{"id":557331,"date":"2026-08-03T08:46:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T08:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/557331\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T08:46:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T08:46:18","slug":"why-tosin-abasi-created-the-wildest-nylon-string-guitar-ever-the-stage-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/557331\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Tosin Abasi created the wildest nylon-string guitar ever: the Stage 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

The guitar industry can often feel slow to move. With the ubiquity of time-honoured designs like the Stratocaster<\/a> and Les Paul<\/a> \u2013 not to mention the percentage of the market dominated by close relatives of those two foundational guitars \u2013 substantial steps in innovation can feel few and far between. But if there\u2019s one person hellbent on pushing the boundaries of guitar design, it\u2019s Tosin Abasi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Abasi Stage 7 on the Guitar.com Cover. Image: Rachel Billings for Guitar.com<\/p>\n

The mastermind behind prog metal<\/a> heavyweights Animals as Leaders<\/a> and an extended-range virtuoso, there\u2019s no more fitting poster boy for radical instrument design. And since forming Abasi Concepts<\/a> in 2017, he\u2019s been on the cutting edge.<\/p>\n

Tosin Abasi\u2019s career as a guitar designer has flourished over the past 10 years, from the development of the Abasi Concepts catalogue with thoughtfully designed and brilliantly ergonomic instruments like the flagship Larada and its double-cutaway sibling, the \u0112mi, to his partnerships with some of the industry\u2019s biggest brands.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s specifically shown an interest in collaborating with bigger brands to bring his unique take on guitar design to the masses. Ernie Ball Music Man<\/a> had Abasi to thank for the Kaizen<\/a>, one of the most exciting and unique shred guitars out there, and now it\u2019s the turn of Yamaha<\/a>-owned Cordoba<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AbasiImage: Rachel Billings for Guitar.com<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s largest maker of nylon-stringed instruments has partnered with Abasi to create the Abasi Stage 7, a wildly imaginative seven-string nylon-string electric guitar that rips the rulebook for classical guitar design to shreds.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty of Abasi Concepts DNA in the Stage 7 \u2013 which is a big part of why it\u2019s unquestionably the most unique looking nylon-string on the market \u2013 but the form has function. It\u2019s very probably the most ergonomic and comfortable classical guitar on the planet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s a gap in the guitar space, this is a strong reason to create something there\u201d<\/p>\n

Pushing the boundaries<\/p>\n

So why did one of the world\u2019s foremost technical metal players decide to develop a nylon-string guitar? He had already dipped his toes into the classical world with Animals As Leaders, but he struggled to find a guitar that worked for him in a live setting. So he\u2019d design his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve tried different acoustic-electrics for live shows, and there\u2019s always this looming risk of feedback,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe have a loud drummer, and there\u2019s another guitar player playing electric. So my use of these nylons was always in a context that was not traditional. I realised that the more resonant the guitar was, the more feedback I\u2019d get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cordoba\u2019s popular and impressive thinline hybrid nylon-string, the Stage<\/a>, helped Abasi solve some issues. \u201cIf you turn down the contact mic on the body, you could get away with playing it pretty loud on stage without that feedback occurring,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"AbasiImage: Rachel Billings for Guitar.com<\/p>\n

The vanilla Stage became a trusted touring ally, but this is Tosin Abasi we\u2019re talking about. Abasi Concepts had already been prototyping a nylon-string of their own, and the cogs inevitably started turning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018I wonder if Cordoba would be interested in collaborating on making something like this, but with some changes.\u2019 We aligned on a co-branded, co-designed acoustic-electric that didn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abasi\u2019s touring experience factored into the new instrument, but he also had homebodies in mind. \u201cWe wanted to design this as a midpoint for the electric player who wants to get into nylon-string, playing in contexts that aren\u2019t solo classical guitar, and likely does a lot of home recording<\/a>,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn progressive metal, everyone is becoming their own recording engineer, and the ability to plug something in, as opposed to having to set up a bunch of mics and pres \u2013 we wanted it to sound great direct, straight out of the guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AbasiImage: Rachel Billings for Guitar.com<\/p>\n

Besides the Larada-inspired body shape, the wildest design element has to be the 24-fret fanned fingerboard. \u201cWhat nylon-string guitar has 24 frets and seven-strings on it?\u201d he laughs. Abasi has some words of reassurance for sceptical newcomers to fanned frets. \u201cThe actual string is happier,\u201d he says. \u201cThe lowest strings benefit from that extra scaling\u2026 you get to add scale length so that the string is not floppy.\u201d Meanwhile, a multi-scale length guitar retains the string tension of the higher strings as you\u2019re used to. \u201cThe benefit is twofold: you retain the timbre of those treble strings, and you retain the tension that you\u2019re used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Abasi also points to the ergonomic benefits of fanned frets: \u201cYour elbow primarily stays still \u2013 it\u2019s kind of alongside your torso \u2013 your hand naturally fans as it moves from the headstock towards the body of the guitar. This fanning motion is more in line with mechanically what\u2019s happening in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also present on the Stage 7 is a cutaway on the lower bout, a stroke of design mastery present on all Abasi Concepts instruments, again rooted in Abasi\u2019s personal preferences.<\/p>\n

\u201cClassical guitars don\u2019t have this, but it helps for playing in a classical seated position,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s because most acoustic instruments don\u2019t want to give up any volume, so the more body, the better\u2026 But because our instrument isn\u2019t relying on the size of the cavity to produce its sound like a purely acoustic instrument, we were allowed to modify the body in a way that aided the ergonomics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a lot of guitar players, they see examples of nylon-string in a new context, and it puts a light bulb in their head\u201d<\/p>\n

