (Soldano coming out with an amp called the Hot Rod and establishing it well in prior Guitar Player Magazine ads only to have Fender ape “Hot Rod” trademark - this actually did happen in the early 90s - The question was how long could Soldano keep a legal team paid off in the process?). The bottom line is that Fender/Gibson et al. can feed lawyers for a long time and keep it in court forever whilst draining the small guys resources. There may not be any gold at the end of that rainbow but a bucket of shit and sunken legal fees. Sure a pitbull can whip a skunks ass but is the fight worth it? Or is peace of mind a better thing? Still, I’m glad that my work has resonated with some very talented people in this world and this lifetime. I’m glad that the new generation of Luthers has been inspired by some of my work. There are days when you say to yourself “ imitation is the highest form of flattery”. There are days it does not feel like that. Particularly if you are the exhausted salmon that arrived to the summit of an imploding mountain. The view from The rubble of the imploded Jenga tower that has been the last decade or two is different from here. It’s bitter sweet!

I do see an upside to this ridiculous Fender PR nightmare (of their own making) - maybe some new designers will float to the top and take the challenge of not using genetic generic or public domain patterns. Yes it is the riskier path. When somebody specializes in making higher quality versions of a (Stratocaster or a D 18 or whatever) you’re only competing on a better quality gold plated mouse trap. Yes ironically some of the most non-conservative people in the world (musicians) you are extremely conservative when it comes to tradition; to the point where if you color outside of those lines you’re looked at with great suspicion (or worse). People like safe and familiar. To design something refreshing new compelling and remarkable is not an easy thing to do! But it is a challenge worth taking on. When I went back to the drawing board to create the first of what we now know as the TogaMan GuitarViol, it was an Ergonomics first design with some classic flavors. But I did want to have a silhouette that was recognizable and identifiable. When you see a violin, you know it’s a violin and likely a copy of a Stradivarius. When when you see a Stratocaster, do you think Stratocaster even if it’s generic term Strat regardless of who made it. My hope is that when somebody sees a TogaMan GuitarViol, they recognize it as being such. Perhaps those lines will get blurred after my own lifetime. Who knows? Maybe the earth is overdue for an astroid collision….

The trolls and the sea lions. Yes they will come. The board room robots will come. It just seems that we are living in a time where a company like Fender is feeling The cabin pressure changing and The true colors are coming out. Like a cornered animal defending its turf. After market competition tolerated for decades is now intolerable on the shrinking raft. Again I hope the upside is more creativity. Personally I got extremely burned out going to NAMM shows over a 30 year period. It just felt like everybody was doing the same thing with a different color that year. Same Stratocaster‘s. Same old shit. It was always fun seeing fresh and new pup starts in the downstairs hall E. Because they would either fail spectacularly or succeed and have to fend off the GC buying vultures. I would never have become a Luthier (I prefer instrument maker architect artist) if I was simply just building another Stratocaster or Les Paul. To me it’s pointless uncreative and unchallenging. The safe road has more competition. There always will be somebody who will make a better Stratocaster than you. And why do it? When I pick up my parts caster, strum a chord, wiggle a few notes, i’m doing it because I love the Stratocaster for what it is. On the other hand I have zero desire to make one. I would rather risk the wood on solving a different problem. In my case my problem was the very instrument I was after did not exist in the manner that I wanted it to. I was not content to just build another violin cello or perhaps make a six string cello tune like a guitar. No it had to feel like that dream in the hand. That to me is far more satisfying; from scratch and not reverse engineering something that exists already. I hope that this crazy shake up with Fender’s decades removed PR bully moves encourages more people to consider alternative concepts and designs. Either supporting a living luthier (not trading in ones by dead people). Or try some wild things in your own garage!

So to those who are upset with Fender whether customers (or makers who have modeled their business off making better than versions), I encourage you to take up the challenge of doing something truly your own. The safe road is not safe. The risk-averse road has more competition. The satisfaction of being your own artist is far greater. I’m grateful that somehow I was able to create something (initially for myself) that had a impact on a lesser thought of genre (cinematic soundtrack music) and somehow as inspired a few people in my field. It is not easy - but nothing truly worthwhile ever is!

Stay inspired

Entheos

Follow your OEM soul software

Jonathan

The original GuitarViol maker of the 21st century.

Be sure to follow The film composer‘s secret weapon hitting festivals this summer!

“They” became you.

That raw moment when you’re standing in your shop, sitting in the cube farm, or grinding through another day tethered to someone else’s priorities — pissed off and muttering under your breath, “If only THEY would make a……” — that is the turning point.

I know that feeling deeply. Years ago, I was there too - imagining a work fixture that didn’t exist yet (not in the embodiment I needed anyway), while the clock slowly drained the life out of the day. The default benches fought the instruments. Gravity won. Forgotten screws rolled onto soundboards. Awkward reaches caused fatigue and bench rash. The systems — regulatory, corporate, cultural — starved the base-layer sparrows who actually make things work.

But the hunger went even deeper.

In the late 80’s/early 90s I wanted to build an arpeggione prototype so badly I could taste it. The vision of that unique instrument burned in me. I sketched it relentlessly on napkins, in margins, in stolen moments. The dream of the instrument itself came first — and from that dream came the need for better fixtures to bring it to life. That hunger never left. It became the fuel for everything that followed.

At some point, “they” stopped being someone else.
“They” became you.

I got tired of waiting. In stolen hours, weekends, and quiet determination I started building what didn’t exist — often from re-purposed materials that otherwise would have been jettisoned. Spare MDF panels once used for router templates. Leftover wood remnants. Discarded parts. All given new life and purpose.

The earliest version of the roller pedestal (built around 2012) didn’t even have wheels yet. It was a simple column platform that allowed wrapping a Velcro strap around the instrument to secure it while working. Later, when the tiny shop forced consolidation and the curvature of the 10X design created new problems, I had a Eureka moment. I took spare wood remnants as a fence, put a plastic bag over a 10X mold for proof, inserted expanding urethane foam, and created an exact molded cradle. Light upholstery over it and suddenly I had a perfect fit that holds the 10X securely — and doubles as a clamping device when putting the top on, because those curves make traditional clamping nearly impossible.

Now reduced once again to a tiny shop, I was going crazy. I used to have benches spread across a 1,000-square-foot floor, each dedicated to a different operation with its own unique fixtures. Consolidation felt like madness until another Eureka moment hit: what if I added a temporary changeable leg peg stick? I used the same graphite-apoxsee mandrel technology I already employ for the instruments themselves, glued a 2x4 block underneath, and suddenly the pedestal gained one more function. It can now switch instantly between horizontal cradle for setup and clamping, and vertical spike for finish and prep work.

Hundreds of instruments have been born on this fixture since 2012. (Prior to that, it was an awkward battle on less than optimal benches). It has evolved through many iterations, always from re-purposed or spare materials, always solving the next real problem.

It does it all in one versatile rolling island:

• Molded cradle for safe, exact-fit holding and bowing from any angle.

• Tools and small parts live below on magnets and hooks — gravity is engineered out of the equation.

• Storage tubes for strings, bows, and inventory at instant grab.

• The vertical leg peg hack that flips the station between modes in seconds.

• What imagination and remnant MDF scrap can become!

• Wheels came later, Harbor Freight!

Every upgrade came from the same rhythm: get pissed off at what exists → imagine the better way → just start and get it done with whatever materials are at hand → iterate like your legacy depends on it.

That same fire is for you — in any discipline, in any season of life.

“They” became YOU (don’t wait for the “they” fairy!) Just start and get it done – stay inspired – en theos.

Apply this beyond instrument craft to every area of work and life.

Make your own custom workflow fixture — whether for a DAW, sewing machine, bicycle repair stand, writing desk, coding setup, kitchen counter, or whatever your hands and heart are called to. Use re-purposed materials when you can. Give new life to what others would throw away. Turn scrap into soul software.

You who are still tethered to the cube farm, sketching dreams on napkins during lunch breaks: keep going. The arpeggione-level hunger you feel for your own vision is real.
You who doodle escape plans in the margins of boring spreadsheets: keep going.
You who quietly build “soul software” — the inner architecture of a freer, more creative life — in stolen hours before dawn or after the kids are asleep: keep going.

Identify the one ergonomic or workflow pain point that frustrates you most.
Imagine the dream fixture (physical or digital) that would solve it — something that works with your body, your tools, and the actual physics of the task.
Bring that vision to reality through persistent practice, even if it’s only 30 minutes at a time, using whatever materials you have on hand.

Your work deserves custom solutions engineered for its real demands.
Your soul deserves a life that honors the dream instead of slowly extinguishing it.

The hummingbird picture glued to What started as the coffee cup holder (now a small cubby holding several test bridges) the bench came from a real rescue — a stunned bird gently freed to fly again. My fixture does the same for instruments: it captures potential destruction and releases the work into safety and beauty.

In Sparrow Haven — the talent rescue forge concept I am crafting to transplant into better soil away from hostile regulatory climates — this same fire will burn brighter than ever. Older sparrows will pass down scar-tissue wisdom from their own cube-farm escape years. Younger builders and side-hustle dreamers will take that frustration and turn re-purposed materials into radical new inventions. The flywheel turns when anger at “what exists” meets the courage to just start and get it done, one small act at a time.

So here is my direct challenge to you — whether you’re still chained to the cube or already building on the side, still tasting that arpeggione-level hunger for your own vision:

“They” became you.
Just start and get it done.
Stay inspired.
En theos

Pick one pain point today.
Imagine your dream fixture that destroys that pain.
Sketch it on the next napkin or in the next margin.
Build the first crude version with whatever materials you have on hand. Test it. Improve it. Iterate until it feels right.

The kite does not fly by dragging harder on dead runways while still tethered to the desk. It flies when the frame has the right structure to catch abundant wind — even if you build that structure 30 minutes at a time from re-purposed parts.

Build that structure.
Release yourself from unnecessary friction, one faithful step at a time.
Bring your vision screaming into reality through persistent practice.

Let the music, the code, the garment, the repaired machine, the freer life you were made for — whatever you create — emerge cleanly and joyfully.

This is the free primer — the spark and the encouragement to get you moving, whether you’re still in the cube farm or already breaking free.

Behind the paywall I go much deeper.

If this lit a fire and you want the deeper craft and engineering content, consider joining the paid tier. The forge gets hotter and more actionable behind the wall.

The pedestal I started in 2012 — built and rebuilt from re-purposed materials that otherwise would have been jettisoned — is still evolving. Hundreds of instruments have been born on this fixture. One day its descendants will anchor the physical forge in Sparrow Haven.

But the real legacy is not one fixture.
It is a generation of creators — including every cube-farm dreamer still sketching on napkins and tasting that early-90s arpeggione-level hunger — who realize “they” is now them, and then just start and get it done.

Take my concepts as inspiration.
They became you.
Just start and get it done.
Stay inspired.
En theos.

Go build it.

Welcome to the Jubilee forge.

Contact link

Official link for the documentary

The other morning I had a pleasant surprise; One that brought me pause reflection and a moment of gratitude. Devin Powers From Powers music group and Synapse trailer music, now located in Nashville, gathered GuitarViols from two of his studios and lovingly took this picture and posted it on Facebook. He has a collection of roughly 400 guitars and six of them are TogaMan GuitarViols made by yours truly; representing three decades of my work. The colors in arrangement most certainly a feast on the eyes and it really made my day!

I met Devin back in 2017 in the Fillmore shop days. Turns out he was the guitar player of the once upon a time John Entwhistle band. After that he segued into the TV composing business where is Sharp multidisciplinary talent manifested in ways that would take most peoples breath away! Not only is he a TV composer but also manages a massive trailer library. His vision and ability to bring it all together with graphics album covers, the business brains of teambuilding and success is beyond remarkable! Devin considers himself semi retired and he stays active with legendary Pop/Country icons in the Nashville area as well as producing fresh new singer songwriter talent.

