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INSANE: 2 | Rare Historical Photos

“We’re guitar players. The reason we’re designing gear is we’re making things that we wish existed”: Tosin Abasi is pushing the boundaries of progressive music and guitar gear on multiple fronts – and he’s got no plans to slow down

The Animals As Leaders and Abasi Concepts mastermind on upcoming music, his favorite new players, switching from modelers to tube amps, and why he might not be ready to record a blues album just yet

Guitar World

“He’s one of my favorite players. It would be a dream come true to work with him”: Matteo Mancuso has played with Joe Bonamassa and Steve Vai, but he’s already got his eye on his next dream collaborator – and a signature Revstar

Mancuso took the guitar world by storm when he first burst onto the scene in 2023, but now he's looking forward to a new album, even more high-profile collaborations, and maybe even his first-ever signature guitar…

Guitar World

“There’s amazing players like Josh Smith and Eric Gales, and I thought, ‘OK, I’ve been missing out. I’m learning the blues’”: Tosin Abasi said he wanted to release a blues album – is it still on the cards?

We asked the progressive metal innovator for an update on his prospective blues record, which he teased back in 2022

Guitar World

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“Alien levels of precision. You can’t believe it until you sit in front of him and you’re like, ‘Whoa’”: We asked Tim Henson and Tosin Abasi who is blowing their minds right now. They both named the same guitarist

This progressive virtuoso has already been labeled shred’s next hope – now he’s been tipped for greatness… and a Polyphia guest spot

Guitar World

"With these loops, I wanted to inject my identity”: Mainline some Tosin Abasi magic into your DAW with his new Apple-exclusive producer pack

Fantasise no further. If you’ve ever wanted Tosin Abasi to play on your track then your dream just came true

MusicRadar

“I like seeing boundaries pushed. With these loops, I wanted to inject my identity”: Tosin Abasi’s playing is now available in Garage Band and Logic thanks to a high-profile new producer pack

The guitar innovator has lent his creative force to a versatile pack of 170 loops available exclusively on Apple’s DAWs

Guitar World

NAMM 2025: “The highly anticipated Sterling version of the original EBMM Kaizen has arrived”: Sterling By Music Man adds Tosin Abasi’s Kaizen, Rabea Massaad’s Sabre and Ryan “Fluff” Bruce’s StingRay to artist lineup

Three creatively spec'd classics from the Ernie Ball Music Man signature series remixed for a more affordable price point – and you can get the Kaizen with six or seven strings

MusicRadar

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“The highly anticipated Sterling version has arrived – now with a standard scale”: Sterling by Music Man serves up an affordable take on Tosin Abasi’s Kaizen, plus Rabea Massaad and Fluff signature guitars

The wait for mid-priced versions of some of Ernie Ball Music Man’s most innovative signature models is now over –although not without some significant tweaks...

Guitar World

“The first thing I said to Jordan Rudess was, ’You’ve got a pretty sick guitar player in your band. What are you asking me for?’” How Spiro Dussias became shred’s next great hope – and ended up giving Dream Theater guitar lessons

One of 2024’s standout metal guitarists on what it’s like to be compared to Tosin Abasi, why nothing compares to his ESP Horizon, and how amp modeling is about to get crazy

Guitar World

“For me, it’s not how many are watching, it’s who is watching – Tosin engaging made me feel like I was doing something right”: Dante Swan is blurring the lines between djent and trap music – and he wants you to steal his riffs

The Chicago guitarist’s unique fusion of styles is expanding the horizons of where metal guitar can go, with the backing of Tosin Abasi

Guitar World

“For me to be so appreciated, I think I can start to feel guilty and pressured. But I guess it’s a good problem to have”: From playing Steve Vai's guitars to playing with him onstage, Tosin Abasi's rapid ascent made him one of the biggest names in guitar

Speaking to Guitar World in 2014, the Animals As Leaders maestro recalls the grueling salmon cannery and poop-scooping dog kennel jobs that helped him save for his first Vai signature model, and discusses how to adapt to seven- and eight-string models

Guitar World

“This one is a prototype. We’re getting close to the finish line tho!”: Abasi Concepts set introduce an extended-range nylon-string to its lineup and Tosin Abasi got so excited with it he spilled his coffee

Tosin Abasi teases nylon-string version of the Larada 7-string and promises it is coming soon. Misha Mansoor wants one. We all do

