Gear Timeline
In 2022, Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes had a pile of plug-in tones for the Animals as Leaders album Parrhesia that they were happy with. Then they reamped some tracks through real tube amplifiers, “just for shits and giggles.” The result: “particularly in the low-mids and the lower frequencies there was just a different character to a mic on a loud cab.” Real amps won. The modelers that had been the foundation of their signal chain for over a decade were supplemented — and in some cases replaced — by actual tubes in an actual room. This is the story of a guitarist who has been at the absolute frontier of modern guitar technology — who was using the Fractal Axe-FX II when it was new, who founded his own guitar company based on ergonomic extended-range design principles, who has a signature Neural DSP plugin — deciding that, at the end of all that technology, the low-mids of a mic on a loud cab are something digital hasn’t yet fully captured.
Oluwatosin Ayoyinka Olumide Abasi was born on January 7, 1983, in Washington D.C., to Nigerian immigrants. He is the founder and lead guitarist of Animals as Leaders — the instrumental progressive metal band that, since its 2009 debut, has been one of the most technically and compositionally sophisticated groups in the genre. His playing style synthesizes extended-range technique (seven- and eight-string guitars with fanned frets), classical-influenced fingerpicking, djent-derived polyrhythmic precision, jazz harmonic sophistication, and a specific percussive “thumping” technique derived from bass guitar that gives Animals as Leaders’ music its specific rhythmic texture. He has founded Abasi Concepts, one of the most successful independent guitar companies in the extended-range market. He has a signature Neural DSP plugin. He is, in the assessment of his peers and of the extended-range guitar community, one of the primary architects of what modern technical guitar playing has become.
His influences — Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Greg Howe, Allan Holdsworth, Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher — span technical shred, jazz fusion, and electronic music in a way that reflects his genuine intellectual curiosity about music as a form beyond genre. He studied jazz and classical guitar briefly at the Atlanta Institute of Music after leaving the technical metalcore band Reflux. He enrolled in the Institute specifically because he wasn’t ready to make a solo record when Prosthetic Records first offered him one. He graduated, contacted Prosthetic, and asked if the offer still held. It did. Animals as Leaders was the result. The rest is one of the more remarkable origin stories in modern progressive metal.
Background: From Washington D.C. to the Frontier of Extended-Range Guitar
Abasi’s path to guitar began at around age twelve, with a friend’s guitar at a friend’s house, strumming and improvising basic licks. His father was encouraging; his mother initially held the more traditional immigrant parent’s skepticism about music as a career (“the conventional channels being way more important than a creative endeavor”). He began learning from VHS tutorial tapes from the local music store — instructional videos by the hair metal guitarists of the 1980s and 1990s, which he has described with characteristic humor as “videos you did not want to be caught watching.” From these beginnings, he developed through the Silver Spring, Maryland metal scene, through the technical metalcore band Reflux, and into the Atlanta Institute of Music period that gave him the jazz and classical theory foundation that his earlier self-education had not provided.
The decision to leave Reflux when the band dissolved — rather than immediately pursuing a solo career — demonstrates the self-awareness that has characterized his professional development. He recognized, specifically, that he wasn’t ready. He went to school. He learned. He came back. And the music he made when he returned — the Animals as Leaders debut, recorded with Misha Mansoor (of Periphery) producing and programming drums — was something genuinely new in progressive metal: instrumental guitar music of extraordinary technical complexity that also had emotional depth, compositional intelligence, and a specific aesthetic that was distinct from both the djent scene it emerged from and the neo-classical shred tradition it drew from.
Animals as Leaders’ five studio albums — the self-titled debut (2009), Weightless (2011), The Joy of Motion (2014), The Madness of Many (2016), and Parrhesia (2022) — each represent a specific evolution in the band’s approach. The Joy of Motion reached number 23 on the Billboard Top 200 — a remarkable commercial achievement for instrumental progressive metal. The Madness of Many demonstrated compositional maturity across a diverse range of sounds and approaches within the extended-range vocabulary. Parrhesia, with its return to real tube amplifiers alongside the long-established digital modeling, marked a specific sonic evolution.
