Tosin Abasi's guitar strings: the Animals as Leaders 8-string rig, sourced

What's on the guitar

Tosin Abasi's rig is built around his Abasi Concepts Larada 8:

• Guitars: Abasi Concepts Larada 8 (primary). 28.625-inch scale, ergonomic body shape, custom neck profile. Previously Ibanez TAM100 signature (2013–2017).
• Strings: D'Addario NYXL 8-string sets, ~.009–.074 gauge for F# standard.
• Tuning: 8-string F# standard (F#-B-E-A-D-G-B-E); Drop E on some material.
• Pickups: Fishman Fluence Tosin Abasi signature, voice-switchable active humbuckers.
• Amps: Fractal Audio Axe-Fx III is his primary live rig. Various tube amps in studio contexts.

Abasi founded Abasi Concepts in 2017 to build guitars to his exact specifications, the neck shape, body contour, and scale length of the Larada 8 reflect design choices he couldn't fully achieve inside Ibanez's production constraints. The Larada 8's 28.625-inch scale is the same as the Ibanez RG2228 Iron Label, which is the engineering-standard scale length for 8-string in F# standard.

Endorsed vs. verified use

Abasi is a documented D'Addario artist listed on their artist roster. NYXL 8-string use is directly verified through D'Addario marketing content and multiple interview quotes. Abasi Concepts ships the Larada 8 strung with D'Addario NYXL sets.

Why NYXL for 8-string prog composition

NYXL's high-carbon-core construction gives tighter feel than conventional nickel-wound strings at the same gauge. For an 8-string playing the polyphonic vocabulary Abasi composes, bottom-register bass lines, middle-register chord work, top-register melodic lines, often simultaneously, the string set has to articulate cleanly under complex polyphonic picking and tapping. NYXL's firmer response gives the attack transient the definition the composition needs.

The Fluence pickup voicing is designed around this string choice. Fluence's two voice options let Abasi switch between a cleaner vintage-humbucker sound for chordal and tapped passages and a modern high-output sound for rhythm work, both voiced for NYXL 8-string's harmonic content.

On Animals as Leaders' 8-string vocabulary

Abasi's 8-string composition is the modern vocabulary reference for the instrument. His right-hand technique combines conventional pick-and-fingers hybrid picking with slap-thumb (borrowed from electric bass), two-handed tapping, and classical-adjacent fingerstyle. The result is music that uses the full 8-string range simultaneously, not as a down-tuned heavy-metal tool, but as a polyphonic instrument capable of stating a bass line, chord voicing, and melody at the same time.

This playing approach directly informs the string choice. A heavier 8-string gauge set (.080+ low F#) would sacrifice the upper-string bend feel that his melodic work requires. A lighter 8-string set (.065 low F#) would fail to hold the bass register he builds his compositions around. NYXL .009–.074 is the engineering sweet spot for the compositional approach.

Sources

• D'Addario artist page for Tosin Abasi. https://www.daddario.com/artists/tosin-abasi
• Abasi Concepts Larada 8 product specifications. https://abasiconcepts.com/
• Animals as Leaders Premier Guitar Rig Rundown coverage.
• Fishman Fluence Tosin Abasi signature pickup product page.

Re-dated on each Animals as Leaders album cycle or Abasi Concepts signature refresh.

If you want this rig

Next steps

• Full 8-string lane: 8-string gauge guide, Top 10 8-string players.
• Adjacent 8-string rigs: Fredrik Thordendal (Meshuggah), Stephen Carpenter (Deftones), Wes Hauch.
• Tuning guides: F# standard, Drop E.
• Producer context: Ermin Hamidovic (mixed parts of the AAL catalog).