“The most iconic instruments have been kind of crystallised since the ’60s”: Animals As Leaders’ Tosin Abasi on why the traditional guitar blueprint deserves a revamp
Sometimes, experimental music demands an experimental instrument – and that’s exactly why Tosin Abasi founded his own guitar brand, Abasi Concepts, in 2017. Nearly a decade on, the Animals As Leaders’ frontman is continuing to reimagine the guitar in bold, innovative new ways.
Just last year, Abasi collaborated with Ernie Ball Music Man to create the quirky Kaizen guitar. It came as his latest stand against the tired, conventional guitar blueprint many brands continue to follow. “The guitar space is really interesting, because the most iconic instruments have been kind of crystallised since the ’60s,” Abasi says in a new interview with Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto.
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With Fender celebrating 75 years of the Telecaster and 70 years of the Strat, it’s wild to consider just how much the guitar world has advanced since the dawn of those now-iconic axes. However, Abasi notes that artists often seem to bind themselves to traditional guitars, rather than pushing for newer designs. “It’s a strange argument because a lot of guitar players get in their mind, like, ‘Oh, well, Jimmy Page was fine with that,’” the prog-metal frontman notes.
In Abasi’s mind, sticking to a Jimmy Page-approved axe is like telling yourself “I guess I don’t need more fret access” or “I don’t need better balance”. But Abasi believes there’s always room for improvement.
In contrast to those sticking to traditions, the frontman has taken on the duty of pushing the guitar forward. With the help of Ernie Ball CEO Brian Ball, Abasi allowed to let his imagination run wild. “We thought it would be cool to try something novel as opposed to the traditional sort of signature thing,” he says. “It was an opportunity for me to make a Music Man that I felt didn’t exist.”
“It’s this very interesting balance of designing the guitar further to feel like you’re benefiting from the design without leaving behind the bones of what makes a guitar feel gratifying,” he goes on to explain.
The multi-scale Kaizen benefits from a slew of unique tweaks on a traditional axe. Firstly, the bass comes in at a standard 25.5” scale, while there’s a shorter 24.75” scale in terms of treble. Another perk is the super thin body, designed to mean it never “gets in your way”, as well as an Infinity Radius fretboard.
The improvements should show that the classic guitar formula certainly has the potential to be enhanced.“The Infinity Radius prevents the need to tilt the guitar [to get a full view of your fretboard],” Abasi says. “The strings fall a little bit more effortlessly where you want them.”
You can check out the Kaizen collection at Ernie Ball.
The post “The most iconic instruments have been kind of crystallised since the ’60s”: Animals As Leaders’ Tosin Abasi on why the traditional guitar blueprint deserves a revamp appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