During the years he was Still residing in the LA area and I was still in the Fillmore shop in early 2019, we spent an afternoon tracking your is truly playing an acoustic GuitarViol through what was essentially the Beatles rig re-created as well as a direct signal from the LR baggs Lyric DI. What resulted was a GuitarViol laden trailer album that was nominated for PM a and HMA awards. It did not win however it scared ‘em according to Devin! All I know is I was just thrilled to do it and it was a great afternoon memory. Apparently there were enough surplus tracks in there to create another album with! (Pending mix). The fact that he could take all these stems and make something out of them is beyond amazing! I do admit I think I left some pretty viable source tracks! And that was under pressure of what I call the “Devin funnel” I.e. Improvising to a track I never heard for the first time without practice called and on the spot and trying to not screw the pooch or hit too many clams - one take (mostly!) Somehow I did it because I think improvisation is my strongest suit - I really suck at reading off a page or playing rigid parts. Improvisation to me is like composing on the spot - I digress…

Hear those tracks HERE

[Anyway, dear reader, I’m literally on my morning cardio walk in Agrestic straight from iPhone to the Substack app. Leveraging tech that would otherwise have me sedentary].

Back to that picture:

To the far left is the first solid body electric I built for Devin. It had roasted flame maple and one of my typical French polish color finishes. That model was a later iteration of the earliest ones seen elsewhere in the photo. It was during the days when I still had a ad hoc crew including former protégé Keith Horne of Marvin guitars and longtime collaborator since 2003 Bruce Johnson across the hall. Bruce is the worlds specialist on the Ampeg scroll bass, featured in Geddy Lee’s Big beautiful bass book and a long time machinist engineer Who did a lot of work for Disney and lock kids skunk Works over the years. I do miss the bustle of that particular ”Secret underground laboratory”.

Second in from the left is one tuned to baritone BEADF#B (Though I think he actually turns it down to A). That one was also built during the Fillmore years.

The third one in from the left is a Johan G Model that was actually built during the early pandemic in the Valencia shop; so called Johan G as a nod to my inspiration Johan G Stauffer Who invented the Arpeggione back in 1823. Since early 2019 all of my instruments featured the Stauffer style head stock; my apparent annoyance to the widespread copycats of the Uni-slot snailbox (my earliest models of the 2000’s. But the real reason I went over to the original was because I preferred the longer string stretch in harp formation and it was the forerunner of the 10 X design that was more mold friendly for the composite model. (several reasons really).

The fourth one in from the right, third from the left has a very special place in my heart! It belongs to my dear friend the late Richard Krieger. He had his wife Laura helped me fund the 2005 NAMM show during the days I used to work at Cassells Music. In exchange, Richard and I built that particular blue one together. He had a blue bottle that he handed me to match for the finish which was masterfully applied by The incredible Pat Wilkins. It also had a Purple Heart bridge and fingerboard on one of the typical maple necks of the day. Laura reached out to me some years back and wanted to put it on the market. I made a phone call and Devin snagged this one right up! (I could not be more pleased to found a loving home!)

Number four (second in from the right) had a complicated story. It was purchased by a church musician/worship leader and there was a dispute over ownership. I connected the dots and Devin took that one off their hands as well. I can’t recall but I think it was a baritone tuning as well.

The one on the far right…that was my long time personal solid body 58 Sunburst also by Pat Wilkins. It was initially slated for the 2005 NAMM show, Cut from the same alder log as the one “Pearl unicorn” Tyler Bates famously used for 300 (also featured in Guitar Player magazine twice that year and it was initially built on speculation for Joe Satriani), and the honey burst owned by Kevin Kiner (Who I also met at the same show). That Sunburst one was meant for sale but I bonded with it as I wanted something better (exemplary, up-to-date) than the number one prototype). Back in those days I had a duo called 2GV with my dear friend Oscar Islas Who also owned one cut from the same log: A Purple Heart colored finish burst called “Miracle Merlot”. All of these bodies were featured in a brochure of NAMM show and it seems The miracle Merlot was aped in the next Luna guitar catalog (but they just called Merlot - the industry pretty much apes Pat’s color bursts). Anyway, I played that as my go to ask for years it had a Cocobolo fingerboard and bridge, special scallops that suited me. And that instrument is the veteran of many 2GV gigs at Universal CityWalk, Borders Books, and eventually hey string of gigs at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. It was also used extensively on the first borderlands video game; Yours truly doing the session! It also appeared on my Solo album on Lakeshore records. (which also is heard in the upcoming documentary the Film composer‘s secret weapon). Devin also took that one off my hands during a time I was transitioning from Fillmore to the new Valencia shop. The truth is I don’t play “Gigs” and haven’t since the 2000s. When hen the 2008 Financial collapse happened, The phone stopped ringing. As it was I was decoupled from Cassells Music and pretty much all of my bandwidth went to making the instruments and fulfilling orders. Music making and ProTools sandbox time be damned!!

The most recent body of any recorded work I’ve done was that one afternoon in 2019 at Devin‘s former studio space in Lynn Ranch (near Thousand Oaks) - A relatively short drive from the Fillmore shop back in the day. Most people don’t know I actually turn down Hans Zimmer’s Studio (Extreme/Bloody Fingers) in 2016? for sessions because my bandwidth was so squelched just connecting the dots and delivering for anxious composers; that whole big list of people with IMDb profiles “where is my instrument” PTSD triggers in the inbox. Quite literally I just did not have the juice (bandwidth) and I had 2010 era rough going with another game session I did that turned out to negatively impact my shop productivity at a loss; all for a certain four letter named company (I can’t name) and to be thrown under the bus with AFM bureaucracy. The whole thing did not “math well” and I remember what a joy it was doing Borderlands off the cuff. (But I was done with WHF sessions with no backend). When Devon reached out to me to do this as a co-collaborator publishing situation I did not hesitate! Doing “sessions” was just not fitting in or “mathing” in the context of my instrument making business that was already stressed beyond capacity! However that afternoon at Devens was a pleasant respite from the shop that particular day! If I actually have an instrument laying around I would probably jump on it again! Not for the math of it; just because it was so damn fun!

Jonathan Eric Wilson is the inventor and builder of the TogaMan GuitarViol — a modern bowed guitar (21st-century arpeggione) that has become a secret weapon for Hollywood film, TV, and game composers. Heard on soundtracks from 300 and John Wick to countless Netflix and major studio scores, the GuitarViol blends guitar tuning and frets with the expressive power of a cello or viol.A lifelong guitarist turned master luthier, Jonathan has spent over 30 years refining this hybrid instrument through engineering breakthroughs, composite innovations (including hemp “Superwood”), and the proprietary ViolGlide fingerboard. When he’s not hand-building instruments in his Agrestic, CA shop or sharing the wild journey behind them, he’s performing, looping, and pushing the boundaries of what a bowed guitar can do.

Subscribe for behind-the-scenes build stories, instrument deep-dives, composer spotlights, and the occasional rant from a luthier who refuses to let a 19th-century “failed” idea stay forgotten.

Stay inspired! En-Theos.

Jonathan

TogaMan GuitarViols

Sparrow Haven Rising

Contact

Official Documentary website link

In the aftermath of California’s engineered cull—regulatory goalpost shifts, algorithm-driven extraction, thin-margin suffocation, fires, cyber sabotage, and pandemic isolation that starved independent creators—a regenerative, multifaceted model is soon to be emerging in Texas Hill Country. Sparrow Haven is not a passive retirement village, agritourism gimmick, or burnout retreat. It is the world’s first Talent rescue forge: a self-sustaining, multidisciplinary compound built to reverse the creative famine by rescuing, recharging, and redeploying “golden sparrows”—the culled indie makers, composers, luthiers, engineers, artists, coders, architects, industrial designers and bootstrappers who’ve been commoditized and sidelined by the systems that once exploited their innovation.

Envision the ecosystem: sustainable 3D-printable hempcrete cottages (fire-resistant, thermally superior, acoustically ideal, carbon-negative) scattered across a vineyard estate, offering short-term rentals for visiting composers, hosting keynote speakers, VIPs, and mentors. Founder-village satellite homes ground the core team on-site. A central production barn drives daily momentum—coding regenerative tools, 3D printing prototypes, hempcrete architecture builds, luthier, architectural art installations, music and multi-media production. Adjacent: a culinary kitchen and on-site food truck fueling shared meals, an event center for conferences, workshops, and retreats, and a Musical instrument petting gallery displaying a wide array of instruments (GuitarViols and beyond) for hands-on exploration.

Public-facing elements generate immediate draw and revenue: estate wine tastings and sales from Hill Country vines, Super-tea nutraceutical concoctions (hemp-infused, apoptogenic wellness blends) sold on-site and online, lifestyle accessories (branded maker tools, custom gear, merch) echoing the forge’s ethos. Sunset vineyard views, coastal-drive proximity, good food shared—these are oxygen for depleted creators, not add-ons. The public? Blown away!

Under the hood, the model is transformative. Residents and mentors cycle through deliberate variety: one day in grounding hospitality (wiping counters in the tasting room, fostering community and humility), the next deep in the barn on cross-disciplinary projects—programming, engineering, crafting instruments, mentoring apprentices. This prevents single-track burnout and ignites synergies across fields.

**Ancillary revenue engines** create a robust, scalable flywheel:

- Estate wine production and sales (tastings, clubs, events, pairings) leveraging Texas’ booming agritourism.

- Nutraceutical super-teas and wellness products (functional beverages in explosive growth).

- Lifestyle accessories and instrument sales from the petting gallery and barn output.

- Short-term cottage rentals and event-center bookings for retreats, conferences, and workshops.

Strategic partnerships in additive manufacturing, architecture, and construction** supercharge the flywheel. Sparrow Haven will collaborate with leaders in sustainable 3D printing and hempcrete innovation—such as Texas A&M’s ARPA-E-funded hempcrete 3D-printing research (net-carbon-negative, resilient designs), Black Buffalo 3D (proprietary cement-hemp mixes and large-scale printers), ICON (Vulcan systems for code-compliant homes), and emerging players in hemp-based printable materials (e.g., Mirreco, Hempitecture, or similar bio-composite firms). These alliances enable on-site prototyping of hempcrete cottages and structures, R&D for printable mixes, joint workshops, and shared IP—turning the forge into a living lab for carbon-negative construction while accelerating adoption of regenerative building tech.

Other symbiotic multiplying fits further spin the flywheel: cross-pollination with wellness/nutraceutical brands for co-branded super-teas, music/tech firms for instrument R&D events, agritourism operators for vineyard/wine synergies, and talent pipelines for apprentices. The result is exponential value—revenue diversifies, impact multiplies, and the compound becomes a self-reinforcing engine.

Central to the forge is a structured paid apprenticeship residency program, inspired by debt-free models like the Dyson Institute. Apprentices enter with no tuition burden, earn competitive salaries from day one, and gain hands-on immersion in live projects (instrument building, music tech, engineering, production) under rigorous mentorship. They exit with savings, a strong portfolio, and a network—not debt. Post-residency pathways empower: recruitment by external companies scouting Sparrow Haven as a premium talent pipeline (tech studios, manufacturers, innovators seeking burnout-resistant creators); retention as full-time contributors scaling the forge; or launch of independent ventures with seed support, tools, and mentorship—true torch-passing that proliferates sparrows.

This isn’t extraction; it’s regeneration. Sunset-career tech Bros, angel investors, and VC founders who’ve survived the same ruthless systems—cashed out, burned out, questioning “was it worth it?”—see the parallel. The cull that depleted creators like luthier-innovators (GuitarViol resonance in GoT layers, John Wick secrets, Curious George whimsy, Borderlands grit) is accelerating, commoditizing everything. Sparrow Haven counters it: off-algorithm mentorship, redundancy over solo lynchpins, anti-greed infrastructure.

