Rising Stars: Meet Jonathan Wilson of Stevenson Ranch

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 late ’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/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/togaman_guitarviols/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088683188905
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-wilson-0b296a3/
• Twitter: @TogaManGViols
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TogaManGuitarViols