In the modern guitar lexicon, few names scream “new frontier” like Tosin Abasi. As the creative engine of Animals as Leaders, he’s helped reframe the electric guitar’s vocabulary. But unlike Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, or Steve Vai before him, he’s done it not on six strings—or even seven—but on eight. So maybe it’s only fitting that he’s now CEO of Abasi Concepts, the only “guitar solutions” company that can deliver the instruments he needs for his otherworldly technique.Abasi’s not doing it alone. Abasi Concepts co-founder and COO Ivan Chopik has deep roots in the guitar industry. Along with his background in manufacturing and supply-chain development, he is the founder and editor-in-chief of Guitar Messenger. This experience brings a rare duality to the brand: a guitarist with deep genre fluency combined with a business-operations mind focused on precision.Through our conversation, it became clear that their partnership runs on an unspoken principle: innovation born from problem solving. Rather than chasing trends, Abasi Concepts begins with questions like, “What keeps extended-range guitars from feeling effortless? How should ergonomics evolve as the register expands? Where does resonance get lost between wood, hardware, and finish?”Their answers don’t arrive as marketing slogans—they take shape in the lines, contours, and design choices that put a guitarist’s hands first, while giving their eyes something just as striking.Far from the typical hype of “the future of guitars,” these two talented players treat design like composition: eliminate noise, enhance articulation, and let ideas breathe. If there’s a better way to do something, find it, refine it, or create it.PG sat down with Abasi and Chopik to explore how they translate that ethos into instruments, and why their brand of innovation stands apart as the genuine article.Tosin, your partnership with Ibanez led the charge for 8-string guitars. And then, as everybody was expecting the next Ibanez Abasi signature model, you launched Abasi Concepts. What inspired you to go into the guitar business?Tosin Abasi: I had a close to a 10-year relationship with Ibanez, but there were a lot of realities of dealing with such a large company that started to make the process feel less than ideal for us. It got to the point where I felt I could take it and bring it to life on my own.And I did negotiate ownership of that original body design, so the Larada [model] started life as an Ibanez.So to avoid the red tape at Ibanez, you thought, “I know what will be easier. I’ll start a company.”Abasi: [laughs] A part of what informed that was my experience of making custom 8-string guitars. I liked the whole luthier experience of having a bespoke handmade instrument. It was attractive to make a made-in-the-USA, smaller-scale instrument; something closer to a Suhr or something of that caliber.It was also a perfect storm of living in Southern California. There are a lot of guitar builders here, so what seems like a pie in the sky idea, if you’re in Southern California, all of that infrastructure is there.Ivan, how did you connect with Tosin to create Abasi Concepts?Ivan Chopik: Our first meeting was actually through my interview with Tosin for Guitar Messenger in 2010. Later, myself and one other guy started the metal ensemble at Berklee [College of Music]. We had a small budget to bring in visiting artists, and I was like, “Man, we have to bring Tosin in here.” He came to Berklee, did a performance there, and we stayed in touch.Abasi: I knew Ivan could wear many hats. Ivan has this capacity in the business sense, but he’s also a great guitar player. So when it comes to making decisions, we’re not a business that doesn’t understand the culture of guitar playing. We both play, and we’re both very passionate.“I think a lot of 8-string guitars attempt to scale up a 6-string into an 8-string. I wanted to treat the 8-string as its own consideration.”—Tosin AbasiYou launched Abasi Concepts with the Larada, a guitar design that definitely makes a statement. What informs your designs, and why do you think players are so willing to embrace them?Abasi: I think the search began as more of trying to answer a problem. I think a lot of 8-string guitars attempt to scale up a 6-string into an 8-string. But I felt that a ground-up approach made more sense. I wanted to treat the 8-string as its own consideration. So there was a solution-oriented approach.Chopik: It was exciting to rethink a lot of those things as its own instrument, rather than an extended version of something that already exists.Still, both the Larada and your ēmi model are more than exercises in function over form. What made you lean into such a bold design instead of something more traditional?Abasi: We wanted to offer an aspirational instrument. I feel like every player has a poster on their wall of a guitar they’d pull the trigger on if they ever made enough money. But, as a metal guitarist playing an extended-range guitar, there wasn’t the same prestige to many of the options.We also wanted to communicate, aesthetically, that we are forward-thinking. The music I make, I’m very concerned with new musical horizons. So we wanted an instrument that encapsulated all of these concepts.Chopik: I think it’s also important to notice that all the ergonomics and design choices, while modern, are all from the player’s perspective. All the different curves, all the cutouts; there’s an aesthetic choice, but there’s also a functional one. That’s where there’s a connection between the design and the player’s perspective.Two guitar players can come at the same thing from very different perspectives. How do you two balance that?Chopik: I toured with progressive metal bands for some years. And I was hugely inspired and influenced by Animals As Leaders and Periphery when they came out. So there’s definitely a lot of overlap in the things that we like. But, over the years, I came full circle to one of my first loves, which is blues.So we do come at it from different angles, and there are different iterations of gear that serve what we’re doing. But [the guitars are] a good example of something that extends beyond the realm of what one set of musicians might expect.Abasi: I think it’s great. As idiosyncratic and distinct as my playing style is, we are trying to offer a guitar that works for other styles as well.Like, Ivan’s an interesting player. He can do the progressive metal thing, but he can also … I call it “Dad Hands,” where he’s like, “Does the guitar have fight in it?” [laughs]That’s how we achieve this balance where the guitar does excel at very modern and distinct styles of music, but also doesn’t fail to deliver classic and established tones.