A Match Made In Heaven<\/p>\n

Nylon-string guitar and high-gain heavy metal music seem worlds apart on the surface, but both have roots in virtuosity, with technical chops a strong component of the appeal. Social media stars like Ichika Nito<\/a> and Marcin<\/a> have done a lot to bring virtuosic clean playing to the masses, while Polyphia<\/a>\u2019s Tim Henson<\/a> has spearheaded nylon-string\u2019s foray into the metal world, even launching his own more conventional Ibanez<\/a> nylon sig. So is now the perfect time for the Abasi Stage 7?<\/p>\n

\u201cTim did a great job of taking a nylon-string instrument and applying it to a completely unique context. Sometimes it just takes something for it to click for people,\u201d Abasi says. \u201cAnimals as Leaders have had nylon-string guitars as far back as 2009\u2026 but for a lot of guitar players, they see examples of it in a new context, and it puts a light bulb in their head.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AbasiImage: Rachel Billings for Guitar.com<\/p>\n

He continues: \u201cA young player might be listening to classical guitar music, but doesn\u2019t realise there\u2019s a tonne of very advanced technique, and you\u2019re allowed to play fast. Social media is exposure to the fact that classical guitar often incorporates really advanced technique.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, if you\u2019re a kid who\u2019s into shred or progressive metal, you have an appetite for that complexity, and you see someone like Marcin playing complex stuff, you go, \u2018Woah, this sounds really elegant and cool\u2026\u2019 It was always waiting to happen \u2013 that exposure has occurred at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBig brands often don\u2019t have permission to really push the envelope. There\u2019s hostility if they try to do new things\u201d<\/p>\n

Going It Alone<\/p>\n

Abasi can push the boundaries of guitar design so regularly in no small part to Abasi Concepts, the brand he founded as much out of necessity as anything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time I was playing eight-strings, it was kind of an underserved sector for guitar,\u201d Abasi, who was an Ibanez signature artist at the time, recalls. \u201cIf you wanted pickups or a guitar in general, you had limited options. There were things I felt could make the eight-string easier to play that I wasn\u2019t seeing occurring.\u201d<\/p>\n

After convincing the Japanese guitar giant to let him design his own original body shape, the Larada was born. But Abasi felt the wheels weren\u2019t turning fast enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cIbanez is a great company, but they\u2019re a very large company\u2026 every single change took a very long period of time to implement,\u201d he says. \u201cI eventually felt I wanted to take my original design and expand it beyond just a single eight-string offering with Ibanez. That\u2019s how Abasi Concepts was born.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AbasiImage: Rachel Billings for Guitar.com<\/p>\n

In the nine years since, the brand has created a variety of different truly unique instruments, and that confidence at pushing the boundaries allowed him to come back to the mainstream world with Ernie Ball in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the first time you could get something designed by me for under $1,500,\u201d he reflects. \u201cAnd it was exciting to be able to offer something for people who don\u2019t have a lot of money to spend on really expensive guitars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking advantage of Music Man\u2019s technological resources, Abasi was able to design a three-dimensional ergonomic instrument in a way that he might not have been able to on his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have an amazing engineering team and an amazing facility here in California,\u201d he enthuses. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible. They have robots and stuff!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur whole thing is to make something distinct that solves a problem\u201d<\/p>\n

The Future Is Now<\/p>\n

The common thread with all of Abasi\u2019s creations is that they push things outside of the comfort zone that most guitar brands seem stuck in. Why do we have this tendency to play it safe?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere isn\u2019t a single answer,\u201d he replies. \u201cIt just seems the case that guitar players are often a lot less open-minded when it comes to new guitar designs, and I think this is because most of our favourite music that was written on the guitar was written decades ago, and [instead of] creating new directions and blazing new trails, most people want to emulate their heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n

That discourages innovation in big manufacturers and legacy brands, he argues. \u201cFrom the outside looking in, they often don\u2019t have brand permission to really push the envelope. There\u2019s hostility if they try to do new things. It feels almost like guitar players are a conservative, religious community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Stage 7 is Abasi\u2019s latest attempt to creatively challenge guitar orthodoxy \u2013 and an important business milestone as yet another successful partnership with a major brand. The next step, you\u2019d expect, would be to scale up and expand even further, but Abasi is keen to keep things streamlined.<\/p>\n

\"AbasiImage: Rachel Billings for Guitar.com<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ever go to a restaurant and the menu is enormous, and you\u2019re like, \u2018Wait, what?\u2019 It\u2019s similar to guitar gear,\u201d he says. \u201cA bunch of options sounds good on paper, but sometimes it\u2019s more of a mental load. We\u2019ve been very deliberate about what we offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Stage 7 feels deliberate and exciting in every way \u2013 an instrument that meets an un-met need and recontextualises the most traditional type of guitar in a way that makes it feel radically futuristic. It\u2019s a textbook Abasi design, and one that comes from a clear mindset.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s a gap in the guitar space, this is a strong reason to create something there,\u201d Tosin says. \u201cOur whole thing is to make something distinct that solves a problem, and where you couldn\u2019t simply choose another instrument for the same role.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Abasi Stage 7 is now available.<\/p>\n

Words: Sam Roche
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