MusicRadar

“Ideal for maintaining clarity in extended-range instruments”: Abasi Concepts wants to take your tone to the next level with the Micro-Aggressor – a boost-style compressor voiced for low-end guitar

The Micro-Aggressor features dual-compressor circuits running in parallel and has a tilt EQ for adding top-end clarity or thickness and warmth to taste

MusicRadar

“A new level of sonic excellence, several years in the making”: Tosin Abasi has released his own compressor pedal that promises to fix common compression complaints – and improve your tone

Said to help deliver the dynamic response of a driven tube amp, the Micro-Aggressor becomes only the second stompbox of Abasi's gear firm

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“A finish that’s a true work of art”: Tosin Abasi and Ernie Ball Music Man’s Kaizen has a new Gallium finish that features actual silver – and it uniquely oxidizes depending on how you play it

The Gallium Kaizen will react and rust in unique ways, transforming the space-age instrument into an industrial time-worn artifact over time

MusicRadar

“This finish uses real silver in the paint… before the final clear coat is applied, the silver oxidises naturally, allowing the finish to change over time”: Ernie Ball Music Man launches Tosin Abasi's Kaizen in Gallium and it is the coolest finish ever

Available as a six or seven-string, the Kaizen Gallium looks like an alien artefact, guitar design as a work of sci-fi, and we want one now. The bad news? They're only making 66 of them

Guitar World

“It creates the illusion of speed and intricacy”: Inside the evolution of selective picking – one of modern guitar’s most expressive techniques

Tosin Abasi crafted it, but in the hands of countless others, selective picking has taken on a life of its own. We explore why it’s become one of the most personal guitar techniques around

Guitar World

“Expanding our signature aesthetics, ergonomics, and playability to a whole new audience of creators”: Abasi Concepts has debuted its first-ever Larada bass guitar – ushering in a new headless design in the process

Tosin Abasi’s brand has created its first production bass, with the Larada five-string combining a headless design with Fishman Fluence Multi-Voice pickups

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Guitar World

“As soon as I heard the demo, I knew it would be crucial to add rock elements”: Justus West reveals how he sneaked Tosin Abasi and Plini onto the new Beyoncé album (sort of)

The prolific session guitarist and producer pulls back the veil on Cowboy Carter’s high-profile recording sessions – and the surprisingly progressive gear he used on Beyoncé’s country album

Guitar World

‘Hammer-ons from nowhere’ can blow your guitar playing wide open – and help you craft silky smooth, effortlessly fast and highly impressive solos

This Greg Howe and Joe Satriani-favored technique will whip your hammer-ons, pull-offs, tapping, and muting into shape

Guitar World

Al Di Meola, Steve Vai and Tosin Abasi are in awe of his technique – learn the signature style of Matteo Mancuso, the maestro of fingerstyle fusion shred

Mancuso's debut LP The Journey is a tour de force of technique and imagination. We take a look at how the young Italian virtuoso's approach can make you a better player now

Guitar World

Tosin Abasi and Rick Beato love his playing. Now Josh Meader shows you how to solo over one of the most important chord progressions in jazz

The II-V-I progression is a fundamental classic of jazz guitar – Australian virtuoso Josh Meader has three great licks to dazzle your digits (and they might just blow your mind, too)

Guitar World

“Technical playing can get cleaner, and that’s possibly even more challenging than just being faster”: We met the academics who study shred guitar for a living – they explained why it’s changed dramatically since the ’80s, and the 3 ways it can develop

A new study documents the challenges facing modern-day virtuosos, who not only have to balance perfection and authenticity, but now have to be “10 things that used to be 10 full-time professions”

Guitar World

“It’s like an artifact from an ancient technological civilization”: Tosin Abasi and Music Man unveil two new eye-catching finishes for the Kaizen and tease some “exciting and progressive” updates in the near future

Demoing the new model at NAMM 2024, Abasi praised Music Man’s desire to push the envelope with the guitar’s design, adding that he’s “never seen anything like” its new distressed metallic finish

MusicRadar

“Here’s something special the geniuses at Ernie Ball Music Man have worked up”: Tosin Abasi teases incredible aged metal finish for the Kaizen that’s like nothing we have seen on a guitar before

What would you call this one? Industrial Terminator chrome?

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