Why invest ground-up/turn-key? The revenue diversity (wine + wellness + events + maker IP + talent pipeline + additive manufacturing partnerships) delivers tangible returns alongside profound cultural and environmental impact. Apprentices graduate debt-free with savings and momentum—exit-ready for recruitment, retention, or entrepreneurship. Mentors reclaim legacy without overload. The compound becomes a beacon: a place where En-Theos (God-within fire - root word of enthusiasm; manifests when soul software fires up!) reignites in aligned ecology—vineyard sunsets, wine-sweet water vibes, coffee, super tea, good food as fuel.

Remarkable doesn’t capture it—this is the antidote to famine, where today’s manifesto fiction becomes tomorrow’s thriving reality: sparrows singing, talents rescued, diversity restored, sustainable construction advanced.

The cull ends here. Rise & build.

If you’re a tech founder, angel, or VC who sees the multifaceted flywheel—the regenerative revenue, debt-free talent pipeline, additive manufacturing partnerships, symbiotic multipliers, and redemption for culled innovators—reach out. Sparrow Haven seeks cofounders, capital, land partners, construction collaborators, and strategic allies to acquire vineyard acreage, scale hempcrete/additive builds, and forge the future.

— Jonathan Wilson

Pissed-off luthier, culled sparrow, torch-bearer.

Jonathan Eric Wilson is the founder and master luthier behind TogaMan GuitarViols (also known as GuitarViol), a pioneering hybrid bowed guitar instrument.

A guitarist for over 50 years, Wilson has spent more than three decades pursuing a modern take on the 19th-century Arpeggione (a bowed guitar invented by Johann Georg Staufer in 1823). Inspired by his own needs for a playable bowed guitar that retained guitar-like techniques and ergonomics, he developed early prototypes in the 1990s, culminating in the first official TogaMan GuitarViol around 2002.

What began as a personal project exploded into demand after film composers discovered its unique expressive sound, versatility, and tone—blending guitar frets with viol-family bowing. (A Guitar-formatted Viola that invites guitar players to the strings world!). By 2006, Tyler Bates featured it prominently in the score for 300, sparking widespread use in Hollywood soundtracks (including Game of Thrones, John Wick, Curious George, Borderlands (*Jonathan did that session himself!) , and countless TV/games). Wilson has built hundreds of these handcrafted instruments, often maintaining long waitlists for noted composers and players.

A self-taught autodidact engineer, musician, composer, and renaissance craftsman, Wilson started in retail music sales, lessons, evolved into guitar repair and building, and turned obsession into innovation. The GuitarViol—available in acoustic, electro-acoustic, and solid-body variants (Now 10x composite design) combines elements of guitar, viola da gamba, cello, and viola, tuned EADGBE with frets for guitarists and a design optimized for bowing.

soon to be rebuilding in Texas after challenges in California (regulatory pressures, fires, and industry shifts), Wilson continues innovating while envisioning Sparrow Haven —a talent-rescue forge and regenerative compound to mentor next-gen creators. His work bridges centuries of musical tradition with modern media, earning him a quiet but enduring legacy as Hollywood’s “secret weapon” for bowed guitar textures.

For more: togamanguitars.com | @TogaManGViols | jonathanericwilson.substack.co

Official documentary website Click HERE

Thank you to the paid supporters of this Substack! Crafting the next chapter!

Stay Inspired! En Theos!

Jonathan

Inquiries click here or answer directly

Beauty Matters: En Theos, Soul Software, and the Last Stand of the Specialists Or: Why the disposable world hates what inspires, and why following your indwelling divine fire is the only way out of the trap. In a world engineered for ugliness, mediocrity, and disposability, beauty is resistance. Not the shallow Instagram-filtered kind—the deep, aching, hand-hewn beauty that only comes from a specialist who refuses to let the soul be outsourced. Beauty matters because it is the signature of en theos—the Greek root of “enthusiasm,” literally “in God,” or filled with the divine spark. When that fire hits your hands while shaping wood, drawing a bow across strings you’ve just set, or forging something that didn’t exist yesterday, that’s not mere excitement. That’s soul software booting up. It’s the internal code that overrides the external programming: the algorithms, the credential mills, the planned obsolescence of both things and people. The Disposable Society Hates Beauty Because It Can’t Control It. Everything today is built to break, forget, and be replaced:

• Phones glued shut, updates that brick old models.

• Skills offloaded to apps until hands forget how to hold a tool.

• Jobs sold as “future-proof” until AI eats the cube farm from the inside.

The powers that (shouldn’t) be—corporate, cultural, bureaucratic—engineer stupidity and atrophy on purpose. Schools glorify the screen over the shop bench. Trades get sneered at as “blue collar” while white-collar paths lead straight to obsolescence. The specialist—the artisan, the tradesman, the luthier who knows the grain of spruce like a friend’s face—becomes the enemy. Why? Because you can’t subscription-lock a skill. You can’t algorithmically gatekeep muscle memory. You can’t Planned Obsolescence a soul that’s been following en theos for decades. They want a blob: consumers who scroll, click, subscribe, and forget how to create. A population terrified of discomfort, unable to repair, rebuild, or even feel deeply. Beauty disrupts that. It reminds people there’s something worth preserving, worth fighting for. A well-made GuitarViol isn’t just an instrument—it’s proof that hybrid beauty (fretted yet bowed, guitar soul in viola form) can exist outside the mass-produced ugliness. It inspires because it’s made, not manufactured. Identify Your Soul Software: The Specialists Know It Intimately. Soul software isn’t abstract woo. It’s the pattern-recognition in your nervous system that says: This is what I’m built for. For me, it was chasing the arpeggione dream since the ‘80s—mockups in foam and cardboard post-9/11, blistered hands on rusty files, refusing to let interpreters dilute the vision. Delegation led to frustration; direct creation led to fire.The specialists feel it clearest because their work demands embodiment:

• The blacksmith who reads the color of heated steel.

• The herbalist who knows a plant’s medicine by taste and season.

• The mechanic who diagnoses by ear, not scanner.

• The luthier who hears the tap-tone of a top and knows if it’ll sing.

That “knowing” isn’t data—it’s en theos alignment. When the world pushes cultural amnesia (”just Google it,” “let AI handle it”), the soul software resists. It insists: No. I will remember. I will make. I will inspire. And inspiration isn’t fluffy. It’s dangerous. A beautiful thing—a hand-crafted instrument, a timber-framed shelter, a perfectly tuned chord—reminds people they were made for more than techno serfdom. It sparks the same fire in others. That’s why beauty gets attacked: it’s contagious. When the Shit Hits the Fan, Beauty and Specialists Become Currency The trap flips when systems fail. Fiat dies, grids go dark, supply chains snap. Then the cube-farm resume is toilet paper, but the specialist’s hands are gold.

• The one who can build a bow that draws true.

• The one who can carve a neck that fits like an extension of the arm.

• The one who can inspire a room full of shell-shocked people to pick up tools again.

Beauty matters then because it sustains the spirit when survival alone would break it. A song on a GuitarViol around a fire isn’t luxury—it’s medicine. En theos isn’t optional; it’s the difference between enduring and thriving. Follow It. Build It. Pass It On. If you’re reading this and feel that tug—that quiet rage against the ugliness, that pull toward making something real—listen. That’s your soul software pinging. Identify it. Protect it. Follow it like your life depends on it, because one day it might. For me, it’s the GuitarViol: 20+ years of prototypes, rebuilds, Texas exile after California cull, Sparrow Haven dreams. It’s not just an instrument. It’s defiance wrapped in beauty. It’s en theos made wood and string. Stay inspired. Make beautiful things. Teach the young to feel the fire, not fear it. The specialists aren’t relics—we’re the spark that lights the way when the lights go out.

To the co-conspirator cofounder out there—the one who’s already won the game, cashed the exit, stacked the FU resources, and now stares at the horizon wondering what the hell the point was if it all just feeds the same disposable machine—you know why this matters. You’ve seen the cull up close: the talent ground down, the beauty commoditized, the soul software starved until it atrophies. You’ve got the capital, the network, the scar tissue from playing (and beating) their game. Sparrow Haven isn’t charity or nostalgia—it’s strategic legacy insurance. A vineyard village talent forge in the Texas Hill Country where golden sparrows (the endangered specialists, the next-gen makers) get transplanted, mentored, and set free to root deep away from the blight. You understand the true “Why”— the why that’s bigger than profit, bigger than survival: preserving the fire so humanity doesn’t forget how to make beautiful, meaningful things when the blob finally collapses. If this pings your soul software the way it does mine, DM me. Let’s conspire. Let’s build something that outlasts us both!

Jonathan Wilson
TogaMan GuitarViols
Sparrow Haven rising

https://togamanguitars.com/contact/

What I Thought Versus What I Found. What I Planned On and How It Went.

Jonathan Eric Wilson
February 2026 Look, I've never been one for tidy origin stories or neat little arcs. But if there's one thread that runs through the last decade-plus of this wild ride, it's the brutal gap between what I thought / what I planned and what I found / how it actually went. I keep circling back to it because it's the honest part—the part that doesn't make for motivational posters but might save someone else from the same invisible injuries! (No joke).

What I Thought / Planned (the Vision, circa 2010–2019)
GuitarViol was finally traction after a lifetime of false starts. It wasn't just an oddity anymore; it was oxygen. Film and TV composers (the real heavy hitters, the IMDb who's-who crowd) discovered it, and demand exploded. Backlogs of 30+ instruments a year, wait times stretching 9–24 months, but hey—that's what high-velocity success looks like. I had talented builders (some I'd trained), fluid resources, commercial spaces that felt like the right launchpad. Valencia in late 2019? Dream setup: 1085 sq ft, natural skylight, HVAC, Home Depot four minute walk away, FedEx in the park. Positioned to scale. The 10x acoustic-electric model (hemp composites, "super wood," refined everything) was the future—one unified design, easier to produce at volume, electric capabilities for modern workflows. Plan (2016 - ten years ago) was 2 years of focused weekends/evenings outside regular builds to get it launched. Trajectory screamed durable retirement engine. I could see it: employ a small team, mentor the next gen, maybe even build toward something bigger. Retire with dignity instead of cube-farm torture. That was the math. The “plan”.

What I Found / How It Went (the Reality Check, 2020–Now)
The world didn't just change; it imploded in slow motion, and I was holding the bag. Pandemic hits right after moving into Valencia—supply chains choke, costs soar, priorities flip. AB5 scatters the contractor network I'd relied on for years. No more fluid delegation. Then the film/TV ecosystem (90%+ of my oxygen) starts bleeding out: Netflix plateaus, streaming gold rush ends, 2023 strikes drag on forever, production houses turn ghost towns, exodus from LA. No spring-back. Hollywood as we knew it? Dead. My core market—those anxious, deadline-obsessed composers—shrinks dramatically. Backlog pressure turns toxic: pulling favors for one means pissing off another in an industry that never forgives delays. The 2016 - present 10x project? What I thought would take 2 years took 6+ of grinding trial-by-fire. Molds, engineering, carbon fiber nightmares (brutal to finish), pivots to flax/hemp for sound and sanity, all while solo after my son Andrew left (proud of him, but damn). Valencia was supposed to be the venue for phasing out old wooden models and rolling in the new—burn the ships! Instead, it became the place I mostly worked alone, higher overhead, flaccid economy, diminishing cash flow. Tried to scale anyway. Damn near killed me. Chronic stress, adrenal fatigue, burnout—NO JOKE, invisible repetitive injury. Fight-or-flight on perpetual loop until the system just shuts off. Nearing 60, the "crush it" drive is gone. Regrets? YES! Vacations be damned, yes. No personal instruments kept—some sold to fund moves that didn't age well. Desire to play much? Faded. Isolation replaced the Packing House colleague energy I miss. Valencia closure (early 2025-ish, final blow from fires/Palisades fallout/regulatory ghosts) forced the pivot nobody wants: home ops in the Agrestic Garage. Limited space, limited hours (mornings for noisy work, evenings for detail), limited bandwidth—physical and mental. Not flaky; it's survival mode in a Fourth Turning winter none of us asked for. Undoing 5–6 years of damage isn't fixed in months. Rocky reset. Intermittent fatigue. But still at the bench some days better than others, protégé visits once a week, pushing forward in windows of energy.

