Rare "Mariposa" TogaMan GuitarViol for sale!
And other miscellaneous fun from the past!
Hey folks! Last installment I spoke of the first 20 years of TogaMan GuitarViols! The celebration continues! Speaking of anniversaries, we moved into the Valencia shop on November 1st 2019. (What a three years it has been!) And, 2023 will be the bicentennial of Stauffer’s Arpeggione. (The GuitarViol is my 21st century version).
I have a special one of a kind example of a type I no longer build! It is an ElectroCoustic with a 1500’s festoon style body (like the TogaMan in the TogaMan painting). It has a 1800’s Stauffer style neck with one of my 2022 ViolGlide fingerboards. The top is hand carved spruce with a Monarch Butterfly inlay (rare because I don’t tend to do inlays). The body was made somewhere between 2009-2010? It was something I was amusing myself with and perhaps intended for an exhibition piece. As things go, in the tyranny of the monthly urgent, it sat on the shelf for years!
October was a rough month! A death in the family, then I had to do some unavoidable equipment renovation/improvement. (UGH!) No waffle iron, no waffles! We shipped a few (fabricated ones) last month but, the next ones to the mold were being held up until the next vacuum rig is made. (These things happen at the most inopportune moments!) Earlier this year I had to make a new fingerboard mold after the last one gave us 160+ instruments since 2016 (it had a good run). Those inconvenient things can eat up a week or two, which can span a month depending on how fast the materials arrive). Anyway, to make up the October free-fall gap, I’ll be setting up this mostly built (years ago!) “Mariposa” and putting it on the market! It will feature a dual (mono/splitable with Y cable TRS) Open to Source pickup. The top is hand carved and, out of 100 (or so) Electros built, this has a very responsive top! $7777.77 and it would ship within a couple of weeks. Reach out if you are a TogaMan fan who wants a RARE piece that keeps TogaMan rolling! (No, I won’t be building these particular types anymore - this is it!). Reach out with “Mariposa” in the headline or text 818-268-5602 M-F 10-4 California time. iPhone facetime also.
Here’s a walk around the shop as Scot Zoid plays a live soundtrack on a 10x (unplugged)
Flashback! Pre 9/11 days in 2001. Okay, there may be a few history moments that will be featured in the upcoming GuitarViol documentary. (We covered episode with Kevin Kiner last month). Terry Davis (videographer) is digging through old boxes and transferring old footage from tapes to digital (before it’s too late). This snippet was from an iphone (bootleg style) during transfer monitor play; it is what it is. Stay tuned for the documentary (probably a year out). This soundcheck scene was from a concert workshop at Cassells Music with Jim Earp headlining.
PS, that old 1993 prototype does not exist anymore (though I played it throughout the 90’s). It is a complicated story (for another day) and it lead to me creating the first TogaMan prototype in 2002! The last “gig” I remember doing with it (2001 pre-9/11) was at the Crooked Bar (what used to be downstairs at the Coconut Teaser) on Sunset in Hollywood. What a fun little venue that was! I do have a cassette recording DI to the board (you won’t hear the audience) “The Stars also”. I was doing one of my typical looping performances of the day (for those interested). Then 9/11 and the following year patterning out the next 20 years! ;)
And, yes, for those in the greater LA area (Valencia near Magic Mountain off the 5), we are doing another meet-up/potluck/with some GV Jams. Look forward to clearing off a couple benches and seeing you! RSVP 818-268-5602 text
Stay tuned!
Jonathan
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*Note: this is abridged to article form. Stay tuned for later amplified versions for my documentary/book!
© 2022 Jonathan Eric Wilson, GuitarViols inc
Work in progress…