His guitar company, Abasi Concepts (originally Abasi Guitars, founded 2019), is part of a broader commitment to the craft of guitar design that goes beyond endorsement. He has worked through multiple manufacturing partnerships — starting with Frank Falbo before a public fallout, then moving to World Musical Instrument Co. Ltd (Legion Series), Dyna Gakki (JLarada Series), and Grover Jackson Engineering (Master, Spartan, and Space Telecaster series). The company’s success — most models consistently sold out — and the fact that Ibanez subsequently launched an ergonomic series that fans immediately identified as similar to Abasi Concepts designs (“At this point, we’re even being emulated by other companies,” Abasi said with characteristic dry humor) demonstrates the genuine market impact of his design work. The design principles — ergonomic body contouring, fanned frets, weight optimization, integrated pickup systems specifically voiced for extended-range instruments — represent a genuine contribution to guitar design thinking that goes beyond the “signature model with the player’s name on the headstock” category of most artist-brand relationships.
His T.R.A.M. project (consisting of himself, Javier Reyes, Suicidal Tendencies bassist Tim Commerford, and drummer Navene Koperweis) and his Generation Axe appearances alongside Steve Vai’s touring supergroup extended his performance context beyond Animals as Leaders and demonstrated his ability to adapt to different musical environments without compromising his specific technical voice. The Generation Axe collaboration specifically placed him alongside Vai — one of his explicitly cited primary influences — in a context where both were peers rather than one being the student of the other’s influence. That kind of generational transition, from influence to peer, is one of the measures of a guitarist who has developed something genuinely his own from the tradition they absorbed.
The Rig: Tosin Abasi’s Guitars, Amps, and Effects
Guitars
The Abasi Concepts Larada Master Series is Tosin Abasi’s current primary instrument — a fanned-fret (multiscale) eight-string guitar designed to his specific ergonomic and tonal requirements. “Multiscale” or “fanned fret” means the frets are not parallel but rather fanned across the fretboard at varying angles, with a longer scale length on the lower strings (where longer scale benefits from the extra tension for proper intonation and articulation) and shorter scale on the upper strings (where shorter scale allows easier bending and vibrato). On an eight-string guitar with a standard straight-fret design, the low strings are under-tensioned relative to what they need for proper playability and intonation; the fanned-fret design solves this by giving each string the scale length it specifically needs.
The Larada Master Series features Abasi’s signature Fishman Fluence pickups — Fishman’s multi-voicing active pickup system that can switch between different tonal characters (vintage passive character and modern high-output character) within a single pickup housing. The active electronics maintain consistent output and frequency response across the full extended range, which is critical for an eight-string instrument where the lowest string’s frequency content must be transmitted accurately through the amplification chain without muddiness or loss of definition. Fishman Fluence’s specific engineering of the low-end response suits the requirements of the extended-range context.
The ergonomic design principles of the Larada — contoured body, specific neck joint, careful attention to balance and weight distribution — reflect years of Abasi’s experience playing extended-range guitars at performance intensity. A guitar that weighs too much, or that distributes its weight incorrectly, becomes physically punishing after hours of aggressive extended-range playing. The Larada’s design specifically addresses these concerns.
Before founding Abasi Concepts, Tosin Abasi had a long-running signature guitar relationship with Ibanez — the TAM10 (a standard fixed-bridge eight-string) and the TAM100 (which included a tremolo system). These guitars featured DiMarzio Ionizer pickups in the bridge and Ionizer 8 in the neck, specifically designed for extended-range guitar’s frequency requirements. The 2013 Premier Guitar Rig Rundown documents him using “a prototype of his Ibanez signature model with DiMarzio Ionizers” — a wenge/bubinga neck with coil-tapping capability. Earlier Ibanez models used in his career included the standard RG2228 eight-string before the signature series.
