We were not the only ones to get excited when Tosin Abasi teased the latest prototype for Abasi Concepts’ new nylon-string guitar in December last year. Abasi was so taken with it that he spilled his coffee when demoing it.
It was understandable. This hybrid acoustic look like nothing we had ever seen before – at least, not on the market – applying the 21st-century radicalism of the Abasi Concepts Larada to a hybrid acoustic electric guitar .
In 2022, Abasi had shared a pic of an earlier prototype with seven strings and fanned frets but this prototype was closer to something that we might actually see. “We’re getting close to the finish line,” promised Abasi. Good. Misha Mansoor of Periphery put himself down for one in the comments.
Details have been thin on the ground but in a recent interview with Guitar World, Abasi explained some of the thinking behind it, and what we can expect from a guitar that is being designed to offer an all-new take on the brand’s ergonomics and multi-scale platform.
“It’s for guys who maybe aren’t traditional classical players, but do want a nylon-string guitar for recording and specifically for stage,” says Abasi. “My band Animals As Leaders, we have compositions with nylon guitars, but on stage, a fully resonant traditional classical guitar feeds back. You can’t have a wedge [monitor] at volume. If you got a drum set behind you, it just makes it unusable.”
Some design elements have been weeded out at the testing stage. The Abasi Concepts logo was going to serve as a soundhole – this looks set to go. There are discussions ongoing with regards to bridge design. Abasi says the thinline build and performance were inspired by the MusicRadar-approved Córdoba Stage. “I toured with it and I was like, ‘Man, this thing is actually perfect,’ says Abasi.
Like the Stage, Abasi’s new nylon-string is looking to split the difference between the classic feel of a nylon-string and the electric guitar. Players reared on electric should find it accommodating. Abasi says it is built for performance, with enhanced upper-fret access and the platform for hyper-technical players to cut loose.
“What's really cool is that on a nylon-string guitar, you could never play the 19th fret,” says Abasi. “And I really like that you can sweep pick on this thing, so it gets you the nylon-string sound without the physical limitations of a traditional acoustic instrument.”
According to Abasi, Fishman are working on an acoustic guitar pickup design that delivers more “depth and ambience” than your common or garden variety piezo. “We’re really proud of how this actually sounds like plugged in,” he says.
What he didn’t say was when we will see it. But what this space. When it drops it will be competition for Ibanez’s TOD10N Tim Henson signature guitar that has been the go-to nylon-string of choice for the progressive instrumentalist since its 2022 launch.
In other Abasi Concepts news, the brand has given its Legion Series a Deep Sage makeover, offering the finish on its ēmi and Larada models – and you can get that as an eight-string ($2,199) or seven-string guitar ($2,099).
Specs are typically contemporary: fanned frets, Fishman Fluence Tosin Abasi Humbuckers, basswood bodies, wenge bolt-on necks, ebony fingerboards and locking tuners, and ergonomics to burn. These will be available from 2pm PT today, 7 March. See Abasi Concepts for more.
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