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, 5- and 6-string roundwound contexts, the prog-metal 5-string canon. With citations from Ernie Ball's String Theory feature.
Dream Theater · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
John Myung is Dream Theater's bassist since 1985 and a documented Ernie Ball Slinky bass family endorser per Ernie Ball's String Theory feature on him. Plays 5-string and 6-string Music Man / Bongo / Yamaha basses with Slinky bass strings across Dream Theater's catalog from When Dream and Day Unite (1989) through Parasomnia (2025). The defining prog-metal bass voice of the past four decades, technically virtuosic and harmonically literate, with the rhythm-section pocket Mike Portnoy and Mike Mangini built the band's catalog around.
Strings John Myung plays
Documented use · last verified 2026-04-29 · Affiliate links
5-String Regular Slinky Bass (.045–.130)
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At a glance
Role
Active
Affiliations
- Dream Theater (founding bassist, 1985–present)
- Ernie Ball (documented Slinky bass family endorser)
- Music Man (signature John Myung Bongo basses, 5- and 6-string)
- Yamaha (earlier-era signature basses, RBX-JM series)
- Platypus (1990s side project with Rod Morgenstein, Ty Tabor, Derek Sherinian)
Notable credits
- Dream Theater, Images and Words (1992)
- Awake (1994)
- Falling Into Infinity (1997)
- Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999)
- Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)
- Train of Thought (2003)
- A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011)
- The Astonishing (2016)
- Distance Over Time (2019)
- Parasomnia (2025)
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 the John Myung Bongo line in 5- and 6-string variants. Earlier signature relationships were with Yamaha (RBX-JM series).
What he plays
Ernie Ball Slinky bass family. The brand-level 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. The 5-String Regular Slinky Bass (.045-.130) is the working canonical Slinky 5-string spec for prog-metal in B standard, the gauge most working pros default to before reaching for specialty alloys.
His current signature bass is the Music Man John Myung Bongo, available in 5- and 6-string variants. He uses the 6-string for songs that require the high-C string for melodic passages, and the 5-string for songs that need the low-B for prog-metal heaviness.
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 5- or 6-string Music Man Bongo 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
5-String Regular Slinky Bass (.045–.130)
Why this one: Working canonical Slinky 5-string spec. Myung's documented Slinky-family endorsement; this is the gauge most prog-metal 5-string players default to.