Justin Chancellor's bass strings and rig: the Tool setup, sourced
Documented gear Justin Chancellor has run with Tool since 1995: Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky Bass strings, a custom Wal MKII 4-string, Demeter preamps into Gallien-Krueger 2001RB heads and Mesa/Boogie cabs, and a Dunlop-anchored pedalboard built around his own signature Cry Baby wah. Sourced from Premier Guitar's 2024 Rig Rundown, Ernie Ball's own artist page, and Dunlop's artist roster.
Tool · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
Justin Gunnar Chancellor (born November 19, 1971, London, England) has been Tool's bassist since 1995, replacing Paul D'Amour during Ænima sessions. He's a documented Ernie Ball artist, running Hybrid Slinky Bass strings (.045-.110, drop-D-adjusted) since joining the band. His rig centers on a custom Wal MKII 4-string bass through Demeter preamps and Gallien-Krueger 2001RB heads into Mesa/Boogie cabs, plus a Dunlop-anchored pedalboard built around his signature Cry Baby wah.
Who Justin Chancellor is
Justin Gunnar Walter Chancellor, born November 19, 1971, in London, England, has been Tool's bassist since 1995, replacing Paul D'Amour during the recording of the band's second full-length album. He was educated at Tonbridge School in Kent and studied at Durham University before moving to the US to join the band full time. Across the catalog, from Ænima (1996) through Fear Inoculum (2019), his mid-forward, harmonically dense tone, built on a custom Wal 4-string run through Demeter and Gallien-Krueger amplification, is as identifiable as any voice in progressive metal.
Pre-Tool: the British band Peach (1991-1995), which released Giving Birth to a Stone (1994) and supported Tool on a 1994 European tour, the connection that led to his hire when original bassist Paul D'Amour left (per his own biography).
Chancellor and drummer Danny Carey personally accepted Tool's Best Metal Performance Grammy for "7empest" in 2020, one of several Grammy wins across the band's catalog.
On why he's stuck with the same string brand since joining Tool in 1995:
Someone made a call and I got Ernie Ball strings, and pretty amazing really that you guys have been supplying me with strings for over 20 years now.
Bassist, Tool
If you want this rig
Hybrid Slinky Bass (.045-.105)
Why this one: The base set Chancellor customizes from: stock .045-.065-.085-.105, with a heavier .110 or .135 low string swapped in depending on the song's tuning. Documented in Ernie Ball's own String Theory series and Premier Guitar's 2024 Rig Rundown.
Bass guitars
Current main · Custom-built · His bass since Ænima
Wal MKII 4-string
Ordered as a replica of a friend's originally-fretless Wal that got fretted for the Ænima sessions; this is the second edition of that build and has been his main bass for 15-plus years. Mahogany core, bird's-eye maple caps, a neck blending mahogany, maple, and rosewood, a rosewood fretboard, lighter hardware, and Luminlay fret markers. He owns three other four-string Wals.
Source: Premier Guitar Rig Rundown (2024); Wikipedia (MKII designation).
Secondary · 2018 model · Used live on "Descending"
Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay Special
Chancellor auditioned for Tool decades earlier with an Ernie Ball StingRay that didn't fit the band's sound at the time. It resurfaced in the setlist for "Descending" off Fear Inoculum, complete with a duct-tape-and-marker mark on the volume knob so he can ride it up during the song's build.
Source: Premier Guitar Rig Rundown (2024).
Off-stage only · Backstage and inspiration
1963 Fender Precision Bass
Bought from Norm's Rare Guitars. It never makes the stage (not enough output for Tool's needs), but it travels on tour because Chancellor finds it inspiring to play backstage, on the bus, or in the hotel room.
Source: Premier Guitar Rig Rundown (2024).
Strings
Documented · Custom drop-tuning gauge swaps
Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky Bass (.045-.105, base set)
His basses run a custom set built on the standard Hybrid Slinky Bass gauge (.045-.065-.085-.105). Because Tool tunes down to Drop D for most songs, he swaps in a .110 low string from the Power Slinky pack; for Drop C on the oldest catalog, he goes up to a .135. He's played Ernie Ball since joining Tool in 1995, per his own testimonial on Ernie Ball's site.
Source: Premier Guitar Rig Rundown (2024); Ernie Ball: String Theory.
Amps and pedalboard
Chancellor's studio and stage tone runs through Demeter VTBP-201S Bass Tube Preamplifiers straight to the house PA, feeding a trio of Gallien-Krueger 2001RB power amp heads (one clean, one dirty, one spare). The clean head drives a Mesa/Boogie RoadReady 8x10 cabinet; the dirty head, EQ'd harder, drives a custom Mesa/Boogie 4x12 that takes the full pedalboard. Radial JD7 Injectors handle amp switching and noise rejection.
His board is larger than his guitar-playing bandmate's, per Premier Guitar's 2024 Rundown, built around his own signature Dunlop JCT95 Justin Chancellor Cry Baby Wah (which hides a Tone Bender-style fuzz circuit) and a DigiTech Bass Whammy for the octave and fifth-up harmonies that color songs like "Schism," "Lateralus," "Vicarious," and "Right in Two." The rest of the board includes a Tech 21 SansAmp GT2, an MXR Bass Envelope Filter and Bass Octave Deluxe, a Pro Co Turbo Rat, several Boss pedals for delay, flanging, chorus, and EQ, and a Gamechanger Audio Plus for freezing sustained notes mid-song. He hammers the strings with a custom 1mm Dunlop Tortex Triangle pick.
Style signatures
Three things across the Tool catalog you can identify as Chancellor's:
-
Mid-forward Wal-into-Demeter tone. The signature bass voice in Tool's mix; sits inside the arrangement as a distinct voice rather than a foundation.
-
Pedal-heavy signal chain. A signature wah, an octave-and-fifth-up Whammy, envelope filters, and distortion across an extensive pedalboard, unusual for metal-bass contexts and central to Tool's textural identity.
-
Odd-time-signature navigation. Tool's catalog runs through 7/8, 5/8, 11/8, 13/8 and polymetric phrasings; Chancellor's bass parts navigate these cleanly and provide the rhythmic anchor alongside Maynard James Keenan and Adam Jones.