“All the ergonomics and design choices, while modern, are all from the player’s perspective.”—Ivan ChopikCurrently, you offer versions of two body styles. And customers have to be signed up for your newsletter to be notified of availability. Why follow such a limited-release model?Chopik: We base a lot of releases around streamlining the manufacturing process. Having greater consistency for our team helps them stay very connected and gives us better visibility into [quality control].The customer is more informed than ever, and they have more choices than ever. They’re looking for every last detail, and they’re informed about specs. We have to answer to that, and we’re very specific with it. So, ultimately, the consistency comes from our standards, the design itself, and how we want to see it executed.Abasi: It’s relatively boutique and lean. We want to consider every product we release. We want it to be meaningful, and the Larada was the starting point.We know what we think the guitar needs to be, and there are so many variables that come together to make a guitar that feels that special. It could be as minute as the number of coats sprayed on the body at a facility, which affects the guitar’s resonance. This is the level of granularity we’re getting down to.You’ve also released the Pathos Distortion and Micro Aggressor compressor pedals. Why branch out from guitars?Abasi: Abasi Concepts was always meant to be an umbrella encompassing more than just guitar design. We’re interested in solutions across the board. And part of the fun of having the company is that we get to manifest the things we wish existed.With the Pathos pedal, Brian [Wampler] had existing circuitry, and we got together and tweaked it to taste. Ivan and I both personally use this pedal, and it does a really good job of achieving an amp-like feel in pedal form.Compression isn’t even on the radar for a lot of guitar players, and then the ones that exist don’t always feel great on the guitar. So the Micro Aggressor has an almost amp-type bloom and response, similar to cranking a tube amp and having the power section start to work a bit. It’s another thing where I think we’re solving something.“Part of the fun of having the company is that we get to manifest the things we wish existed.”—Tosin AbasiTosin, you’re playing tube amps these days, but you guys also collaborated with Neural DSP on the Abasi: Archetype plugin suite. Are there plans to broaden the line into amplifiers and additional plugins?Abasi: We’d love to have an offering in each of those spaces. Software is a territory that we have not really stepped into yet, but it is clearly of such utility that it would make sense. But Ivan and I are both big fans of tube amplifiers. There’s no substitute for playing an amp in a room. So the amp thing has been a conversation.What about the instruments themselves? What kinds of designs can Abasi Concepts fans look forward to?Abasi: We’ve been dabbling in nylon-string instruments, since I have some tracks that use that sound. We also want to offer instruments at a lower price point. It’s hard to make these things in the United States to the caliber we’re trying to make them, but we’re sensitive to the fact that there are players who don’t have enough to buy the Masterbuilt stuff.Chopik: That’s where our Legion Series comes in. The idea was to give players the chance to experience the same design language and feel that defines what we do, but at a more approachable price point. Both lines come from the same DNA, but the Legion models are bolt-on, with a thin U-profile neck that’s flatter and faster. The materials also play a big role. For instance, wenge necks are unique to the Legion line.We’re also looking at a semihollow take on the Larada. In the same spirit, it’s looking to solve issues with traditional design.You’ve definitely carved out your own lane, but there’s been a noticeable rise in artists and influencers starting their own gear companies. Why do you think that’s happening?Abasi: It’s an extension of the fact that artists have direct relationships with their fans and manufacturers. Before, that connection was filtered through record labels and publications. We’re in a paradigm now where you have direct access to turning those ideas into reality.Also, artists are reclaiming their brand value. They can hold the keys and deliver instruments that represent their vision directly. I actually think we will see more of it.Chopik: It’s interesting to see this formula growing and expanding, and the gap between artist and product narrowing. It’s a lot of work. And had we known the journey that we would be on, a lot of it would have seemed unreasonable. But we held it together because we had such a strong belief that it was going to work.“Unreasonable” is an interesting word choice. From Animals as Leaders’ first album to the Larada’s body style, you guys have practically cornered the market on unreasonable.Chopik: [laughs] Yeah, for sure. I mean, look, we built this thing from the ground up, and funded it ourselves. And you know, we learned lessons along the way. It’s definitely been a journey.
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