Townsend began studying violin making under the tutelage of Ziang Mei then continued learning techniques from William Hilton (a student of Vhakn Nigogosian), and Alberti Genduso (who has studied with the German masters Horst Kloss and Karl Roy, director of the Bavarian State School of Violin Making in Mittenwald, Germany). In 2005 he introduced a wood treatment system to increase sonority and harmonics in instrument making. This system, Il Cremonese Violin Treatments, matched the ground used by Antonio Stradivari on which to apply varnish and protect wood. One of his instruments was featured in The Smithsonian Institution's Heart & Hands exhibition about musical instruments and their makers. He donates 50% of his instrument sales to charity.