For The Joy of Motion (2014) and subsequent work, Abasi used a custom eight-string built by luthier Rick Toone — the “Blur” — which featured an aluminum neck, fanned frets, Tortex fretboard, and Lace Alumitone and Bareknuckle Nailbomb pickups. The guitar had two additional lower frets for the two lower strings (extending the range even further), and was tuned standard through six strings with the seventh tuned to A and the eighth to C#. The aluminum neck’s specific mass and resonance characteristics gave the Blur a different tonal character from conventional maple or mahogany necks, and its unusual construction made it one of the more distinctive custom instruments in modern progressive metal.
Before the Ibanez signature period, Abasi also played .strandberg* guitars — the Swedish extended-range headless guitar brand known for its ergonomic design and multiscale fretboards. The .strandberg* connection is historically significant: the ergonomic, headless, multiscale design philosophy that Abasi subsequently developed in Abasi Concepts draws from similar design thinking to the Swedish brand’s approach, though developed independently toward different aesthetic and technical outcomes.
For the acoustic and nylon-string passages in Animals as Leaders’ live set — specific tracks that require the warm, classical guitar character unavailable from his electric instruments — Abasi uses a Godin Multiac Nylon-string guitar. The Godin Multiac’s integrated pickup system and its specific nylon-string acoustic character provide the tonal contrast that makes specific Animals as Leaders songs work — the sudden shift from aggressive eight-string extended-range metal to intimate nylon-string fingerpicking is one of the band’s most effective compositional devices.
Both Abasi and bandmate Javier Reyes tune their eight-strings in standard tuning but drop the low string to E, using DR strings in .009-.074 gauge. The specific challenge of eight-string string gauges: the high strings need to be light enough for the upper-register playing and bending that appears in Animals as Leaders solos and lead lines, while the low strings need to be heavy enough for proper tension and clarity at the extended low-range pitches. The .009-.074 range provides a practical balance, with the heavy low string maintaining proper tension for clean articulation in the low register.
Abasi uses Planet Waves Black Ice picks — a .55mm thin pick “a little bit bigger than a Jazz III and a lot thinner” that Misha Mansoor gave him and that he quickly adopted as his primary pick. The thin pick’s specific attack character — softer leading edge, more flexible — produces a different articulation quality from the harder, stiffer picks that many metal guitarists prefer. For Abasi’s hybrid picking approach (combining flatpick attack with finger-plucked notes), a thin, flexible pick provides the right balance between defined attack and comfortable flexibility during extended hybrid passages.
Amps
For most of the 2010s, the Fractal Audio Axe-FX II was central to Abasi’s signal chain. The 2013 Premier Guitar Rig Rundown documented: “Both Tosin and Javier use similar setups of a Fractal Audio Axe-FX II into a Mytek Digital/Analog converter, into a Port City Pearl head to a Port City 2×12 ported cabinet.” The Port City Pearl head was used as a power amplifier — the Axe-FX handling all preamp, modeled amp character, and effects processing, with the Pearl providing only power amplification to the speaker cabinet. This approach — digital modeling providing the tonal character, with a clean power amp and real speaker cabinet reproducing it — gave them the convenience and consistency of digital modeling combined with the specific quality of acoustic speaker interaction in a real cabinet.
Abasi’s Axe-FX II model selection in the 2013 rig: the Shiver model for his clean tone; Cameron and Friedman BE for his slap/thumping tone; Friedman BE and Dizzy VH4 for rhythm; Friedman BE and Plexi for his lead. This combination of British and American amp characters, blended for different roles in the Animals as Leaders music, reflects the compositional approach to tone that treats amplifier character as an orchestrational choice — different amp voicings for different musical functions, all available via MIDI preset recall.
The Fractal Axe-FX III remains in Abasi’s signal chain, but in a more limited role for Parrhesia: as a glorified delay/reverb unit for his nylon string — a $2,000+ effects processor used primarily for its delay and pitch-shifting capabilities on the Godin nylon-string passages. The transition from the Axe-FX II as the primary amp modeling source to real tube amplifiers for Parrhesia represents a specific sonic decision based on the specific qualities of the low-mid range in tube amplification.
For the Parrhesia recording sessions, Abasi and Reyes reamped tracks through real tube amplifiers after completing a mix with plug-in tones. The decision to use real amps was based on the specific observation that in the low-mids and lower frequencies, real tube amps delivered “just a different character to a mic on a loud cab.” The specific amplifiers used for Parrhesia are not definitively documented in the available research, but the principle — tube amplifiers for their specific low-mid character — represents a development from the decade of primarily digital operation. The Synergy SYN5050 power amplifier appears in Abasi’s rack, providing a high-quality tube power amp section for driving speaker cabinets.
The Port City Pearl head, used as a pure power amplifier in conjunction with the Fractal Axe-FX II preamp modeling, provided the specific tube power section character that Abasi preferred. Running the Pearl as a power amp — with the Axe-FX handling all preamp duties — gave the digital system some of the real tube character in the power stage that the Axe-FX’s own internal power amp modeling approximates but doesn’t fully replicate.
Effects
Abasi’s pedalboard has evolved considerably across his career, moving between a compact Fractal AX-8 plus Line 6 Helix approach for some touring, and a comprehensive analog pedalboard that was professionally rebuilt by Mason “The Rig Doctor” at Vertex Effects.
For specific touring configurations, Abasi has used a Fractal AX-8 (the floor-based Axe-FX variant) in combination with a Line 6 Helix for comprehensive digital effects management. This combination gives him the full tonal palette of both units — the AX-8’s specific Fractal amp modeling with the Helix’s extensive effects library — in a floor-based format that eliminates the need for a large rack system.
Abasi’s main pedalboard was rebuilt by Vertex Effects’ Mason “The Rig Doctor” and contains: TC Electronic PolyTune 2 BlackLight (tuner), ISP Technologies Decimator II (noise gate), Bogner Harlow (clean boost/preamp), Strymon TimeLine (delay), Strymon BigSky (reverb), Empress ParaEQ (parametric EQ), KHDK No. 2 Clean Boost, two Friedman BE-ODs (overdrive/distortion), Carl Martin Plexitone (overdrive), Bogner Ecstasy (overdrive), Horizon Devices Precision Drive, and a Boomerang III Phrase Sampler (looper). All switching managed by a Carl Martin Octa-Switch MKII. This comprehensive analog board represents a significant shift from the all-digital Axe-FX approach — the real pedals providing their specific analog circuit character alongside the digital reverb and delay of the Strymon units.
Abasi collaborated with Neural DSP on the Archetype: Abasi — a software plugin that models his complete signal chain, including amp models specifically voiced for his extended-range playing requirements. The Neural DSP plugin represents the democratization of his tone: anyone with a computer, an audio interface, and an eight-string guitar can approximate the specific amp and effects character that Abasi has developed across his career, at a fraction of the cost of the actual hardware. The plugin includes amp models, cab impulse responses, and effects in a single integrated package.
The MXR EVH Phase 90 appears in Abasi’s signal chain for subtle phaser textures and modulation in clean or lead parts — the same Eddie Van Halen signature phaser that appears in numerous other guitarists’ rigs in this series, each using it for different purposes at different settings.
Playing Style & Tone Philosophy
Tosin Abasi’s playing style is perhaps the most technically diverse in this series — combining elements from bass guitar technique (the “thumping” approach), classical guitar fingerpicking, two-hand tapping, sweep picking, alternate picking, hybrid picking, and the djent-specific rhythmic precision that defined the genre his music helped establish. What distinguishes him from other players who are technically comparable is the compositional intelligence that deploys all these techniques in service of specific musical ideas rather than as technical exercises performed over functional harmonic content.
The “thumping” technique deserves specific explanation. Abasi adapted the slap and thumb technique of bass guitar — where the thumb strikes the strings percussively against the fretboard rather than plucking them — to eight-string guitar playing, creating a specific percussive, thumb-muted sound that gives Animals as Leaders’ rhythm guitar parts their characteristic sound. On bass guitar, this produces the “thwump” of slap bass. On an eight-string guitar, it produces a denser, more harmonically rich percussive attack that has become one of the most copied techniques in the djent and progressive metal world.
