Gears |
| This is the list of bass guitars that John has used in the past and present. Some of them have links to the company's website, but some don't even have the enough information about the gear itself. If you have found something new, or mistakes, please let me know. |
| color | Morocco red? |
| body | ? |
| neck | maple |
| fret | 20 |
| PU | Both seemed to have been P-type, but changed to the J-type. |
| scale length | ? |
| company | ? |
| other | There is no pickguard. |
| This is the first bass. He used this until early in MAJESTY period. He got this from his friend. This maker is in Korea and the price of instruments are very cheap(around up to $159). | |
| color | Morocco red? |
| body | Ash |
| neck | maple |
| fret | 20 |
| PU | Both are J-type. |
| scale length | ? |
| company | www.fender.com |
| other | - |
| This was also used until early in the MAJESTY period. | |
| color | Black |
| body | Hardwoods |
| neck | maple |
| fret | 21 |
| PU | music@man humbacking |
| scale length | 34" |
| company | www.ernieball.com |
| other | - |
| You can see this bass in 1st album booklet, and is used in MAJESTY album & the 1st album of D.Theater. Its sound clearly differs from the other rest of the albums thay made later. | |
| color | Magenta Stain |
| body | AAAA_Fig.Maple |
| neck | - |
| fret | 24 |
| PU | front..EMG/P rear...EMG/J |
| scale length | 34" |
| company | |
| other | - |
| Played in the recording of IMAGES AND WORDS. This must be John's last 4-string-bass. You can see this in the making of "Learning to live," on the IMAGES AND WORDS video. | |
| color | Transparent color red |
| body | maple or bubinga |
| neck | rosewood on maple |
| fret | 24 |
| PU | Bartolini |
| scale length | - |
| company | |
| other | There are 3 control knobs unlike current "Basics",5 or 6. |
| This red Tobias seems to be his first 6-string-bass. He uses this in some video clips of the IAW album. | |
| color | Orange Sunburst |
| body | maple or bubinga |
| neck | rosewood on maple |
| fret | 24 |
| PU | Bartolini |
| scale length | - |
| company | |
| other | There are 3 control knobs as well. |
| This is the another one. It is used in the IAW concerts. | |
| color | natural finish |
| body | Top...Spalted maple, Back...White ash |
| neck | Brazilian rosewood on maple |
| fret | 24 |
| PU | Bartolini PS46C |
| scale length | 36 |
| company | discontinued |
| other | It has an XLR cannon output. |
| This is used for recording of AWAKE, in the following world tour, in the A change of seasons recording, and in the tour of that album. It seemes that John mostly used this one out of a few which he owned. Unfortunately, the factory was already closed. | |
| color | Orange Sunburst |
| body | Top...Bird's eye maple, Back...White ash |
| neck | Brazilian rosewood on maple |
| fret | 24 |
| PU | Bartolini PS46C |
| scale length | 36 |
| company | discontinued |
| other | It has an XLR cannon output. |
| This bass is used in John's instructional video, "PROGRESSIVE BASS CONCEPT." He uses this for performing basic practice phrases. There is a picture of this bass with John with Billy Seehan(MR.BIG), in a Japanese music magazine. But he rarely used this bass on live. | |
| color | Natural finish |
| body | Top...Spalted maple, Back...White ash |
| neck | Bird's eye maple on maple |
| fret | 24 |
| PU | Bartolini PS46C |
| scale length | 36 |
| company | discontinued |
| other | Unlike those two above, the neck has the set neck style. |
| This one is used for explaining of Metropolis part1 tapping part in the instructional video. On the fretboard, there are black position marks. | |
| color | ? |
| body | Ash |
| neck | Rosewood on maple |
| fret | Fretless |
| PU | Passive, FGI technology J-pro single coil |
| scale length | 34 |
| company | |
| other | Unlike those two above, the neck has the set neck style. |
| In "The silent man"(AWAKE), John borrowed this bass from MARCO MENDOZA. In an interview, John says the bass company was Bella, but I couldn't find it. However, Marco was using the "La Bella" company's strings. So I guess this is it. And there were no fretless model available in store, so it seems to be customized for Marco. | |
| color | ? |
| body | ? |
| neck | ? |
| fret | 24 |
| PU | ? |
| scale length | ? |
| company | |
| other | This is the 5-string Electric Acoustic bass. |
| From the tour "A change of seasons", John begun to use this acoustic bass when playing "Wait for sleep". I don't have further information anymore, so if you have some about let me know! | |
| color | Seethru purple finish |
| body | Sen |
| neck | rose on maple |
| fret | Fretless |
| PU | ? |
| scale length | 35 |
| company | |
| other | The right side of the body has been slightly cut. |
| TRB series from YAMAHA. Now TRB6II is on sale, so the type of wood is different from that. Mainly he has 2 of them, and one is customized to the fretless(all frets have been removed and filled with glue). This one is used IN "HOLLOW YEARS," "PERUVIAN SKIES," and current tour. | |
| color | Natural finish |
| body | ? |
| neck | ? |
| fret | ? |
| PU | ? |
| scale length | ? |
| company | |
| other | Prototype |
| There is no 6-string-model in this RBX series, but this one is the prototype of John's custom bass. In "FALLING INTO INFINITY", he used this for recording. | |
| color | Ruby Red & Turquoise blue |
| body | Top..flame maple Back...Alder |
| neck | Ebony on maple |
| fret | 24 |
| PU | 2 active double coil |
| scale length | 35 |
| company | |
| other | Original inlay in the shape of infinity mark |
| This is his first signature model, RBX6JM. As same as TRB, for the remaining of low-B-string, the scale length is 1inch longer than the normal bass. Distance between strings is narrower. This bass has been used since the "TOURING INTO INFINITY", the new album, "SCENES FROM A MEMORY," and on the Metropolis 2000 tour. This is on sale from YAMAHA Japan. For some reason, in Yamaha's website, currently there is no infomation for it. | |
| color | Black |
| body | One-piece reinforced Steinberger Blend neck/body |
| neck | - |
| fret | 24 |
| PU | 2 EMG humbucking pickups |
| scale length | 34 |
| company | |
| other | The only 5 strings that John ownes? |
| This one can be seen in the viedo, 5YEARS IN A LIVETIME for a moment. John is playing this one in the tour bus. It's small and handy, so it might be for practice in anywhere... | |
| color | Metalic purple and silver |
| body | Alder |
| neck | Rosewood on hard maple |
| fret | 24 |
| PU | Seymour Duncan MMtype humbucking |
| scale length | 34 |
| company | |
| other | New one |
| The one John is using currently. It may come out soon. You have seen it in the last 2 tours. | |