The Human Toll & the Bittersweet Grateful Part
I pushed beyond limits for decades because quitting/abandoning commitments wasn't an option. Letting people down? Never. But the body doesn't negotiate. Chronic stress fallout is real—more real than the optics of "overwhelming demand" that sounds enviable from the outside. It hurts. I'm not Superman. Culture says "suck it up," but eventually “suck it up” breaks you. Yet gratitude remains. Honored to have been part of that high watermark—GuitarViols in 300, John Wick, Guardians, all of it. The doc (GuitarViol: The Film Composer’s Secret Weapon) is close (Q1 2026-ish, post-production wrapping), capturing the best of Valencia days and the composers' stories. Bittersweet, with fires hitting some of them hard too. And forward glimmers: Sparrow Haven dreams (TX rebuild, talent forge for sparrows—luthiers, artists, sunset-career co-conspirators), mixing in traditional guitar prototypes to rebuild momentum, mentoring in the last quarter. This isn't defeat; it's recalibration. The mission continues through foisted vicissitudes. Not by choice, but here we are. Return to love, return to why—even if it's slower, smaller, more paced. Thanks for sticking with the raw updates. If it resonates, subscribe free for the next ones. Share if someone needs the cautionary tale wrapped in defiance. Keep building where you can.

—Jonathan

Sparrow Haven horizon still calling. Rage truck loading. More soon.

https://guitarvioldocumentary.com/ Stay Tuned!

Reach out link

Stay inspired! (Keep some authentic analog beauty in the world!)

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Wilson.

Hi Jonathan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born in Hollywood in the mid ’60s to a widower homicide detective dad working Venice. Grew up in Marina del Rey amid boats, nightlife, and endless live music. I started playing guitar in grade school and never looked back.
Post-high school: loud guitars, bad haircuts, the ’80s rock scene. Late ’80s move to the San Fernando Valley led to jobs in musical instrument stores—sales, lessons, repairs. It was my element; cubicle life would’ve been torture.
Early on, I sketched my dream instrument: a guitar-shaped violoncello. Around 1990, I teamed up with a Latvian luthier fresh from the USSR post-Berlin Wall. Played that prototype through the ’90s, then redesigned post-Y2K.
While assistant-managing Cassell’s Music in San Fernando (the “No Stairway… Denied!” Wayne’s World spot), I lived next door in a cottage and built the TogaMan GuitarViol prototype in 2002 off-hours.
October of 2002: a blog reviewer asked if I sold them. Dial-up era photos were brutal, so I bought The Complete Idiot’s Guide to HTML at Borders, built a site, took my first deposit—and panicked about what I’d started.
An early sale to an LA studio musician triggered furious demand. By late 2007, it forced me to quit my day job (stayed through Jan ’08 for my boss’s NAMM trip). The instrument landed in 300’s soundtrack while still evolving—not mass-production ready, but a dream “problem” of overwhelming orders.
The full arc is captured in the upcoming documentary GuitarViol: The Film Composer’s Secret Weapon, featuring a dozen LA composers in their studios.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
(Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?)
Far from smooth. Early success brought relentless demand, but scaling proved brutal.
Major manufacturers eyed it but fled at the massive tooling/engineering costs—I stayed solo at craft level while expectations screamed mass production. Still chasing that balance.
Garage shop until 2015, when LA zoning shut it down. Moved to Fillmore in a converted packing house “crafts village.” Added commutes and climate control needs—we fixed insulation by 2016/17.
Then endless red tape: occupancy issues, ping-ponging approvals, eventual dubious red tag in 2019. Fresh off a rough Sylmar exit, it stung.
Scoured LoopNet, landed a better 1,087 sq ft Valencia shop Nov 2019—freeway access, near Magic Mountain, customer-friendly. My son joined; we built workstations and ramped up.
Then AB5 killed my long-time freelance networks (hit film/music hard). Formalized payroll, planned hires—until COVID “two weeks” became years crushing small biz. Supply chains lagged, payments trickled.
Fought to keep it alive, but Jan 2025 Palisades fire was the last straw—forced closure.
All amid my pivot to carbon graphite/hemp composites, solo, wearing every hat. Extras: Google wrongly marking us “permanently closed” (endless fixes), DDoS attack locking 18 months of inquiries, 2023 strikes gutting film/TV work, AI replacing composers, industry exodus, fires.
Ambitions to scale into a small factory with crew met regulatory capture, pandemic, strikes, market collapse. Chronic stress/fatigue now; turning 60, forced to scale way back.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I design, build, and evolve the TogaMan GuitarViol—a hybrid string instrument blending guitar body/form with cello-like bowed playability and extended range. It’s become a niche “secret weapon” for film/TV composers needing unique textures, orchestral depth from a guitarist-friendly shape.
Started as handmade prototypes; demand exploded via word-of-mouth in LA studios. Featured in soundtracks like 300, used by dozens of top composers.
Core appeal: bridges acoustic/electric worlds, offers new sonic colors without abandoning guitar technique. Not mass-produced—craft-focused, custom or small-batch.
Now transitioning materials (carbon graphite, hemp composites) for lighter, more resonant builds while keeping the soul intact.
Upcoming: GuitarViol: The Film Composer’s Secret Weapon documentary shares the story straight from the studios.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck’s been a double-edged sword.
Good luck: Pure serendipity in early discovery—a random blog inquiry sparked the first sale, then studio buzz created an avalanche I couldn’t have manufactured. Being in LA’s film/TV ecosystem at the right moment, connecting with composers who championed it. That organic demand kept the fire alive for decades.
Bad luck: Everything else. Unpredictable regulations and “captures” (zoning, AB5, red tags) derailed moves and growth repeatedly. Pandemic timing crushed momentum just as we scaled up. Supply chain chaos, strikes wiping out my core market, AI accelerating the decline, fires adding insult. Google glitches, cyber attacks—hits at the worst moments.
Luck gave me the rocket boost; misfortune kept yanking the parachute. I’ve learned to build resilience around it—adapt fast, pivot materials, plan remote collaborations. Now focusing on “Sparrow’s Flight”: a like-minded artisan/tech collective for remote talent rescue and paid apprenticeships (Dyson Institute-inspired). We build the plane while flying.
Stay inspired—luck changes, but persistence doesn’t.

Contact Info:

• Website:

https://guitarvioldocumentary.com/

Reach out Link

Thanks to Voyage LA for reaching out for an encore!

As always, stay in-spired!!

More to come! Stay tuned for the documentary and other fronts with the talent rescue forge I’m building! (Seeking contemporary co-founders for Q4 life finale!)

Jonathan

Reach out link

Documentary website (Click Here)

Dear friends of the TogaMan GuitarViol of the last quarter century. 2025 was what I consider the “lost year”. Personally and professionally, it was a year that began with the Palisades/Alta Dena fire is added another layer of pain to an already embattled industry town. The cumulative effect = the last six years California small business massacre that caused me to shutter in Valencia The following month. On the human side I’ve had to navigate the after effects of chronic stress and grief sustained over the last decade of “you can’t make this up” level absurdities at every corner. As I’ve covered and previous posts, I am back to garage level (for now) after attempting to build a staffed small factory to better serve my customers. Unfortunately it turned out to be a treacherous unsustainable decade and I’ve had the scale back. Yes I’m still at it - however challenged with intermittent fatigue; my reward for ceaseless grind through impossible disruptions that would have made more sensible people quit. (Could not abandon the fleet!). Workflow is still an unknown quantity as I went from having an ad hoc trained crew with a commercial space shop to making instruments solo with less manpower. I’m so used to being the energizer bunny workaholic! Now, body allows me so much! I’m still honored to be of service! Age and circumstances demand a change of pace, reset, and ultimately an energizing scenario!

Rise & Build 2026!! The mission continues!

”GuitarViol: The film composer’s secret weapon” is locked and loaded for the festivals this year! Please stay tuned! Please subscribe to the Documentary YouTube channel also as we are building it from scratch! Hit the website!

With my iPhone notes on morning walks, I am crafting a serial postscript to this documentary where the film composers tell the story of the GuitarViol. I’ll be publishing various narrative works of the story behind the story. My personal journey, the challenges, and my other calling as a storyteller with an aim for a place I am actively seeking cofounders for called “Sparrow Haven”. The Sparrow Haven vision is that of a ridiculously supportive vineyard village environment of high-level senior makers mentoring the next generation of “sparrows”. This is the new cheese! Not since my initial obsession to create modern Apreggiones/GuitarViols in 1989/2001 have I felt this strongly about anything! The 4th quarter! Ready, fire, AIM! (In the mean time, paving the road! Build as it flies!)

This series of Substacks and eventually new YouTube channel represents The GuitarViol backstory of Sparrow Haven and subsequent Merch, Products, and services to realize the vision. I’m creeping up on 60 and I want to do something meaningful in the last quarter of life. (lost a few contemporaries last year). I look forward to interacting with you as I navigate not only pushing through The queue of GuitarViols but also The big picture mission of Sparrow Haven. More of that to unfold! In the meantime we are setting the stage with the situation at hand! It is a story we are living in real time, personal to me, and I am furious enough to craft the counter-mission!

California Is Killing Its Own Golden Sparrows – And Wondering Why the Harvest Fails

You hear the brag all the time: “California is the fifth-largest economy in the world.” It’s true—right now, in early 2026, California’s GDP sits at about $4.215 trillion, ranking it fifth globally (behind the full U.S., China, Germany, and Japan, which reclaimed fourth after a strong yen and growth spurt in late 2025). The state loves that stat. Politicians wave it like a trophy. Media repeats it. It makes us feel like winners. But here’s the ugly truth most people miss: California is actively culling its own golden sparrows—the irreplaceable base-layer specialists who make the whole ecosystem hum—and then acting surprised when the golden crops (jobs, affordable energy, innovation, reliable life) stop coming. Think of it like this: Sparrows aren’t flashy. They’re small, agile birds that eat pests, pollinate fields, keep things balanced. In California’s story, those sparrows are the freelancers, refinery engineers, truckers, consultants, composers, and independent creators. They don’t demand corner offices or massive subsidies. They just do the work—flexibly, merit-based, filling gaps big corporations can’t touch. The state decided these sparrows were “pests.”

• AB5 (2019) and SB 988 (Freelance Worker Protection Act, kicked in 2025) layered on bureaucracy: strict ABC tests for classification, mandatory written contracts for gigs over $250, payment deadlines, penalties. Clients (small businesses, startups) said “too much hassle” and stopped hiring California independents. Gigs dried up. Specialists fled or limited work. The creative pollinators got culled through attrition.

• On the energy side, aggressive green regs (unique CARBOB fuel blends, Low Carbon Fuel Standard mandates, compliance fines) made refineries uneconomical. Phillips 66 closed its Wilmington plant late 2025 (139,000 barrels/day lost). Valero is idling Benicia by April 2026 (145,000–170,000 bpd gone). That’s ~17–20% of California’s in-state refining capacity—poof. No new refineries in decades. Skilled engineers and operators retire early or leave. The base-layer energy sparrows? Culled.

Now the fallout hits everyone—the “simple” folks who just want to drive to work, buy groceries, pay rent:

• Gas prices? Forecasts warn +$1.21/gallon by August 2026 (UC Davis baseline), with extremes hitting $6–$8.43 (USC models) or even $10–$12 in shortages/disruptions. Fuel deserts are forming—stations closing from tank rules, truckers fleeing (delays, higher diesel), deliveries slowing. Everything costs more.

