20 years…
It is not clear when TogaMan GuitarViol officially began. In the days/months following 9/11, I was rendering foam and cardboard mock ups of what would later become the TogaMan GuitarViol; triggered by my frustration with an earlier 1990s “Arpeggione” effort. (Overall, this story really goes back 30 to 40 years). In the spring and summer of 2002, I was carving away at that first one. (It was meant for my own use!). The body was sitting in Pat Wilkins paint shop that summer and my father passed away that same August. (I guess the TogaMan project was therapy of sorts?). Somewhere between then and October, I was assembling and tuning up The first one. In late October, [Thu, 31 Oct 2002 06:20:20 -0800 (PST) to be precise], I received an email from a Sky dive/calculus instructor named Doug in Virginia who was aware of my early 90’s Arpeggione. He was wondering if I made any (Arpeggiones) for sale. That was a key moment! (But I had no website, yet. Ever try sending pictures over dial-up?) A trip to Borders books and a copy of “The complete idiots guide to HTML” lead to launching a crude website. Later that November, Doug sent a deposit for the first TogaMan Commission! I wondered what the hell I just got myself into!! There was no real shop and I was starting from scratch! Literally a chunk of alder, a bastard file, blistered hands, and a dream!
Then, right before new years [Mon 12/30/2002 3:41 PM to be precise], I received another email from the new website! It was Loga Torkian Who apparently did a Google search for “bowed guitars” and found me! It turned out he was in LA and came to visit me and try the new prototype! He would come by on Wednesdays and work out on the instrument while I was building his. To say it went well is an understatement! he showed up at sessions and that triggered more inquiries. (All were incensed that I did not have a ready fleet and there was a growing queue and wait!) Simply put, I was so unprepared for “want it yesterday” “deadline obsessed” Hollywood demand! (Neither developed nor ready for prime time! Build, build, build! From scratch! Time for slick ramping up be damned!) Within a couple years, Loga’s friend Tyler Bates would further kick the hornets nest of demand through his use of the GuitarViol in the movie 300. My overwhelm, imposter syndrome, and anxiety were amplified! (First world problems, I know….)
To celebrate this 20 year TogaMan milestone, there are a few things happening! The 10x model is going into Ferrari like limited production after strenuous development over the last several years. Even the equipment goes through constant research and improvement! Such as that of either throw away vacuum mold membranes, precise but limited cycle silicone, or something better. Tooling time-outs come at the worst possible times but sometimes bring out the best work! Pan back to 2016 and the ViolGlide fingerboard after some learning the hard way; doing it trial by fire and on the fly! New skills and applying the tech to instrument making! [This week, I am engineering an upgrade to (main hull) vacuum mold membranes for quicker set up and less waste than industry standard throw away with ridiculous set up times, or make new fast use silicone every so many months at great expense. A long term fix and, according to colleagues, if I pull it off, will not go unnoticed in the composites industry. Getting pissed off a a problem is the first step to innovation that often hits a pain point; opportunities for improvement at the most inconvenient plan foiling moments UGH!]. It’s a literal shoot out between a presto vac (rigid mold backing under vacuum) or non stick high stretch urethane on a rugged sealed frame.
In other news….
[*I am also pondering a 20th anniversary Limited edition run 10x. Stay tuned!]
And….. I have teamed up with my TV cameramen friend Terry Davis and GuitarViol enthusiast Dale Turner (Who had a long run at Guitar World magazine as a columnist and instructor at Musicians Institute). We are now working on a documentary (docu-series? TBD for now…) telling the story of the instrument and the people who made careers out of them. We are starting with the early adopters of the Y2K era and cut our first episode featuring Kevin Kiner the other day. We will circle over to Loga Torkian, and eventually Tyler Bates and the others. The depth and breadth of the TogaMan’s use in cinematic television media soundtracks is a massive daily growing body of work! No joke! I thank the (roughly 400) people (mostly media composers around the world) who have invested in one of the most difficult to build, arcane, and misunderstood Instruments of all time!
Overwhelmed and underestimated. Grateful. Amazed that all of this actually happened and I am still here! (No soft landing in sight LOL) Thank all of you for your continued support! I look forward to The next generation of TogaMan (crafted by high level technicians as if they were Ferraris) and hopefully building a sunset career telling the story through multimedia.
And yes, I just renewed my three-year lease option in Valencia California! I am amazed that Three years have passed by since (Nov 1, 2019) the Fillmore shop! Once again I stand dazed at the edge wondering what I just agreed to? (Like that moment in 2002 when I took a deposit with an operation consisting of a tiny closet office and tiny garage with a small handful of tools. A leap of faith!)
Stay tuned for the upcoming meet-ups! [Eying November 19 before the Thanksgiving Holiday - stay tuned] In the meantime, I’ll be immersed in the shop solving some (unexpected) longer run composite tech snafu issues (This week upgrading vacuum mold membranes to faster set-up and longer life cycles). To those who are waiting a ridiculously long time on builds: These are the unknown ETA variables I have been fighting through for years! The elusive goal being consistent repeatability with some semblance of production predictability absent the variables that come with climates and woods throwing things off. The last 7 years have consisted of juggling massive (wooden) build queue cycles (by hand!) while juggling/implementing/pivoting to the new “invention in progress” tooling/processes and working the bugs out of that! (Not as simple as hitting the print button when standard issue processes don’t cut it). The irony is that solving problems begets new ones! (2022 conditions, Ugh!) It is crazy to think that I have been buried in wooden GuitarViol sawdust for years and am now in the composites business! (It is beginning to look like a tiny Ferrari factory!) Of course, this has been a massive effort (grossly underfunded from the bootstraps up, over time) to make otherwise factory production resistant instruments (with 200 years of prior failure) repeatable with precision! It is going well though there are thorns involved when blazing these new trails! This 10x is a pivot with a steep learning curve (far more time than I expected, though with a lot of new skills!) and the models coming together are awesome! Thanks for hanging in there! (I am on it!). :) Thank you for being a part of this massive adventure!
Reach out for an encounter at the Valencia CA space! In the mean time, out the door this goes!
Jonathan
818-268-5602 text/facetime/call
Have an exceedingly awesome day and stay inspired!
J
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*Note: this is abridged to article form. Stay tuned for later amplified versions for my documentary/book!