His fingerpicking approach — which he specifically credits to his collaboration with bandmate Javier Reyes — brings classical guitar vocabulary to the extended-range progressive metal context. Where most players in the genre use flatpick or hybrid picking exclusively, Abasi’s use of pure fingerstyle in specific passages gives Animals as Leaders’ music a textural range that most progressive metal lacks. The acoustic nylon-string passages (performed on the Godin Multiac) are the extreme expression of this approach, but the fingerpicking inflection is audible throughout the electric playing as well.
His harmonic vocabulary draws from jazz theory — specifically from the kind of chord extension and modal thinking that his brief Atlanta Institute of Music study in jazz and classical guitar provided. The harmonic content of Animals as Leaders’ compositions is more sophisticated than typical progressive metal, using chord voicings and scale choices that come from the jazz tradition rather than from the neo-classical or pentatonic minor traditions that most metal guitar draws from. This jazz-influenced harmonic sophistication is most clearly audible in the clean passages and the acoustic sections, where the chordal content can be heard without the distortion obscuring the specific harmonic choices. He has specifically studied the music of Kurt Rosenwinkel — a jazz guitarist whose complex chord-melody approach and sophisticated harmonic language occupy an entirely different world from progressive metal — and the influence of this study is audible in Animals as Leaders’ more harmonically adventurous passages.
The polyrhythmic structural complexity of his compositions — the simultaneous deployment of different metric patterns that create the specific tension and release quality of djent-influenced progressive metal — comes from his absorption of Meshuggah’s approach and his extension of it through jazz rhythmic concepts. Where Meshuggah’s polyrhythms are primarily two-dimensional (the guitar and drums operating in different time signatures simultaneously), Animals as Leaders’ polyrhythms incorporate additional layers of rhythmic complexity from the fingerpicking patterns, the thumping, and the melodic content all operating in different rhythmic relationships simultaneously. This is the compositional ambition that distinguishes Abasi from players who are technically comparable — the specific intelligence of how all these elements are organized into coherent musical statements.
His tone philosophy has evolved from digital-first (the Axe-FX decade) to a hybrid approach where digital and analog each contribute what they do best. The Parrhesia decision — real tube amps for the low-mids, digital for reverb and delay — reflects the mature synthesizer’s understanding: don’t be ideologically committed to either approach, use what the specific musical application requires. “These things have become indiscernible from their real tube counterparts,” he said of modern modelers — and then used real tube amps anyway because they produced a specific character that served the specific musical requirement.
How to Sound Like Tosin Abasi
Getting into Tosin Abasi’s tonal territory requires an eight-string guitar with fanned frets (or a very capable seven-string with a multiscale option) and high-gain amplification that maintains definition and clarity at low frequencies.
Guitar: An eight-string guitar with active or high-output pickups. Abasi Concepts guitars (Larada Master, Legion, Spartan) are the authentic choice. Ibanez RGD or RGMS8 series provides accessible alternatives. The fanned-fret multiscale design is important for proper tension balance across the eight strings. Fishman Fluence pickups or Bareknuckle Juggernauts provide the high-output, clear low-end character the extended range requires.
Amp: Fractal Axe-FX III or Neural DSP Archetype: Abasi plugin for the most direct recreation of his digital tones. For real-amp approach: high-gain amplifiers with clean low-mids — Friedman BE-100, Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, or similar. The key is maintaining definition and clarity at low frequencies, which requires a tight, controlled low-end character rather than the woolly low-end of some high-gain amps.
Amp Settings (High-gain amp or modeler, rhythm channel):
| Control | Setting (0–10) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gain | 6–8 | High but not maximum — definition is essential |
| Bass | 3–4 | LOW — tighten the low end. 8-string naturally has extreme bass |
| Mid | 5–6 | Moderate — articulate midrange presence |
| Treble | 6–7 | Clear and defined — attack clarity is paramount |
| Presence | 5–6 | Adds the cutting quality for thumping passages |
| Noise Gate | Essential | ISP Decimator or equivalent — high-gain + 8-string = noise |
The thumping technique: The thumb strikes the strings percussively against the fretboard rather than plucking them. Start with the thumb moving down toward the floor in a quick arc, striking the low string (or strings) with the thumb’s fleshy underside against the fretboard. The pick remains in the hand for immediate alternate-picking transitions. This technique requires completely different hand position from standard picking and is best learned from close-up video of Abasi performing — his JamPlay lessons include specific thumping instruction.