• Jobs? Thousands gone from refineries alone (high-wage union roles). Broader economy? UCLA Anderson’s December 2025 forecast: California “muddles through” early 2026 with weak job growth, an “employment recession” lingering (unemployment >5% for 19+ months), then possible rebound later—if energy doesn’t keep dragging it down.

• The big picture? A two-speed mess: AI/tech bubbles thrive (masking the pain), but main-street, manufacturing, construction, and independents starve. Businesses and wealth flee (tax threats already triggered billions in exodus). The fifth-largest economy is eroding its foundation.

This isn’t bad luck. It’s man-made. Like Mao’s 1958 sparrow cull in China: Villagers banged pots, killed billions of birds thinking they stole grain. Without sparrows eating insects, locusts swarmed. Crops failed. Famine killed tens of millions. The sparrows weren’t the problem—they were the balance. California did the same. Hubris said: “We can replace them with politics, ideology, ‘transition’ promises.” Now refineries rust, specialists scatter (like Venezuela’s PDVSA purge in 2002–2003—fired 20,000 experts, production cratered from 3.5M to under 1M barrels/day), and the public pays the price in higher costs, lost careers, gutted communities. The state calls itself a “beacon” of progress. It wonders why the golden crops fail. Simple answer: You killed the sparrows that tended them. Honey tastes better than shit. Bees don’t waste time explaining that to flies. The sparrows are calling from elsewhere—Texas, Florida, wherever the air is lighter and the regs don’t clip wings.If you’re one of the millions feeling the squeeze, you’re not imagining it. The big picture isn’t complicated: Cull the base layer, watch the famine follow. It’s not “transition pains.” It’s self-destruction. Read it. Share it. Wake up before the harvest is gone for good.

As always, I appreciate your enthusiasm for the GuitarViol! It is a personal journey and life’s work! Look forward to continued support paving the road to Sparrow Haven! I want to take you with me! The next venue to the big picture! As always, STAY inspired!

Jonathan

Hit me up

https://guitarvioldocumentary.com/ For a closer look….

YouTube playlist (Click here)

Yep. This documentary drop is getting close! (Likely Q1 2026). Roughly three years of production in the hands of producer/cinematographer Terry Davis and Director Dale Turner doing the heavy lifting. 100% sweat (labor of love) budget and almost a dozen LA composers (early adopters) telling the story in their natural habitats (studios). Filmed on location including the former Valencia space; even capturing the vibe and energy of the meet-ups of the day!

It is bittersweet. Two of the composers in this feature doc lost their Palisades homes in the January 2025 fires. And, yours truly recuperating from chronic stress/grief after last 6 years of “you cant make this s*** up” relentless multi-crisis whiplash avalanche overload (AB5 scattering long established logistics (see sparrows below), pandemic shutdowns, supply delays, the aftermath, the multiple website dDOS attacks, Being disappeared on Google as “permanently closed”, reset repeat whack-a-mole, the 2023 strikes that turned production houses in my area into a ghost town, and the fires causing yet more “too little too late” cascading and compounding delays). Try doing deep focus engineering/craft in that scenario of unwelcome distractions! (I dare you!) The meet-ups and on site making of this doc (few scenes) capture the Valencia space in it’s best days!

This documentary captures a high point of my specialty GuitarViols and the high point of the movie/TV/game soundtrack industry before AI.

What do I have to show for the last quarter century? What comes after the documentary? Besides my forever builds in the Agrestic Garage? Perhaps, maybe, an inspiring story about a special instrument and cautionary tales of what it REALLY took to get to the summit of the imploding mountain. Now as I am inching up to age level 60, paving the road to Sparrow Haven. The next venue, however that audacious miracle flies! Seeking co-conspirers (sunset career tech bros, engineers artists and instrument makers). Playing in the last quarter of life mentoring and passing the torch to younger sparrows.

They killed the sparrows once in China and learned, too late, that the birds were never the enemy. Seventy years later California passed a law with better intentions and the same blindness: one stroke of the pen outlawed the state’s most restless, inventive, independent souls. They tampered with the economic ecology. The trucks went quiet, the sound stages went dark, and the locusts moved in wearing different clothes.

But some species have a way of surviving exile!

Next week on the Substack: Sparrow Haven — the vineyard, the chapel made of light and mathematics, the tasting room, event center, media center, old wizards and young fugitives who are quietly rebuilding the California spirit that was murdered by paperwork, one 3-D-printed Hemp cottage, one perfect grape, one hand-shaped violin at a time. The control group starts now.

In the mean time, check this out!

https://guitarvioldocumentary.com/

For a closer look….

YouTube playlist (Click here)

Stay inspired!

Jonathan

Three decades of GUITARVIOLS in a single shot!

(CTR:) Loga Ramin Torkian‘s “Naked Spartan” (build started DEC 2002) that kicked off a chain reaction of GuitarViol awareness, flanked by magical axes owned by (LT:) Hauk Heimdallsman (2024 build), and (RT:) Phillip Peloubet (2012 build). Each with dramatically different BODY construction/materials, three different FINGERBOARDS--(CTR:) early hand-bent/hammered guitar fretwire, (RT:) “Stealth fingerboard” with jewelry wire inserted into cuts from a CNC machine, and (LT:) the revolutionary ViolGlide fingerboard--and three (of many) eras of HEADSTOCKS!

Wait till you see how these pix factor into our GUITARVIOL DOCUMENTARY’s film poster, web site, and all other promotional tidbits! Big giant thanks to Loga, Hauk, and Phillip--and the DIRTY-BEARDED LUTHIER wizard who conjured it all, Jonathan Eric Wilson!

PS: Needless to say, ALL the shots by Carl King (

https://carlkingdom.com/

) turned out KILLER!!!!

PPS: Microphone UNICORN shot! MICROCORN!!!!!!

#guitarviol #documentary LINKS:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37855430/

https://guitarvioldocumentary.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@GUITARVIOLDOCUMENTARY

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088683188905

More soon! Stay inspired!!

Jonathan

[Today’s walk through the Agrestic campus and iPhone Voice to text. Feeding the cardio whilst spilling the mind into an iPhone]

Mao’s culling of sparrows instead allowed the locusts to overtake the crops. Much like AB5 tampered with the freelance gig economy, contributed to the Detroiting of Hollywood. The cult of envy leaves mayhem.

Yes I’m an early spectrum Gen X.
Old enough to remember a world before the Internet. Old enough to remember what it was to work hard to achieve a dream; succeed or fail spectacularly. No pension unions or guarantee fairies. Pure grit. My peers remember the gas crisis, odd or even license plates, the 80s with bad haircuts, The early 90s recession, big box, and DIY indie culture. We remember returning videos to Blockbuster. We survived dot com crash crash, pink slips, discovering eBay, and accidentally starting new businesses. (yeah that’s when I learned basic HTML code and launched the first website on DialUp!). We watched the toxic loan bubble of 2008 and those of us who did not get into that game? Late to the party while still building a complex craft business. Some initial thriving through the 2010s when the media business was peaking. Then in 2019, Sacramento Unions decided they hated the independent autodidact laptop class and raged war on the gig economy. All this in parallel tandem with the COVID-19 plandemic lockdown nightmare (never let a crisis go to waste!)

So, those of us born in the mid 60s are literally The last ones to remember a world before the Internet and when we die off? Good luck to the next gen! There’s a scary dystopian 1984 world of people too young to remember world before. All of this as we (Gen X) enter our golden years betrayed and heartbroken. Some of us scaled really well and perhaps retired with a fortune. (Kudos to those who scaled the threshold and were smarter spreadsheet chess jockeys than guys like me). Others amongst us were late to the party as we really did not get our momentum. We scaled to the summit of an imploding mountain where the rug got yanked. We have the skills that built the Internet and now we’re getting screwed by the algorithms and far left progressive governors Who want to “reimagine” a little too much; at the late phase indie founder makers expense.

Sure, I am a dirty bearded Boomer-X luthier curmudgeon (some may think) who had a remarkable run! Still at it; albeit scaled down and not nearly the adrenaline fueled productive race it took to sustain through a deflated flaccid market. The last 10 years in particular were a bloody knuckle fight to keep the doors open with less manpower, regulatory headwinds, and an economic ecology that went down the tubes with it. (You bad person). It was gradual and sudden. With “are we there yet” backlog peeps biting my ankles like piranhas well juggling chainsaws and cats. (I would not bat an eye at this before 2019). The chaos was indeed caused by the cult of envy; a perfect storm by design. Now an exhausted sparrow from that sparrow cull shit show I have very limited control over; no matter how diligent and brisk the flight. Too much for the old bandwidth. One too many banging pots and slingshots…

Craft as rebellion! Algorithms be damned!
So as I make my way out to the tiny space (like a goldfish returning to the bowl after a decade in the big pond; definitely cramped), I’ll chip away at the next waxing of the mold and fretless guitar conversion for a local client. Receivables have been getting a good slow walked; (The too little too late sink or swim cycle typical of the last few years). Survive we must! Sanity is somewhat balanced by keeping some variety and novelty. The sheer volume I have to do is another story!

Part of what helps me with apparent grief masquerading as attempted productivity? Journaling the story and this Substack is the outlet! Follow the journey as we go! It’s not neat it’s not nice. It does however cause me to remember WHY I threw so much of my life into this crazy thing called the GuitarViol! At least the story is being told in the soon to be released documentary featuring a dozen early adopter film composers Who used it to the hilt over at least the last 21 years. I’m grateful for that great run that otherwise would not be supported by a softer “poor rock star” market. Creating instruments that are not orthodox is a thorny and misunderstood path indeed! I was willing to take it even though it was initially intended for my own use. (now I barely ever play for strum a chord - it feels so hollow and joyless in this particular dispensation of time - another day maybe?). Nevertheless, I take another jab at the projects to the extent of any remaining semblance of sanity I can muster.

What’s next? Another day in Agrestic garage; The goldfish returned to the fishbowl. The crab returning to its previous shell. I dream of The mythical place called Harmony Haven were a few of us old dogs can pass the torch to the next generation in and idyllic setting away from the algorithms. We are state of the merges with old school craft. What else is there? Pivot? Learn to code? (Yeah, right!) AI can do it faster and better! No, we still need a few of us who create real meaningful shit! If not, we’re just building a museum of a pre-dystopian time before 21st century born maniacs with no memory of the Great leap forward, or Holomodor, parade us into vodka and bread lines; the apparent trajectory. So whatever is left in this last quarter of life? Yeah, let’s craft our rebellion! A world being overtaken by the cult of envy, ugliness and Bauhaus mediocrity needs the old counter balance of beauty! So go make something beautiful!

As always, I invite those interested in the craft to reach out. Nurturing the next generation of creators is far less hollow then pushing a plow of productivity in isolation. No I’m not a fan of this 1930s style malthusian shit the cult of envy and ugliness has foisted upon our lives. I offer the antithesis of that to the best extent that I can! What colors to the tapestry will you bring? Maybe the GenZ “Granny core” craft movement (a thing!! Ha ha!) will happen away from the algorithms they reject! The granny core movement may be the hope! They reject The digital world and craft is a rebellion! Go go Granny core!

With all of that in mind, I’ll be priming the pump with some behind the scenes engineering stunts and perhaps some off hours sketchers in oil paints. Even my mind and soul crave novelty from the every day grind I’ve pushed since before the turn of the century. Yes I regret those missed vacations when it was safe to do so. I regret pushing so hard to the summit of the imploding mountain (except for the fact that I’ve met some really awesome people along the way!)

Keep the faith and stay inspired!

2 mile cardio walk winding down….

