Tosin Abasi: Why I Prefer 8 String Guitars | Animals As Leaders Guitarist

Animals as Leaders guitarist Tosin Abasi talked about his fondness of the extended range, naming musicians that drew him to that world, as well as revealing why he prefers the extended range over standard 6-string guitars.

The musician said during an interview with Guitar Center:

"Guys like Steve Vai and even bands like Korn started using extended-range guitar and when I started playing 7-string, I didn't really know much music theory so I was very much into just exploring the fretboard and hearing cool sounds.

"It didn't necessarily throw me off to have an extra string. I was just writing riffs and I noticed that there were more riffs to be written.

"Once I started to really understand the fretboard, I realized there were a lot of advantages to having more than 6 strings with chord voicings, tapping and arpeggio shapes...

"I stayed on a 7-string for five or six years until Meshuggah put out an album called 'Nothing' and it was 8-string guitar. It was the first time I ever heard it and I was like, 'What is even happening?'"

"You have the benefit of a wider range of frequencies so you don't feel like you're just writing necessarily one part or one range of the spectrum.

"You feel like you can actually write for bass as well as in the treble area. And then the last feature - you can incorporate bass technique. So I do a lot of slap and thumping and it just sounds really aggressive and powerful on the lower strings. So - perfect storm."

"Ibanez was always visible because of the players I was learning from and really looking up to - Vai and Satriani.

"Experimentally playing the guitars, I really liked the flat radius, the thin necks - they were just like shred guitars. They played faster. They were super comfortable. I liked the aesthetics. They were always a brand that I naturally wanted to play and then, paralleling my growth as far as getting into extended range, they were one of the first major manufacturers to do a 7-string guitar - and it's a great instrument."

"I feel like they actually helped to validate the extended range guitar because of how well they make the instruments in the first place."

[rmnews]

What do you like and dislike about extended range guitars?!

[Isaiah-ftnx]

I’d love to hangout with Tosin for a day. He seems like the kind of guy you could have a deep intellectual conversation with. Great interview!

[Mr.Goldbar]

All the dislikes are coming from elitist brutal death metal guitar players