Influence & Legacy
Tosin Abasi’s influence on modern guitar is measurable in the market for extended-range instruments. Before Animals as Leaders’ 2009 debut, eight-string guitars were a niche product primarily associated with metal bands like Meshuggah. After — and partly through Abasi’s specific demonstration of what eight-string guitar could do in a compositionally sophisticated context — the eight-string guitar market expanded dramatically. Every major guitar manufacturer now offers eight-string options. The djent and progressive metal scenes built largely around extended-range instruments owe a specific debt to his demonstration of the format’s possibilities.
His founding of Abasi Concepts represents a different kind of influence: a guitarist who became a guitar designer of sufficient significance that other major guitar companies imitated his design approach. The Guitar World headline “At this point, we’re even being emulated by other companies” captures the scope of this design influence. Within ten years of founding his company, Abasi had become a reference point for extended-range guitar design in the same way that figures like Ned Steinberger (headless guitar), Ted McCarty (the original Gibson designer), or Leo Fender defined their respective eras of guitar design. The specific features he prioritized — ergonomic body contouring for long performance sessions, fanned frets for proper string tension across extended ranges, weight optimization for physical sustainability during extended touring — are now standard considerations in extended-range guitar design across the industry.
The Neural DSP Archetype: Abasi plugin represents yet another dimension of his influence: the democratization of his specific tonal approach. Players who cannot afford the hardware — the Fractal Axe-FX, the real tube amplifiers, the Abasi Concepts guitar — can now approximate his complete signal chain through a software plugin at a fraction of the cost. This accessibility has spread his specific tonal vocabulary to a generation of guitarists who are building their approach on his foundation. Whether or not all of them know the specific debt they owe to his decade of developing that signal chain on actual hardware, the knowledge is embedded in the plugin they’re using to learn how progressive metal guitar is supposed to sound in 2026.
For context on where Abasi fits within the broader progressive metal and extended-range guitar tradition, the comparison with John Petrucci’s approach to progressive metal guitar at #60 is the most direct contemporary parallel — two guitarists who both operate in progressive metal contexts with technically extreme playing in service of compositional intelligence. Petrucci’s is more traditionally structured, more rooted in the progressive rock tradition; Abasi’s is more rhythmically complex, more influenced by electronic music and jazz, and more physically innovative in the thumping/fingerpicking synthesis.
The comparison with Steve Vai’s avant-garde technical approach at #51 — one of Abasi’s explicitly named influences — illuminates the generational transmission of the virtuoso guitar tradition from the 1980s shred generation to the contemporary extended-range progressive metal generation. Vai’s techniques (two-hand tapping, whammy bar vocabulary, the theatrical presentation of guitar as a total body experience) are present in Abasi’s approach, filtered through the 2000s and 2010s contexts of djent, prog metal, and extended-range guitar composition.
And for the deepest context — the founding of a guitar company that has influenced the instrument’s design — the comparison with Allan Holdsworth’s radical approach to guitar design at #48 shows a parallel commitment to modifying the instrument itself when available instruments don’t meet the musician’s requirements. Holdsworth commissioned custom headless guitars, collaborated with Steinberger, invented the Juice Extractor. Abasi founded Abasi Concepts and changed the extended-range guitar market. Both are guitarists who decided that the instrument needed to change, and made it change.