I share my life journal as the builder of hey specialized instrument, it’s background, and the often turbulent circumstances of producing it! Cautionary tales mixed with inspiring outcomes! I appreciate those who come along with me on this journey! The blood sweat and tears + victories! My hope is that you, dear reader, take these things for what they’re worth (or not) and hopefully create something in your own life! And if what I do is a good fit for Keynote speaking and inspiring young minds, do reach out! I hope also that in these turbulent times, these messages/rants/geek outs give you a sense that you are NOT alone!

It also brings me much joy and meaning to teach the craft! Over the years I have had protégés Who have gone on to do great things! If that seems like something you may be interested in, do you reach out! In recent times I may seem a bit unresponsivein the midst of my overwhelm and recuperation! I do like to hear from you though! It’s always good to hear a friendly voice! Sometimes great things come out of it!

As always, have an exceedingly awesome day and STAY inspired!

If you are a fan of my work and are in a position to upgrade to paid subscriber ranging from monthly coffee level or beyond, it all helps! Also reach out if there are any viable ideas or artist in residence proposals. God bless!

Jonathan

818-268-5602

As most of you know, 2025 has been a rocky road (So far). Workflow life after the Valencia shop has not been a smooth paved road or a linear path. Having navigated some jolty times in the past, this is not been the usual set the shop up catch up tyranny of the urgent fire drill (i.e. plop machines down in the shop and fire away). Nope. Yes I’ve played ZIP Code hopscotch over the last 17+ years: San Fernando, two locations in Sylmar, Fillmore, Valencia, and now the Agrestic Garage. For the first time in a decade I’m working from home and it was not the plan! It was the implosion of the hollow mountain I scaled to the summit of (briefly). The collisions of bad policies and an entire Industry ecosystem spiraling faster as it circled the drain. Here we are!

So outside of recuperating (human stuff), it has been a rocky reset. Undoing five or six years of damage is NOT fixed in six months. The epic aftermath. Nevertheless I had to bounce Valencia and restabilize. Reevaluate and find whatever the trajectory the soul software suggests. Planning is a fool‘s errand in these volatile times as it turns out. Pivoting a fast moving heavy train around to take corner does not go well either. So I pick up the pieces and move the projects forward the best I can while navigating intermittent fatigue.

The cooler fall weather is a welcome respite from The hot summer and bug onslaughts. There have been some engineering hold ups due to moving over to a different tuning system (The instruments are engineered for a certain type and My colleague Bruce Johnson - A long time collaborator on the GuitarViol since 2003 - made a custom reamer so that I can do this with precision and repeatability) moron that soon. [* I’m actually writing this on iPhone voice notes as I do my morning cardio walk in Agrestic!]

Because of the intermittent impediment nature of events we faced this year, I have managed to do some batching of essential parts, inner structure frames, fingerboards, tail pieces (pretty much all of the stuff that does not come in catalogs but has to be made here. So only few instruments have gotten out between Valencia and now. It has been an unprecedented time for sure! So, I am now running the one piece body hulls after some repair to the mold.

On the other hand, there are interesting projects cooking in the crockpot.. what is that of a special set of GuitarViols in third-party collaboration with artists Steinway & Sons pianos for clients in Dubai. The Instruments will ultimately be all white pearl with inlaid veneer panels of bleached quilted Maple (stunning stuff I’ve never seen before ever) with floral designs that are made from actual tiny pieces of wood veneer hand carved in appliqué to the surface. It is an engineering stunt and challenge for sure! More on that as it cooks in the R&D crockpot.

As you’ve read some months back, I am collaborating on a new pick up system (with David Enke in Colorado) and I hope to have more progress in the cooler weather in absence of those damn Noseeum bugs! It really is no joke, doing deep work, bug attacks, and adapting to the new sphinctered-down workspace I call “The Agrestic garage” (my reference to a series called weeds that was filmed in Stevenson Ranch many years ago). It feels like a full grown goldfish returning to the fish bowl after being in a pond… (I can’t believe I’ve lived here for more than 10 years!) Anyway, more on the pick up system soon.

My apologies to those waiting on instruments forever! The quick pivot. not so quick! Timelines move forward (albeit an unknown quantity in this rocky new setting). It’s all been the aftermath of California’s contempt for the petit bourgeois freelance networks with pandemic in parallel tandem, cascading supply meets “too little too late” receivable mayhem loops and subsequent implosion of an entire industry that’s self-destructed and fell on its own sword. (No, those year long strikes, evictions, AI takeovers, and one way U-Hauls did not work out for California movie workers). Then, the LA fires. Not only are my days preoccupied with moving forward under new caveats and constraints, but also reimagining the vision and trajectory! It’s a lot to take in along with navigating elder family members keeping Mrs. Wilson on her toes with care and essentially anchoring us to California for the time being.

As I mentioned recently we’ve lost a few friends, mentors, and colleagues along the way. I was very sad to hear of Ken Parker‘s passing. His influence profound and he was a helpful guide in the development of my more recent instruments. Ken had pivoted from the massive stressor of Parker Fly guitars which at the end of the day were more expensive to produce than what they were selling them for (soup to nuts). Anyway, I was hoping to somehow emulate or model his pivot from running a factory with employees to building only a half dozen high end arch top guitars a year by himself at 30k a crack. He was building six guitars for the same budget I was operating in making 30 per -year and working myself into the ground (with a small ad hoc crew before the pandemic era). I’m glad that Ken had a good 20 years of that 6 per year quality flow! His passing was sort of a cautionary tale and I was not aware that he had been battling cancer for a couple years. At the end he wound up a half million dollars in the hole due to not being able to work in the shop two years and the treatments. :( Each day is precious and I want to do some meaningful stuff with it!

I miss having protégés and teaching the craft! (Frankly it has been very isolating the last few years and I miss the meet up events at Valencia!) For years I have dreamed of having a place on the coast with vineyard barns in a compound of cottages. (echoing my love of the country I had as a child in Connecticut). Harmony Haven; A place where a few aging old dogs like me bypass the ultimate rest home path and, instead, mentor some new dogs in a high tech meets old school Village of luthiers, engineers, creators, with the media center and perhaps even a chapel made of Stained Glass and hempcrete. The cottages would all be 3-D printed construction out of hempcrete (A tie in to my other working with industrial hemp and echoing that emerging industry). It would be project managed and administrated by burned out veteran Tech executives mid 30s plus or minus. This time, rather than rallying tech VC funding rounds, it would be a residential lifestyle and an entire suite of cross disciplinary cooperation and ancillary other product marketing. It’s a rebellion against the algorithms. A team producing outrageously inspiring stuff! I’m not sure that California would be a practical location TBD. The bottom line is: whatever is left in life, Harmony Haven could be a compelling concept of passing the torch from (Luthiers, engineers, artisans) to Curated next generation in an inspiring cooperative residential state of the art environment outside of town and the constant hustle of garbage algorithms. Throw in events, ancillary products, compelling multimedia presentations and other revenue models. A haven for burned out tech executives and senior craftsman nurturing next gen talent! By design, Harmony Haven would outlive its founders lives, and thrive into the future. A compelling talent cluster of organic regenerative talent residencies. OK it’s fiction now, but you know how life can imitate art if it is a dangerous enough and compelling concept involving various Industry advocacy groups manufactures and suppliers. Throw the spaghetti and see what sticks!

Anyway, back to the Agrestic Garage for now!

Stay inspired!

Jonathan

Reach out!

It’s an otherwise nice evening, think I’ll take a pass at some detail work on a GV that should have shipped a couple months ago. Nitrile cloves, a cup of color effect epoxy in left hand, brush in the right. The the bug attack! YES, there is a citronella candle burning. YES, I applied 40% DEET repellent spray. YES, there is a fan on! Do these little bane of my existence bugs care? NOPE. They eat DEET and Citronella for breakfast and chew my skin for lunch! UGH! (And they are attracted to my preferred lighting). I give up, try again in the morning. Lather, rinse, repeat all summer! THIS was why I fought so hard to keep 1087 SF HVAC Valencia space rolling in a time that did not support it. It is what it is.

It has been a trifecta of intermittent fatigue (my chronic stress adrenal dysregulation reward for the typical type A push, push, push ethic for 20+ years of ridiculous vicissitudes and the daily tyranny of the urgent fire-drill; my cautionary tale for all you driven coffee achiever career climbers. It WILL break you one day! Plus, age does rudely announce itself one day. (That happened at level 59 for me and still coming to terms with it). So, do my best in the AM, crash nap, another round in afternoon, crash, another round, then dinner with Mrs. Another evening round of detail work and hope the Noseeum bugs are less prolific when I do get a burst of energy (It’s a coin toss lottery game that makes planning a fools errand - actually, planning is a fools errand in this volatile dystopia trajectory we are seeing these days - no bugs required - make the best of it I guess!) Damn. Guess what? now that the days are milder in the fall (sometimes), those little buggers fly all day! This is in the fictional town of Agrestic (Weeds series - Stevenson Ranch CA in real life). Other than that, cardio walks, diet, and supplement stacks!

On other fronts, the documentary “GuitarViol: The film composer’s secret weapon”. Screenings soon! Here is the iMDB page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37855430/plotsummary/?ref_=tt_ov_pl

For now, navigating the next chapter while getting some impeded strokes in on GV builds! Who knows? Maybe I’ll initiate a collective residency concept (Harmony Haven?) on some sort of coastal vineyard barn cottage barn complex for aging luthiers/artisans/engineers to mentor serious next gen. A compelling and inspiring haven for hands-on, engineering stunts, workshops, concerts, art, wine, culinary tie-ins, and ancillary products sounds a lot better than rest home trajectories for grumpy old luthiers. (Flip that on it’s head!) Some sort of situation that would attract a well curated admin team of experienced 30+ age executives, burned out from tech, who value something with meaning with built in lifestyle residency perks. Management and marketing types who could rally corporate partners, non profits, from the ground up! An energizing creative win-win-win scenario where curated next gen makers are nurtured by respected senior makers. Projects ranging from instrument making to 3-D printed cottages made of industrial Hemp. Social events, jams, and ancillary products and collaborations with universities, NAMM type organizations, other industry suppliers. It’s a rough concept spaghetti toss and if it gets traction? Who knows? The last time I came up with a silly idea? Yeah, a good 40 years of whittling and the last 25 bringing it from garage to silver screen! What’s next? If any of this sounds conversation worthy, reach out!

Also, sorry it’s been a minute here on Substack/socials. Navigating and Gathering me wits! As always, STAY INSPIRED!

For now, Im a gonna take a pass at laying some hemp into the mold and hope the Noseeum bugs are taking a break …

STAY INSPIRED!

Jonathan

For those of you been following me through the ridiculous vicissitudes, I appreciate your kindness patience and support! I won’t BS you; it has been rough! Brutal! It feels like I have spent the last 10 years and two commercial spaces climbing to the summit of an imploding mountain; all in vain! Tooled up in a commercial space ripe for employing staff and the bottom fell out of the bag.

The world looks a lot different than it did in 2019 and before. I’ve been blessed to have all the interest beyond what I could produce (to the point people were annoyed - I lost “want it now” business because of backlog volume and not having enough ready to fly off the rack! Ugh! That exacerbated a terrible operating gap!) and spent every waking hour every day toiling to level up. For what? All those extra evening hours and weekends making molds. Engineering the next thing! Then came California’s apparent contempt for the petty bourgeois (Micro business operators) in tandem with a worldwide super flu terror scam. It sucked the wind out of everything and it’s also heartbreaking to watch all the lives and businesses that were taken down with it! (in that regard I do not feel alone!) I don’t ever want to hear the words “ staff up“ “scale up production” ever again!! Yes I tried! Bad timing and it kicked my ass! (now I’m old) Almost killed me! (all because I was trying to make more people happy and things went sideways and south beyond my control). Here we are! Critics and trolls be damned! I’m just a small time maker that somehow was expected to perform a factory production level and harmed myself trying in the wrong decade! [Still at it! Just scaling back, eliminating backlog, and soon one of a kind “available” instruments!]

