Verso Sine Review

Verso demo

Over the course of electric guitar history, there have been many experimental builds. Some have been successful and changed the path of guitar design, while others have come and gone, surfing the seas of change. The Verso Sine, though, lives in a third, less common category—an artistic realm populated by names like Wandre and Manzer, where visionary builders rule the roost.

Since launching Verso a handful of years ago, Germany-based builder Robin Stummvoll has caught the attention of intrepid design fans with his minimal, sheet-metal-bodied Cosmo guitar, Orbit baritone, and Gravis bass. His distinctive style is based on future-leaning aesthetics that also draw on the early history of electric guitar design—specifically Rickenbacker’s sheet-metal lap steels—as well as mid-century furniture and architecture.

With the Sine, Verso pushes further ahead. Aesthetically, this model would sit nicely in the design wing of a modern art museum, maybe across the hall from an Eero Saarinen exhibit. That alone is cause for excitement. But the Sine, described by Stummvoll as an “expressive guitar,” offers a playing experience unlike any other guitar I’ve laid my hands on. And that is the real experiment at the heart of this fantastic instrument.