The eight-string guitar is no longer a novelty. It is a standard professional instrument available from every major manufacturer. A generation of guitarists picked up extended-range instruments partly because they saw Tosin Abasi play one and understood what was possible. The Larada Master Series is in continuous production, usually sold out. The Neural DSP Archetype: Abasi plugin is in the DAW of thousands of home studio guitarists. The low-mids of a real tube amp turned out to matter even to one of the world’s premier advocates for digital guitar modeling. And “CAFO” — the track from the Animals as Leaders debut that first demonstrated to the world what an eight-string guitar in technically and harmonically sophisticated hands could do — remains one of the most studied pieces of music in the progressive metal canon.
The eight-string guitar is no longer a novelty. It is a standard professional instrument available from every major manufacturer. A generation of guitarists picked up extended-range instruments partly because they saw Tosin Abasi play one and understood what was possible. The Larada Master Series is in continuous production, usually sold out. The Neural DSP Archetype: Abasi plugin is in the DAW of thousands of home studio guitarists. The low-mids of a real tube amp turned out to matter even to one of the world’s premier advocates for digital guitar modeling. And “CAFO” — the track from the Animals as Leaders debut that first demonstrated to the world what an eight-string guitar in technically and harmonically sophisticated hands could do — remains one of the most studied pieces of music in the progressive metal canon.
He is forty-two years old in 2026, at the height of his creative powers, still leading Animals as Leaders, still developing Abasi Concepts, still studying jazz guitar, still learning blues — with, he mentioned with dry humor, possible plans for a blues album that “would put a twist on it.” From VHS hair metal tutorials in Silver Spring, Maryland, to Abasi Concepts being emulated by Ibanez. From a self-taught twelve-year-old to Atlanta Institute jazz studies to the Animals as Leaders debut at twenty-six. From Fractal Axe-FX II to real tube amps in a loud room with a mic on a cab, because the low-mids are different. This is the complete arc of a career committed to the continuous refinement of a vision. The eight-string waits in its flight case. The Larada Master is tuned to standard, low string to E. The tube amp is in the corner. The mic is on the cab. The recording begins.
Born to Nigerian immigrants in Washington D.C. — a biographical fact that is also a statement about what American music is and where it comes from in the twenty-first century. Self-taught from VHS hair metal tutorials. Refused a record deal because he wasn’t ready. Went to music school. Came back. Founded a band that changed the extended-range guitar market. Founded a guitar company that is being emulated by Ibanez. Made five albums of extraordinary technical and compositional sophistication. Is currently studying blues. “I’ve flirted with the idea of doing a blues album — which sounds funny to say — but I would put a twist on it.” Of course he would. Of course it would be worth hearing.
Frequently Asked Questions: Tosin Abasi Guitars & Gear
What guitar does Tosin Abasi play?
Tosin Abasi’s primary guitar is the Abasi Concepts Larada Master Series — a fanned-fret (multiscale) eight-string guitar that he designed through his own guitar company, Abasi Concepts (founded 2019). The guitar features Abasi’s signature Fishman Fluence pickups (multi-voicing active pickups switchable between vintage and modern characters), ergonomic body contouring, and the multiscale fretboard that provides optimal string tension balance across all eight strings. Before founding Abasi Concepts, he had a long-running Ibanez signature guitar relationship, primarily the TAM10 and TAM100 models with DiMarzio Ionizer pickups, and used a custom Rick Toone “Blur” eight-string for The Joy of Motion. He also uses a Godin Multiac Nylon-string guitar for the acoustic passages in Animals as Leaders’ live set.
What is the thumping technique and how does Tosin Abasi use it?
The thumping technique is Tosin Abasi’s adaptation of slap bass guitar technique — specifically the thumb-striking motion — to extended-range electric guitar. The thumb strikes the low strings percussively against the fretboard in a quick downward arc, producing a distinctive “thump” with a specific percussive attack that differs from both standard picking and conventional fingerpicking. Abasi developed this technique through his work in Animals as Leaders, crediting bandmate Javier Reyes with influencing the development of his fingerstyle approach generally. The thumping technique appears throughout Animals as Leaders’ recordings as a rhythmic foundation for the polyrhythmic passages that define the band’s groove-oriented progressive metal sections. It has since been widely adopted by guitarists in the djent and progressive metal community.
What amp does Tosin Abasi use?