All of this brings us back to the question of WHY? Why did I do this in the first place? Why did I spend The last 40 years of my adult life obsessively chasing an obscure instrument nobody cared about until I came out with a new version of it and spent the last quarter century stressing over other peoples arbitrary deadlines? (Now, new upstarts with no skin in the game are emulating my life’s work) Why did I put my Family through all this? And what happened to that guy, a long time ago, who loved playing music and just wanted his ideal instrument to record and play live with? What happened to that guy? How the hell did he wind up 59 years old with the enthusiasm of and countenance of charred bacon?

It seems it took shuttering a hard earned shop space of the last five (turbulent) years put me into that situation where that question “WHY” is screaming loud! To answer that “Why”, it seems that I have been put into a shop space that resembles what I had back in 2002-2008 in terms of space. In a surreal book end of things, The very Ground Zero of making the first TogaMan GuitarViol, Cassels Music, announced it was closing its doors The same night I got all my equipment out of storage after Valencia. Yes, It is all surreal! Naturally, it became cause for reflection! Revisiting WHY. Revisiting the original model itself; that which caused the avalanche in the first place! Couple months back I shared a little bit about that Ground Zero at Cassells (read here).

Another main driver was that I’ve been working on the NEW pick up system that will benefit both The electric model, and as it turns out, The current 10x design acoustic model! (Actually, the future may see Cello, violin versions as well! Stay tuned!) One thing that would shock some people: I do NOT own any (current) GuitarViols of my own! Any that I have built over the years for myself? Yeah they got sold off! (Taking one for the team?) The downside with that is that if anybody ever did call me for a gig or session or even for a hands-on demo in the wrong day? Grind grind grind! Yeah that doesn’t go well. Truth is, I haven’t been making music for a very long time or gigging or doing sessions! It’s quite ironic that, once upon a time, you could not get a guitar out of my hands! I would play hours and hours a day! What happened to that guy? Anyway, as I am developing a new pick up system, I needed a test MULE in the shop. Then it dawned on me: that original 2002 GuitarViol had been sitting in mothballs unplayable, parts were poached, and I kept it around just as a conversation piece bound for the museum. Now I’m resurrecting it from mothballs and giving a new life (as a test MULE - not for sale) for the new pick up project. Sure I can test these pick ups on the acoustics as they leave. But I have to have an actual solid body to see how they behave in that situation! It’s as if I’m having a flashback to 2003 when I was initially collaborating with GRAPH TECH. Some history was made with those instruments! But by 2019, 2021 and beyond? Yeah that arrangement with GRAPH TECH did not age well and I had to start over!

What most people don’t understand is what makes these instruments sound good took a lot of engineering! Solid body instruments typically suck for bowed strings and the pick up systems are typically over-engineered (expensive) to make them sound good! One was even in the US patent. However I’ve had to start over again!! So I’ve been collaborating with a colleague in Colorado David Enke. Dave and I have been in touch over the years; even back in 2003. I was familiar with his Company “Pick up the world“ (now Open2Source) pickups. Though he’s off the radar he’s probably among the best out there and I’m honored to work with this kindred spirit! Anyway, this project has been complicated for the last few years (both ends). Since 2021 when it became painfully clear that my logistical arrangement of the last 20+ years was no longer viable. And actually I wanted to re-engineer this thing The whole time! The problem? I was too busy trying to keep a pandemic era shop afloat and fulfill dozens of orders! Too many hats! Too many fires to put out! It was so hard to have time for such deep work!! (No, the deer in the headlights public will never understand!! To them I’m just a curmudgeon who makes expensive hard to get instruments and can’t get his act together with a factory - I tried!). Anyway, all of this upheaval of 2025, The LA fires, preceded by five years of WTF world, seems to be the perfect opportunity to return to the “WHY”. And also electric models that have been taken off the market for a while (which the public took some umbrage to). The other reason I cut all the other models off the menu? Too many options too much confusion! The 10x design is the culmination of all of them and I wanted one particular repeatable model. Yes it’s fun to do a lot of custom stuff (but it’s not so cute when you have a few dozen orders a year that need to be repeatable!) having too many detail notes and too many files to keep was its own level of stress. And I wanted to give the public the best of my experience; not custom rainbows and unicorns.

Returning back to that 2002 model? Not exactly! Sure there might be a little bit of nostalgia. But the real driver is the research and development of a newer pick up system. The default of that is that I have had to go back to WHY. The context of that early model came out of frustration of another collaboration The dates back to 1991-1993. It was a beautiful instrument of those days but there were a lot of ergonomic issues I wanted to address in the new design. It had to feel right, fit in a gig bag, and not require a stand to play. It was ergonomics first, then figure out how to make it play and sound great! That was NOT easy! It’s not as simple as just putting curved bridge and electric guitar pick ups on it! No it took a complete deep dive into string motion combined with audio physics; something many of these emulator upstarts do not understand! And it was a humbling learning curve to say the least! But without that understanding? A solid body bowed instrument sounds like crap! The reason why am I over-engineered early models captured the imagination of the film and TV industry? Because they worked very well!!

Most historical bowed guitar inventor efforts up to that point were complete failures. There are many tomb stones on the road of bowed guitars and Arpeggiones! I’ve been at this long before the Internet connected research and resources!

Anyway, Why? There was a time when all I wanted was a guitar formatted viola for my typical improvisational Digital looping approach. The 2002 electric model was made just for that! (interestingly TYLER BATES would do just that unbeknownst!) The other inherent quality of a solid body was that it would not feed back on stage and could be put through lots of effects when called for. No this was not just some electric cello with frets! It was to play much like a guitar native would want it to! The ability to play familiar chords, scales, arpeggios that do not lend itself to those other instruments! It is an impossible instrument! (why many in the past have failed trying). In fact, when it was simply just an idea I was left to scorn 35-40 years ago!

It is safe to say that I have more than just skin in this game; it has indeed been my whole freaking life! (Which is why the present world of idiot California politicians foisting Marxist labor codes in tandem with a Pandemic (Psyop scam!) and its aftermath has been beyond frustrating!) When this thing took off (unexpectedly) many years ago? What a joy it was! For the first time in my life, I had something the world wanted and could sustain a modest career/livelihood to the point that I left my day job of the time (Cassells). When that success trajectory got dismantled by nefarious idiot state legislators and a pandemics over the last several years? Yeah it’s pretty demoralizing! But I’m still here and I’m still at it!

So dear friends, I am super grateful for all of your kindness and support! My biggest frustration is that I have gotten so spread thin to be able to simply pop out instruments (The way that I did in prior decades). There’s that nagging anxiety that I’m letting people down (which is not good as I’m attempting to recuperate!) I’m honored to be of service in the capacity that I can be! On a personal level, I have had to completely reset my work flow and expectations (still TBD). The shocking chronic stress I have experienced where the adrenal system is fried. Yep. So, I no longer have that thousand square-foot space in Valencia with lots of benches and projects going on at once in different stages. Instead, I work in a small space (from home) with the bare essentials and tooling fixtures I’ve made over the years. I no longer have the subterranean shop I had in Fillmore that was naturally cool in the summer (because it was a converted Packinghouse). I no longer have the 1085 ft.² Space with HVAC. I now navigate my summer shop hours to morning and the evenings. Noisy machines in the morning; quieter detail work in the evening. And I’m sure I’ll have to get used to the winter (heating the shop up is easier than cooling it). On the other hand, it’s a Return to love! A return to why! Hopefully the best quality that being older and having to wear readers will allow! (it’s a complete inner struggle being a perfectionist!) But, I do put my heart into this! (indeed my life). As much as practical life would have me pivot to something else? At this age, in this weird dystopian time, hard to get excited about!

There are some projects I look forward to including a third party collaboration with Steinway & sons. (matching two GVs with a Dubai clients piano). Yes I’m looking forward to pushing the pick up system forward and perhaps testing it in front of an unsuspecting bewildered public! Such fun I have not had since 2GV gigs in the 2000s. Who knows?

For now it is back to the beginning! Back to the WHY. What started this in the first place! In the meantime I have to basically stabilize the mess from the last five years (which can not be undone in 5 months - sorry folks!) . The aftermath of the pandemic, and strikes. I appreciate all the support some people have done on a Go Fund me that was launched by a friend early last year! We did NOT make the goal, however it was helpful for a while and I was able to get some stuff out! (Thanks all!) There’s also a lot of stuff in the backlog I have to get out in doing so in a smaller space, at a different workplace. That’s not popular for those waiting, I understand! Arbitrary deadlines are actually killers! Doing my best! Undoing five years of damage is not undone in five months!! Thank you for understanding!

I should mention: there is a documentary coming out soon! It’s called “GuitarViol; The film composer‘s secret weapon”. It features about a dozen LA composers in their own habitats (studios, on location), telling the story! 25 hours of footage boiled down to two hours. The movies all done it’s just getting all the last post production (Color correction and sound) finished. It’s in the hands of my cinematographer friend Terry Davis and Director Dale Turner Who have done an amazing job capturing it all! Will keep you posted on screenings! In some cases we may have a few of the composers as panelists! (hopefully I’ll have the old 2002 model * “La piña Dorada” on hand for such events!) stay tuned!

[* The golden pineapple - A metaphor allegory by my friend Dave Bricker. A golden pineapple invention is one which you swallow the seed of the golden pineapple. It grows! The problem is you don’t know how much gold is inside of it. It could be a lot; it could be a little (or none). The only way to find out is to pass it (turd). The question is: is it worth the pain in the a**? The Golden pineapple! Beware of the golden pineapple invention! You can put a lot into it and it May not pay off. ]

I share my life journal as the builder of hey specialized instrument, it’s background, and the often turbulent circumstances of producing it! Cautionary tales mixed with inspiring outcomes! I appreciate those who come along with me on this journey! The blood sweat and tears + victories! My hope is that you, dear reader, take these things for what they’re worth (or not) and hopefully create something in your own life! And if what I do is a good fit for Keynote speaking and inspiring young minds, do reach out! I hope also that in these turbulent times, these messages/rants/geek outs give you a sense that you are NOT alone!

It also brings me much joy and meaning to teach the craft! Over the years I have had protégés Who have gone on to do great things! If that seems like something you may be interested in, do you reach out! In recent times I may seem a bit unresponsivein the midst of my overwhelm and recuperation! I do like to hear from you though! It’s always good to hear a friendly voice! Sometimes great things come out of it!

As always, have an exceedingly awesome day and STAY inspired!

If you are a fan of my work and are in a position to upgrade to paid subscriber ranging from monthly coffee level or beyond, it all helps! Also reach out if there are any viable ideas or artist in residence proposals. God bless!

Jonathan

818-268-5602

Cassells Music

Where it all started!

Cassels was not your ordinary music store. It was a tiny giant among indies and the antithesis of the big chain stores. A genuine family music store in a small town of San Fernando CA. Millions or movie goers remember the “No Stairway” scene in the movie Wayne’s World. For generations of locals, it was where they got their start in music. Ritchie Valens was one of them. So many dots connected and paths crossed. The place has a very high level of nostalgia and meaning in my own life! It represents a decade of my own life/career that sustained my family, and quite literally where the TogaMan GuitarViol launched from in my off hours. Here’s my story, your mileage may vary….

