Shaman
Assymetric and proud of it, The Shaman rocks the house.
Guitar/Bass: offset body, either single cutaway or double.
Inspired by the “asymmetrical rocker” vibe of the 80’s, I wanted to nod my bald head to my long-haired roots with something that was bold and sassy, love (maybe some lust) at first sight, AND an easy-sell when you bring it home to meet your parents. The shaman is my response to what I consider to be one of the finest designs of the Spandex era, the grand bird of the L.A. herd. No mocking intended.
Guitar? Double hum-bucker. Change my mind.
Bass? Well, that’s different. We’re rationalizing here, but that’s okay. Whereas the shaman bass has been the go-to design for my 8- and 12-string basses, it sure does look cool with two J blades, but the sky’s the limit design-wise here.
Druid
Organic and balanced, The Druid always adapts to their environment.
Guitar/Bass: Symmetrical bouts, offset horns, double cutaway
Inspired by some of the more classic designs of the 60’s, The Druid began as the first PHI 12-string shape (can’t imagine why), and now has many 6-string counterparts.
Originally, I thought of this is as a power twanger and focused on ‘Tron style pickups for this design. Since the most recent Druid has 24 frets, a Floyd Rose, and a humbucker in the bridge, I’ve since decided the Druid design is a “homebase” guitar shape to offer customers.
Paladin
Equally healers, protectors, and warriors, the Paladin is bold in all roles.
Bass: Symmetrical bouts, extreme offset horns, double cutaway
Banner-bearer of low frequencies, the Paladin design is what I consider the first Possum Hall “shape/design”.
As a beginning luthier, my first 10 instrument builds were all learners, one-off’s, or prototypes.
#11 and #12 were different: they were my first time making two nearly identical instruments at the same time, only using different woods. The drawing, milling, building, and assembly the first Paladin basses occurred at the beginning of 2020, and are considered to be the launch moment of Possum Hall Instruments. These tanks got me through that boss fight and onto the next quest.
Illusionist
The Illusionist embraces balance
Bass: symmetrical bouts, offset slender horns, double cutaway
A little bit traditional, a little bit mystical, this form is flexible in character, depending on how it’s dressed and for what occasion. Symmetric bouts, tight horns, balanced and clean. A wide variety of pickup configurations would be appropriate to pair with this form.
Our first 12 string bass will be an Illusionist!
In progress now
Picossum
Cubism with strings.
Bass: Exploring negative space and a nod to Cubism
Hats off to Pablo for the inspiration on this one. Happy accidents are the source of some great art, and when a router bit tore out a huge corner of the body blank, I simply reframed the situation and labeled it “negative space”. After cleaning up the tear-out, I continued the exploration of negative space, resulting in this elegantly balanced form. Spanish cedar body, purple heart neck and fingerboard, action smooth as silk.
