Lari Basilio interview

When we walked into the studio this morning, there was a purple Ibanez leaning against some Laney amps. That means Lari Basilio must be in town!

Lari was kind enough to lend us some of her time and have a quick chat with Russ and Ryan in the AMS Tone Labs all about her inspirations, what it’s like to write and perform music, and (of course) lots and lots of gear! She also played some soothing sounds for us through said Ibanez and Laney, showcasing her unique style. It was quite the day!

Can you think of a better match than Ibanez, Laney, and Lari Basilio? Doubt it! Because this trio really rocks.

Lari has been a fan of Ibanez for basically forever. In fact, most of her influences all play Ibanez guitars! And when she got the opportunity to make her very own Ibanez signature model, well, she didn’t say what she did exactly… But I imagine there was some excited screaming and running around going on.

Lari’s signature guitar is called the Ibanez LB1, and she designed it to be her absolute dream instrument. It’s a T-style guitar with some serious versatility. HSS triple-pickup design, simplified two-knob controls, and a nine-way (yes, NINE) selector switch with coil splits on the humbucker.

Once Lari told Ibanez exactly what she wanted, they headed off to the factory to build the prototype. Ibanez is so good at making guitars, that Lari didn’t have a single note once she got it in her hands. It was perfect from the start!

The neck features a compound 9-12” radius fretboard that’s super comfortable. Lari says it’s her absolute favorite feature on the guitar — although it’s hard to choose just one favorite!

As for pickups, Lari went to her friends at Seymour Duncan to create unique pickups to suit her dynamic and musical style. They came up with HSS pickups (humbucker-single-single) that can provide virtually unlimited versatility.

The neck pickup is fat and slightly vintage but still clear enough to maintain Lari’s wonderful tone.

The middle pickup has more of a scooped mid sound and can sound almost like an acoustic pickup when played alone.

And on the bridge you’ll find the slightly hotter humbucker with coil-splitting capabilities.

Mix and match the three pickups with the Dyna-mix 9 selector system to create a ridiculous amount of tones. Lari can hit the stage with this guitar alone and play an entire show from start to finish. That’s how versatile this thing is! She never leaves home without it.

All that versatile guitar sound has to come out of something. And to keep her tones pure, Lari reaches for a Laney Cub Super Series.

The Laney Cub Super Series is a 15-watt amp head that brings all the boutique tone you could ever want into a simplified, straightforward design. It sounds so good that Lari didn’t even touch the dials when she played for us in the AMS studios. She just plugged in and had perfect tone immediately! She loves that Laney can provide such a sweet, clean sound that’s not too bright. It’s the ideal match for her Ibanez LB1 and a few select pedal options.

When Lari plays live, she likes to go with a Laney Lionheart 20-watt with a matching 2x12 cab. It keeps that lovely Laney tone but brings a little more power to her live sound setup — you know, to be heard over all those screaming fans!

The Laney amp sounds good enough, but every guitarist needs just a little bit of reverb. And for stunning reverb, Lari reaches for the Laney Secret Path Black Country Custom reverb pedal.

The Secret Path reverb offers three different types of reverb, including spring, plate, and a super-special, super-secret “Secret Path” reverb. Of course, the Secret Path is what Lari always goes for. It offers a “deep, dark, mesmerizing ambiance with a sublime, brooding, dynamically evolving shimmer” (at least, that’s how Laney describes it).

Lari loves that it sounds very natural when paired with her Laney amp. It really adds to her tone, as she showed us in a quick demo.

There’s no doubt that Lari Basilio is one of the best and most unique players in the game right now. But she didn’t come up with her style all alone. She was influenced by great players of yesteryear — many of whom play Ibanez guitars.

Some of Lari’s heroes include:

• Joe Satriani
• Steve Vai
• Andy Timmons
• Kiko Loureiro
• Edu Ardanuy

And Eddie Van Halen, like every guitarist ever…

As you might have guessed from her super-melodic playing style, Lari also looks to guitarists like George Benson, John Mayer, and Rich Cotten for inspiration.

Lari’s style is definitely a mixture of all the artists above, but she admits that she focuses mainly on melodies. Shredding and running scales are cool, but at the end of the piece it has to make sense. It needs to be musical and tell a message that can be understood by the audience. That’s her entire goal every time she picks up a guitar.

Lari Basilio grew up in a very musical household. She started playing the organ at age 4 and transitioned to guitar after her father taught her a few chords at the age of 8. And from there, she was hooked!

Lari did do a brief stint as a lawyer (no big deal). She passed the Bar Exam and everything! She even worked with her father in Brazil, who is also a lawyer, but ultimately decided that being a professional guitarist was more her speed.

Her brother is also an accomplished guitarist in her homeland of Brazil, and the two even played together on a few songs. If you want to see some serious sibling acoustic shredding, check out the video for Walking by Faith. I’m surprised their fingers didn’t catch fire…

Needless to say, Lari chose the right path — luckily for us!

When it comes to writing and recording music, Lari likes to be “involved.” She writes everything. All the parts, all the mixing, all the arrangements. Sounds a little more than “involved” to me… She likes to write just her and herself. I mean, how many more people do you need, anyway!?

Lari spends a lot of time in her home studio making demos. By the time she’s ready to assemble a band and record some songs for real, they’re about as close to finished as possible.

However, that doesn’t means she’s a control freak in the studio. They might be her songs, but when she chooses bandmembers, it is because they’re incredible musicians. It’d be dumb to let all that talent go to waste. If they have parts to add, Lari loves to collaborate and let the piece come to life in real time.

Lari’s previous album, Far More, featured some incredible artists like Vinnie Calaiuta on drums, Nathan East on bass, and Greg Phillinganes on keys. She even got to play with one of her idols when Joe Satriani joined her in the studio to record “Glimpse of Light”!

Because of Lari’s preparedness with the demos, they were able to record the eight-song album in just one day!

For her 2022 album, Lari reenlisted Vinnie Calaiuta and swapped in Sean Hurley, Leland Sklar, and Ester Na to the lineup. Again, an all-star team of musicians! They completed the album in two days this time!

I see what she means about not letting talent go to waste. If you have musicians like these in the studio and one of them has an idea for one of your songs, you listen! Lari likes to map everything out as closely as possible to what she’s thinking, but she’ll never “close the door.”

Could another album be in the works currently…? Lari says yes! And we absolutely can’t wait.

Whatever Lari is working on, the happiest moment in her day is when she’s holding a guitar. She always looks like she’s having a blast while she’s playing, and we all have a blast watching her. There’s just no one who plays like Lari!

And now with her signature Ibanez LB1, signature Lari Basilio Seymour Duncan pickups, and her close relationship with Laney Amplification, her setup is finally as unique as she is.

A huge thanks to Lari Basilio for taking time out of her busy schedule to hang out — and serenade us a bit. Your guitar is awesome, your gear is awesome, and you’re awesome! Come by the AMS studios any time you’re in town, and we’ll keep an eye out for your next album.