Tosin Abasi’s amplification setup has evolved significantly across his career. For most of the 2010s, the Fractal Audio Axe-FX II was central to his signal chain, running into a Port City Pearl head (used as a power amp only) and a Port City 2×12 ported cabinet. For live touring, he has also used a Fractal AX-8 and Line 6 Helix combination. For the Parrhesia album (2022), he moved to real tube amplifiers, having discovered that “in the low-mids and the lower frequencies there was just a different character to a mic on a loud cab.” The Fractal Axe-FX III remains in use for specific applications, particularly as a reverb/delay unit for his nylon-string passages. A Synergy SYN5050 power amp appears in his current rack setup.
What is Abasi Concepts?
Abasi Concepts is the guitar company Tosin Abasi founded in 2019 (originally as Abasi Guitars). The company produces six-, seven-, and eight-string guitars featuring ergonomic design principles, fanned-fret (multiscale) options, Fishman Fluence pickup systems, locking tuners, and diverse wood combinations. The company operates across multiple manufacturing partnerships: World Musical Instrument Co. Ltd (Legion Series), Dyna Gakki (JLarada Series), and Grover Jackson Engineering (Master, Spartan, and Space Telecaster series). In 2022, Abasi Concepts introduced the double-cut Emi model. The company’s success — with most models consistently sold out — and its design influence (Ibanez subsequently launched a similar ergonomic series that fans noted resembled Abasi Concepts’ approach) make it one of the most significant independent guitar companies in the extended-range market.
What effects does Tosin Abasi use?
Tosin Abasi’s effects chain has evolved across his career. His comprehensive analog pedalboard (rebuilt by Vertex Effects) contains: TC Electronic PolyTune 2 BlackLight (tuner), ISP Technologies Decimator II (noise gate), Bogner Harlow (clean boost), Strymon TimeLine (delay), Strymon BigSky (reverb), Empress ParaEQ, KHDK No. 2 Clean Boost, two Friedman BE-ODs, Carl Martin Plexitone, Bogner Ecstasy, Horizon Devices Precision Drive, and Boomerang III Phrase Sampler — controlled by Carl Martin Octa-Switch MKII. For digital processing, the Fractal Axe-FX II (primary for most of the 2010s) and Axe-FX III (current, mainly for nylon-string reverb/delay) handle modeling and effects. He has a Neural DSP Archetype: Abasi signature plugin for studio and home use. MXR EVH Phase 90 provides phaser textures.
What is djent and what is Tosin Abasi’s relationship to it?
Djent is a style of progressive metal characterized by low-tuned, high-gain guitar tones with palm-muted polyrhythmic patterns producing a tight, percussive, “djent” sound (onomatopoeia). The style was pioneered by Meshuggah — a band Abasi specifically cites as an influence, particularly Fredrik Thordendal’s guitar work. Animals as Leaders emerged in 2009 alongside bands like Periphery (led by Misha Mansoor, who produced the first Animals as Leaders album) as part of the wave of djent-influenced progressive metal that grew from the internet guitar community. While Abasi himself has expressed ambivalence about genre categorization, Animals as Leaders’ music shares many characteristics with djent — the extended-range guitars, the polyrhythmic patterns, the high-gain low-tuned tones — while adding jazz harmonic sophistication and the classical/fingerpicking elements that distinguish the band from more straightforward djent acts.
What are Tosin Abasi’s main guitar influences?
Tosin Abasi has specifically cited the following guitarists as formative influences: Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Greg Howe, Allan Holdsworth, Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah, and Kurt Rosenwinkel (jazz guitar). Electronic music influences include Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, and similar IDM artists, whose rhythmic complexity and compositional approach Abasi has applied to guitar. He has also cited Mike Einziger of Incubus and the musicians of Dream Theater. The span of these influences — from neoclassical shred (Malmsteen) to jazz fusion (Holdsworth, Rosenwinkel) to electronic music (Aphex Twin) to progressive metal (Thordendal, Dream Theater) — explains the stylistic breadth of Animals as Leaders, which synthesizes all of these traditions into a single compositional approach.