Verso

Verso is the instrument workshop of Robin Stummvoll, an industrial designer and luthier working in Kassel, Germany. The name means the back of the paper, and describes instruments made to inspire players who want to create something new: each one is built by hand, piece by piece.

The electric guitars and basses — Cosmo, Orbit baritone, Gravis bass, Sine and Log lap steel — use bent sheet-metal bodies with magnetic pickups that stick to the steel and can be moved freely, so a single pickup covers neck, middle and bridge positions. Stummvoll mixes CNC milling with traditional handwork and shellac, copal and oil finishes, keeping almost all individual parts in-house so local instrument making stays competitive against mass production.