Bold guitarists looking to push boundaries can go down the digital processing rabbit hole, but Verso's latest oddball build takes a more mechanical approach to shaping tones. The Sine guitar rocks movable pickups and a novel metal pad for swells and tremolo plus pedal control and expression.
Yes, it looks very different from familiar models like Fender's Stratocaster, the Les Paul from Gibson, or even wilder designs from the likes of Kiesel or Harmony. So let's start on familiar ground before heading into the bizarre valley.
The Sine guitar features an ash body tastefully finished in linseed paint or a natural oil sealer. The 25.6-inch scale C-shaped neck is glued to the body and is available in ash, maple, cherry, oak or walnut. It can be had with either a 16-inch radius or 9.5 to 16-inch compound radius, and sports 22 jumbo nickel frets.
There's a solid brass bridge and locking tuners, and both six- and seven-string variants are available. Master volume and tone/blend knobs are included – in wood rather than metal or plastic – but are located on the front edge of the upper body rather than on the lower front as you might expect. The instrument jack output is positioned around back, together with a mono/stereo selector switch and pickup inputs.
As you may have guessed, "normal" or "familiar" are now starting to take a holiday. Verso makes different pickup flavors by hand – three single-coil types and three humbuckers plus a new hybrid that combines a single-coil with a piezo. The Sine can be purchased with just one pickup or up to six.
Each pickup is connected to the guitar's wiring via a SMB connector, and is popped on the Pad (more on that later) via magnets. This means that not only can the player choose to use different pickup combinations, but the position between bridge and neck is also fluid.
If you like more treble, move one closer to the bridge. Nudging up to the neck will get you a bassier tone. Or anywhere in between is fine and dandy. You can even place one so that it only picks up one, two, three or more strings. And stereo output is supported so each pickup could be routed to a different amp or interface.
We've seen modular pickups before of course – from the now defunct Relish, for example, or the carousel flavor from Wild Customs – but the tonal versatility of the Verso system is next level.
And there's more. The Sine Pad is a powder-coated metal sheet that's bolted to the rear of the body and then bends over top to essentially float above. It's actually inspired by Verso's Cosmo guitar, which boasts a sheet metal body that "functions like a tensioned spring." By pushing the lower edge of the Pad, the Sine player moves the pickups away from the strings and lowers output volume – in essence offering something akin to a tremolo effect or a volume swell.
Though the wiring and sound so far are passive, Verso has also teamed up with Lehle for an active expression module. This uses a magnetic hall sensor to gauge the distance from the body to the Sine Pad, and generates a control signal based on this measurement for expression, CV and USB MIDI control. This means that pressing the Sine Pad could shift parameters on connected pedals, shape sounds on a hardware synth, power gear on or off, and change settings in music production software.
As you can see and hear in the video below, the Sine guitar is an extremely versatile instrument. Its looks might not have mass-market appeal, but that's not the point here. Each of these guitars will be built to order and are priced accordingly. If you can do without the Lehle expression module, your left- or right-handed six-string Sine could start at €2,970 (about US$3,060).
The module can be optioned in for an further €220, and the online configurator offers numerous extras like custom color combos, more adventurous neck woods, different pickup choices and more – all of which will keep the build price moving upward. Players are asked to put down a deposit of €500/US$500 to mark their spot in the build queue.
Product page: Verso Sine