John Myung's bass strings: the Dream Theater prog-metal rig, sourced
Documented bass-string gauges, brands, and tunings John Myung uses with Dream Theater. Ernie Ball Slinky bass family, 4- and 6-string signature basses. With citations from Music Man's own specifications and Ernie Ball's String Theory feature.
Dream Theater · written with AI help · updated
John Myung is Dream Theater's bassist since 1985 and a documented Ernie Ball Slinky bass family endorser. His Music Man signature lineup is a 6-string (the John Myung Bongo 6 HH, his main instrument since the early 2000s) and a 4-string (the John Myung 4, for earlier-catalog songs like the Images and Words material). Music Man's own specifications table lists the Bongo 6 HH's factory strings as Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt Bass. No 5-string Myung signature exists. He's the defining prog-metal bass voice of the past four decades, technically virtuosic and harmonically literate, with the pocket Portnoy and Mangini built the catalog around.
Who John Myung is
John Myung is the founding bassist of Dream Theater, the prog-metal band he co-founded with John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy in 1985 at Berklee College of Music (originally as Majesty). Across Dream Theater's catalog from When Dream and Day Unite (1989) through Parasomnia (2025), Myung has been the harmonic and rhythmic foundation of one of the most-influential prog-metal acts of the past 40 years.
Long-documented Ernie Ball Slinky bass family endorser per Ernie Ball's String Theory feature on him. Music Man signature artist with two basses: the John Myung Bongo 6 HH and the John Myung 4. Earlier signature relationships were with Yamaha (RBX-JM series).
What he plays
Ernie Ball Slinky bass family, at brand level. The relationship is documented on Ernie Ball's String Theory feature; specific gauge attribution to a particular Dream Theater tour or record requires individual rig-rundown citation. Music Man's own specifications table is more precise about the instrument he plays live: his 6-string Bongo 6 HH is factory-strung with Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt 6-String Electric Bass Strings (.032-.130).
Myung's two current Music Man signatures are the 6-string Bongo 6 HH and the 4-string John Myung 4, not a 5-string. The 6-string is his main instrument, the one he calls his "comfort zone." Per Music Man's own product page, he returned to the 4-string for the Images and Words material on Dream Theater's 40th Anniversary Tour: "I missed the physical freedom and generous string spacing of the Music Man four-string bass. Each song needs to be played on what it was written for to capture its original soul." Music Man's spec sheet lists the John Myung 4's factory strings at .045-.065-.080-.100, without naming a brand for that model.
Why this fits the rig
Dream Theater's catalog spans odd-meter prog-metal compositions where the bass carries both rhythm-section foundation and harmonic counter-melody simultaneously. Three-finger right-hand fingerstyle technique on a 4- or 6-string Music Man signature bass with Ernie Ball Slinky strings is the canonical setup: the Slinky family delivers warm, balanced top-end that doesn't fight Petrucci's rhythm guitar; the Bongo's active electronics give Myung the punch and articulation his fast passages require; the multi-string instruments give him the harmonic range to move independently from the guitar.
The .130 low-B specifically is the gauge floor for prog-metal in B standard. Myung's bass parts in songs like "The Dance of Eternity" or "Stream of Consciousness" require fast articulation across the bottom string in unison with Petrucci's rhythm guitar; the .130 holds pitch under that attack where a lighter low-B would flop.
If you want this rig
Slinky Cobalt 6-String Electric Bass Strings (.032–.130)
Why this one: The factory string spec on Myung's own signature Bongo 6, per Music Man's own specifications table.
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