Background: I wound up working in music stores in the early 90s. It was my way of escaping the horrible office cubicle farm water cooler scene. Initially I took a pay cut by leaving the cube farm and taking that first music store job at Big Valley Music in Northridge. Most certainly I was far happier applying my skills and passion in a setting that I could best serve the public with! Within a short period of time I had a lot of repairs and lesson work on the side. One of my guitar students introduced me to a pretty lady who would eventually become my wife (here we are 30 years later!) . At some point I worked at Sam Ash for almost two years. In fact I was part of their grand opening crew and the guitar department manager. Eventually I became Unhappy with the corporate culture hamster wheel of the chain stores and missed working for a smaller Indie. In 1999 they decided to change the computer system before the Y2K bug (right before Christmas - we weren’t too thrilled with a learning curve during the busiest part of the year!) One of the horn repair guys there told me that I should go talk to a guy name Ed Intagliata at Cassells in San Fernando. The breakfast meeting at Pancake Heaven went well and I put in my notice at Sam Ash. The rest is history!

After I worked my last day at Sam Ash, I took an uncharacteristic week off. I think it was early November 1999. Even walked into a Nissan dealer because we needed a second car. (I used to walk 2 miles down De Soto to work). I’ll never forget when filling out the application at the dealer “how long at present job?” “I start in a week“ Cassells music in San Fernando”. Amazingly, we drove off with a barely used 98 Nissan Sentra. When I did arrive for my first day at Cassells, Ed was shaking his head smiling. “customers are already asking for you!” “I guess the rumor got out!” Apparently my name was also circulating with manufacturers reps (which also probably helped me land the job without a résumé). Line 6 even called me at Cassells offered me a job as a road rep! Though I was tickled they were thinking of me, I was content to keep my new job and did not want be on the road doing dog and pony shows at dealers across the state with a family waiting at home. I was just happy for a new start at Cassells!

Here’s a peek at my first initiated project:

Besides doing some initial merchandise rearranging on the sales floor, The first project I took on was that of cleaning out an otherwise unused storage room and converting it into an acoustic guitar humidor show room. The Dry Santa Ana seasons of Southern California we’re not kind to the acoustic guitar merchandise and I applied some of the rough lessons from Sam Ash when their store humidity system was failing A couple of years prior. But I was also just rolling some paint on the walls and dolling up the lesson waiting room area as well. Ed wanted somebody to inject new creative energy the store and I was there to do it! Somewhere in January 2000, when the newly minted acoustic room was under construction, I recall getting a call from Taylor guitars. (They knew me from Sam Ash). “We found you! We heard you left Ash and started calling all the stores in the area! We see that you’re in a region that we’re not represented in, would you be interested in selling our guitars?” Yep. We became a Taylor dealer and We eventually held some workshops. Yes it was a monumental task moving all the fixtures and merchandise off the floor in order to fill it with rental chairs and make a little stage for the likes of Doyle Dykes and Artie Traum (RIP). Good times! Also a couple of other non-Taylor concert workshops featuring Bass virtuoso Michael Manring and another with myself opening for Jim Earp!

Bear in mind that this is when the Internet was just taking off and the era of the.com crash. Ed was early into the eBay thing. Digital cameras and dial up Internet. Imagine that! And boy was he moving (NOS) new old stock of hard to get still in packaging parts for classic 1970’s Japanese guitars! eBay was quite a boom in those days! I was really absorbing Ed’s Online skills as I was a relative newcomer to having a computer and the Internet in general. (Ed taught me stuff like CNTL C and CNTL V moves LOL). Actually, a couple years later I went to Borders and bought that “Complete idiots guide to HTML” book (Borders Books, remember them?) to launch TogaMan GuitarViols. In reality I was just trying to put up a site where I can send people the links rather than attempting to send photographs over the Internet. In those “dial-up” modem days, it was a thing! We would spend hours uploading photos. I had no idea that TogaMan GuitarViols would takeoff the way it did! Actually I thought it was going to be a happy side hustle: Play a few gigs, sell a few CDs. No big deal! Ironically I had sort of a home court advantage working in a music store! On the other hand it took off from a crummy cobbled together website in 2002. Little did I know where this thing would go!

Those days after 9/11 were something else! We were initially on a roll selling Taylor, Dean, and Cordoba guitars from that acoustic room. People were just so shocked and depressed from the events in New York. Selling a $3000 acoustic guitar just felt like such a soul-less thing in the context of that moment. On the other hand people needed music (for morale) more than ever! We were there to be of service! Whether it was that kid getting his first guitar, violin, trumpet or that panicked electric guitar Player on the way to a gig showing up at closing needing a quick solder to the output jack, we were there to make it happen! (It was also the era of toxic sub prime Home loans and Nokia phones).

When I say that countless people got their start at Cassells Music, it’s not a joke! Ed would often host school tours for pre-school to kindergarten age kids and anxious soccer moms. The store would become a cacophony of kids trying out instruments for the first time! (In those days I suffered migraines, that did not mix well!) However, I personally know locale professional game media composers Who once upon a time where those kids that Ed introduced Music to!! In fact I’ve had coffee and breakfast with some of those people many years later! The point is, he was creating lifelong customers! So many stories of musicians (now middle aged adults) who started their musical journey through Ed & Cassells! If that’s not enough, to this day, I have friends who are successful (famous) record producers who started their careers at Cassells as Music instructors. If that’s not enough, Ed introduced a program called “play it forward” which would essentially be donated (reconditioned) instruments that would to local families who wanted to put their kids in music but could not afford an instrument! Lots of success stories there!

The other unique feature of family life during the years I worked at Cassells? We lived in the tiny cottage on the lot behind the store! Each morning I would walk out the front door to another door a few feet away (with keys and morning coffee in hand!) Yep, Ed rented us the cottage! We were living on the cheap which allowed us to send our son Andrew to a local private school. At the end of the shift I would walk in the door “Dad, can you go get Foster‘s burgers tonight for dinner?” Life was hard (as in all I had to do was walk across the street from Cassells and get those delicious Fosters burgers and walk them over!) What a brutal commute! While we lived in that little cottage we fixed it up the best we could. (I restored crystal door knobs of a bygone era, art deco kitchen cabinet hinges, and even a mural in an otherwise drab back patio aka “the Bistro”. The tiny 1935 era garage was literally Where The first TogaMan GuitarViols we’re born! The very one you heard famously used in the movie 300 (Plus tons of others including John Wick) was made in that very setting! It was a humble existence Albeit a happy one! As demand for my instruments escalated, my career as an assistant manager of a legacy Music store eventually hit its age limit. I cannot thank Ed enough for those years! I will go as far as to say that the story that people know me for (the GuitarViol thing) May not have happened (at all) any other way! In a sense, mine is just another story in the tsunami of ripple effect impact that is Cassells Music!

Through the years after I left Cassells, there was a sense of comfort and home base level nostalgia in my heart for the place! It was a privilege to live through the impact of the Internet and the first decade of the 21st century there. So much has happened! So much has changed! Cassells is literally among the last of a real brick and mortar Family music stores to have outlived thousands of them that have come and gone. Even the greatest among them are no contest for the times we live in now. There is a chance that the new owners of the building and cottage on the lot will rent to somebody who will continue to operate as a music store. Hopefully that happens! In either case it is the actual end of an era and I was proud to be in the mix for most of that Y2K decade.

Wishing Ed all the best for his next chapter!

Further reading: An article by Semantha Norris from the San Fernando Sun

As always, Stay Inspired!

Jonathan

The following comes from Dale Turner, the director of

GuitarViol: The film composer’s secret weapon:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

To all GUITARVIOL enthusiasts! (*PLEASE SUBSCRIBE!*)

The DOCUMENTARY about Jonathan Eric Wilson's instrument ('GUITARVIOL The Film Composer’s Secret Weapon') will be "out," Summer 2025 (screening info is pending).

There's a NEW film-specific YouTube channel (avatar is temporary), which will eventually host a new trailer, as well as bonus footage, and who knows what else... so if you don't mind, could you PLEASE SUBSCRIBE? Thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/@GUITARVIOLDOCUMENTARY

Here's a BLURB (still being tweaked) w/quotes from the featured composers:

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GUITARVIOL The Film Composer’s Secret Weapon

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Follow alternative stringed instrument maker Jonathan Wilson on his GUITARVIOL’s path from a small garage to the big screen, a story told by Hollywood’s top film composers (Tyler Bates, Jeff Cardoni, Charlie Clouser, Nathan Matthew David, Fil Eisler, John Frizzell, Kevin Kiner, Gary Lionelli, Heitor Pereira, Brandon Roberts, and Loga Ramin Torkian), who’ve used the “TogaMan” (Wilson)’s bowable guitar/cello-like instrument as a “secret weapon” (in films ranging from 300, John Wick, and later SAW films, to Despicable Me, Puss in Boots, and Guardians of the Galaxy) for over two decades. Includes special appearance by renowned cellist Tina Guo. Culminates with the inimitable instrument maker/artist’s discovery of a “super wood.”

“It’s cool that the vision of Jonathan could find a place and prove itself—be it for movies, for video games, for advertisements… I think it’s an instrument that lends itself to all of it. I’m very proud that I’m one of the first ones to use it, and to have met Jonathan at such an early stage.”

– HEITOR PEREIRA (GuitarViol in Curious George, Despicable Me, Angry Birds, Puss in Boots)

“By the time I got to the end of the journey that was 300, this instrument had transcended into my life and my soul. I knew that forever it would be part of my vocabulary as a musician.”

– TYLER BATES (GuitarViol in 300, Watchmen, John Wick I-IV, Guardians of the Galaxy)

“The GuitarViol totally changed my compositional life. It’s taken me on an incredible journey to places I never thought I would go before.”

– KEVIN KINER (GuitarViol in Ahsoka, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, Dark Winds, Narcos)

“It was almost like love at first sight. [Jonathan] let me play his instrument, and within with the first note, I knew that I wanted to have one.”

– LOGA RAMIN TORKIAN (GuitarViol in Stillwater, Song of the North, Samir, Feathers of Fire)

“What I love about using the GuitarViol in a score is: When someone says, ‘What is that sound? Is that acoustic, or electronic?’ And I say, ‘Yes.’”

– JOHN FRIZZELL (GuitarViol in Legion, Texas Chainsaw, The Following, Whiteout)

“It’s the sound of something I’m very, very excited about and passionate about. It really opened up a whole new chapter with what I could do with film scores.”

– FIL EISLER (GuitarViol in Outer Banks, Empire, The Titan, Revenge)

“The GuitarViol is an inspiration machine for me. It’s how I start so many of the sounds that I’ll use in my projects.”

– NATHAN MATTHEW DAVID (GuitarViol in Underrated, The Brothers Sun, Joy Ride, Young Rock)

“It opens up a whole new world of expression and possibilities. It’s a never-ending source of inspiration.”

– GARY LIONELLI (GuitarViol in O.J.: Made in America, Last Days in Vietnam, The Soul of America, Taken Hostage)

“This has been a really valuable tool in my arsenal, to create these very personal, weird little sonic sculptures. I’m glad that it exists, and I’m glad that it’s in constant and current production, because it would be a shame to have to go without it.”

– CHARLIE CLOUSER (GuitarViol in SAW: Jigsaw/Spiral/X, Wayward Pines, Childhood’s End)

“I completely see, especially at this point, the GuitarViol’s caught on so much, that it is its own instrument. It is not a ‘bowed guitar,’ and it is not a ‘small cello that’s tuned like a guitar.’ It’s its own thing.”

– BRANDON ROBERTS (GuitarViol in The Twilight Zone, Free Solo, Chaos Walking, Underwater)

“We all owe [Jonathan] a debt of gratitude for inventing this thing that’s really changed the way we think about getting a sound from in our head to out into the world.”

– JEFF CARDONI (GuitarViol in The Kominsky Method, White House Plumbers, Furlough, CSI: Miami)

Coming SUMMER 2025

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An entertaining mix of Historical, Educational, Compositional, and Inspirational...

A SUPER deep dive--for the 430+ GuitarViol players out there, fans of these 11 film composers, media composers (who are also instrumentalists), eclectic guitarists, instrument builders, and fans of uncommon instruments (in general).

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Back to the shop for now!

Stay inspired!

Jonathan