Michael Anthony's bass strings: Van Halen's low end, sourced
Documented bass gear Michael Anthony played in Van Halen (1974-2006): a Yamaha BB3000MA signature bass and a Rotosound endorsement, plus the Schecter line he plays today. With citations.
Van Halen · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
Michael Anthony played bass and backing vocals for Van Halen from 1974 to 2006, across the band's first 11 albums, before Wolfgang Van Halen replaced him. He played a Yamaha BB3000MA signature bass; Rotosound's archive documents him as a string endorser from 1987. He built the Jack Daniel's bottle bass from the 'Panama' video, now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Today he plays Schecter's signature line with Sammy Hagar and the Circle.
Who Michael Anthony is
Michael Anthony Sobolewski, born June 20, 1954, in Chicago, Illinois, played bass and sang backing vocals for Van Halen from 1974 to 2006. His family settled in Arcadia, California, next door to Pasadena, where he met Eddie and Alex Van Halen at Pasadena City College. When bassist Mark Stone left the brothers' band, Mammoth, in 1974, a mutual friend suggested Anthony as a replacement. He joined on the spot.
Anthony picked up bass almost by accident. As a teenager he wanted to play guitar, but most of his friends already had that covered, so he switched after seeing a photo of Blue Cheer's bassist and deciding, in his own words, "that's me." His first instrument was a friend's Fender Mustang guitar with the top two strings pulled off; his father later bought him a Victoria copy of a Fender Precision Bass. He cited Cream's Jack Bruce, Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, and Electric Flag's Harvey Brooks as his biggest influences, and cut his teeth in a string of local Arcadia and Pasadena bands (Poverty's Children, Black Opal, Balls, and Snake) before Mammoth came calling. Snake and Mammoth played the same backyard-party circuit and even shared a bill once at Pasadena High School.
Anthony played on Van Halen's first 11 studio albums, from the self-titled 1978 debut through Van Halen III (1998), and sang backing vocals through the band's final studio work in 2004. He was the band's longest-tenured bassist. His tenure wasn't smooth throughout: in 1984, at the height of the band's fame, Anthony was pressured into signing away future songwriting royalties, and by the 2004 reunion tour with Sammy Hagar he was working on a reduced-royalty contract. On September 8, 2006, Eddie Van Halen announced that his son Wolfgang would take over on bass. Anthony has said he learned about his own replacement from the internet.
He and Hagar were the only past or present Van Halen members to attend the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction on March 12, 2007. Since leaving Van Halen, Anthony has stayed close to Hagar: he co-founded the supergroup Chickenfoot (with Hagar, Joe Satriani, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith) in 2008, and has played in Sammy Hagar and the Circle since it formed in 2014.
The current rig (sourced)
What's documented in the record
- Bass, classic era
- Yamaha BB3000MA, Anthony's own signature model with the company, confirmed on Yamaha's own artist page. This was his primary Van Halen-era instrument.
- Bass, current
- Schecter Guitar Research's Michael Anthony signature line: the Carbon Grey Bass, Signature Carbon Grey Bass, and "Rat Rod" Signature Bass. Anthony endorses the line directly in his own words on his official site: "these babies rock."
- Strings
- Rotosound's own 1987 print-advertising archive documents Anthony as a bass-string endorser. No specific model is confirmed on the archive page itself; no current string brand is documented.
- Novelty bass
- A Jack Daniel's bottle-shaped bass, built with bass tech Kevin "Dugie" Dugan and first seen in the 1984 "Panama" video. It's now on display in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Style signatures
Three things across the Van Halen catalog you can identify as Anthony's:
-
The third voice. Yamaha's own artist bio credits Anthony's "melodic and instantly recognizable backing vocals" as a huge part of Van Halen's sound, and says he's "responsible for many of the ear-shattering squeals and screams found throughout the band's albums." His voice is as much a part of the catalog as any instrument.
-
Root-anchored low end. Anthony played a steady, root-note foundation that let Eddie Van Halen's guitar and Alex Van Halen's drums range widely without the song losing its center. The pocket, not the flash, was his job, and the songs hold together because of it.
-
Theatrical showmanship. His live bass solos evolved from stunts (launching the bass off the riser, working the "Bonanza" theme into the set) into a genuine technical feature he nicknamed "Ultra Bass." Few rock bassists made the bass solo a headline moment the way he did.
Documented gear
Classic Van Halen era · Signature model
Yamaha BB3000MA
Anthony's own signature bass, built with Yamaha and confirmed on the company's own artist bio page along with a dedicated gear list. It's the instrument most associated with his 1978-2006 run in Van Halen.
Source: Yamaha Artists.
Current · Endorsed, in his own words
Schecter Michael Anthony signature basses
Three current models: the Carbon Grey Bass, Signature Carbon Grey Bass, and "Rat Rod" Signature Bass, all alder-bodied, 34-inch scale, with a PJ pickup configuration on the two Signature models. Anthony's own official site quotes him directly: "I am now proudly endorsing Schecter basses and let me tell you, these babies rock!"
Source: Mad Anthony's Cafe, official gear page. Not yet independently confirmed on Schecter's own site (JavaScript-rendered, unreadable this run); Anthony's own quoted endorsement is treated as sufficient primary sourcing.
Historical · Documented, gauge unconfirmed
Rotosound bass strings
Rotosound's own Music Strings Archive features Anthony in a 1987 print advertisement as a bass-string endorser. The archive page confirms the relationship but not an exact model or gauge; Swing Bass 66 is the brand's flagship stainless roundwound set from that era and the closest documented match.
Source: Rotosound Music Strings Archive.
Novelty build · Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Jack Daniel's bottle bass
Built with bass tech Kevin "Dugie" Dugan in the 1980s, shaped like a Jack Daniel's whiskey bottle, on the condition with the company that no more than three were made. First appeared in the "Panama" video (April 1984). One is on permanent display in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; a second is in Anthony's private collection; a third still comes out for occasional shows.
Source: Michael Anthony, Wikipedia, corroborated on Mad Anthony's Cafe.
| Carbon Grey Bass | Signature Carbon Grey Bass | "Rat Rod" Signature Bass | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body | Alder | Alder, bound | Alder, bound, distressed finish |
| Scale / radius | 34-inch, 12-inch | 34-inch, 12-inch | 34-inch, 12-inch |
| Neck | Bolt-on | 5-pc quarter-sawn hardrock maple/walnut, bolt-on | 5-pc quarter-sawn hardrock maple/walnut, bolt-on |
| Pickups | Schecter USA MonsterTone-J (MA) / MonsterTone-P (MA) | Schecter Custom Wound Monster Tone, untapped PJ | Schecter Custom Wound Monster Tone, untapped PJ |
Related
Bandmates on CYS. Eddie Van Halen (guitar), Alex Van Halen (drums). Full lineup history and catalog on the Van Halen band hub.
Bassist hub. All bassists on CYS. Rock bass canon parallel: Steve Harris (Iron Maiden), Geddy Lee (Rush), Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses).