Kaizen, a guitar with an extreme design by Tosin Abasi

A very special new 7-string has been dedicated by Ernie Ball/Music Man to the acrobatic American guitarist.

The new guitar destined to end up first of all in the hands of Tosin Abasi (not a real signature, let’s say “inspired by”) certainly does not go unnoticed thanks to its futuristic design and some very special elements.
On the other hand, the good Tosin is himself a very unclichéd guitarist and there is no doubt that he deserves an instrument on the same wavelength.

The virtuoso guitarist of the Animals as Leaders he had announced together with Ernie Ball/Music Man the arrival of the guitar at the last NAMM in June of this year and here it is now becoming available for the pre-order.

The design of this instrument, as we said, is rather extreme and personal. A rather “radical” double-cut, which owes its name, Kaizento the Japanese word that combines two meanings: “change” (Kai) and “improvement” (Zen).
It is a philosophical principle in which constant and endless improvement is pursued, through a chain of actions that each time add a piece to the development, for the better, of an entire complex (and more generally of one’s life).

The body, purposefully shaped to offer “extreme comfort”, is in alder, while the neck is in torrefied maple, which is joined by an ebony fingerboard. What immediately catches the eye is that this seven-string is one multi-scale instrument which measures from 24.75″ at low E to 25.7″ at low E.

The handle was created with a so-called “Infinity Radius“, i.e. a conical radius of curvature of the keyboard, strategically positioned, which seems to increase the general comfort of palying and also guarantee greater visibility of the keyboard.

The guitar is also equipped with a Custom Heat Treated humbuckers to the bridge and a angled mini-humbucker at the handle, both specially designed for Kaizen.
The HT pickups are themselves new for 2022, patent pending from Ernie Ball, and promise to deliver powerful output, excellent touch sensitivity and powerful bass response.

Another detail that does not escape the first glance is certainly the modern Music Man tremolo system, equipped with a spring damper system in an attempt to alleviate unwanted overtones.
the tuners are self-locking Steinberger Gearless.

About this model, Abasi commented: “I chose to collaborate with Music Man because I’ve been a fan of their guitars and their artists for a long time. I consider myself a designer and love making new guitars. A side project [al suo personale, ovvero le chitarre Abasi Concepts, NdR] it seemed like a unique and fun opportunity to do something new. I think the result is really a blend of our ideas.”

Abasi added: “Part of the reason we did this is in the name, ‘Kaizen’. I think people often see the guitar as an object with fixed characteristics. That’s fine, but I like to push the instrument beyond its classical limits, and I think this was an opportunity to do so.“.

There Kaizen It comes in two finishes: Apollo Black ($3,999) and Spectraflare ($4,099), the latter limited to just 75 pieces worldwide. Each Kaizen comes with a G&G hard case.