Dream Theater are a band that leave no room for half measures: you either love them or hate them. You don’t go to see them live just to have a good night out; it’s an experience that fully immerses the listener. The progressive metal masters have released no fewer than sixteen studio albums over their forty-year career and sold more than twelve million albums worldwide, but above all they have built an almost obsessively loyal fan base. In fact, most Dream Theater fans are musicians themselves, which explains the staggering amount of signature gear that John Petrucci, the band’s guitarist and founding member, has put his name to. With the band having just released their tenth live album, and the second to be recorded in Paris, we take a look at the key ingredients that have shaped the Petrucci sound.
At His Fingertips
John Petrucci is widely regarded as one of today’s greatest shredders, with an alternate-picking technique that can easily hold its own against pioneers of the genre Al Di Meola and Steve Morse (both major influences on his playing). Tone-wise, he had already settled on his definitive formula by the second album (and the first with James LaBrie on vocals), Images And Words, in 1992. He switches between an ultra-crystalline clean tone with chorus and delay, a very aggressive, dry metal rhythm sound not far removed from Metallica on Master Of Puppets, and a warm, fluid lead tone drenched in delay.
As for guitars, he was seen playing B.C. Rich before moving to Ibanez in the late ’80s, particularly the Strat-style EX range. But by 1995, the band had become successful enough for his custom guitar to make it into production as the famous JPM (John Petrucci Model). It’s an RG-style guitar with a Floyd Rose and two DiMarzio humbuckers (a brand he remains loyal to this day), with a Steve’s Special at the bridge and an Air Norton at the neck, topped off with a suitably wild Picasso finish. Around the same time, he discovered the seven-string through Steve Vai’s Ibanez Universe, which he put to radical use on Awake in 1994, effectively inventing djent well ahead of its time.
The big news came at NAMM 2001: as the new millennium got under way and the band had toured extensively in support of their masterpiece Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, Petrucci unveiled a model with MusicMan. A quarter of a century later, he is still with the Californian brand, and the model has gone through no fewer than 16 “standard” versions. Add the seven-string versions, limited-edition BFRs and various Sterling models, and you have a collection big enough to fill a shop. From the outset, the MusicMan JP models have featured a very flat 17-inch radius, a shape designed for ergonomics and performance, a non-locking MusicMan tremolo and a piezo system alongside the magnetic pickups. Since version 13, the pickups have been DiMarzio Illuminators, while for version 16 Petrucci had some fun by adding a Floyd Rose. There is also a limited-edition baritone version.
Meanwhile, since 2014, MusicMan have also produced the Majesty, a very different take on the Petrucci model, likewise available in six- or seven-string versions and in various BFR and Sterling editions. Its shape is even more ergonomic and streamlined, the fingerboard is ebony rather than roasted maple, the pickups are DiMarzio Rainmaker and Dreamcatcher models and, most importantly, it features neck-through construction rather than a bolt-on neck. Petrucci regularly chooses exotic woods for increasingly spectacular tops on this constantly evolving model.
Tube Power
Unlike most guitarists today, especially in the metal world, John Petrucci has resisted the lure of the Quad Cortex and other modelling solutions. From the very beginning, there have always been valves in his rack, and Mesa Boogie has consistently provided the sounds he is looking for. At the time of Images And Words in 1992, he used the Quad Preamp in the studio and two Triaxis units live, in both cases with the Two Ninety power amp. With Awake in 1994, he discovered the Mark II C+, which would remain a benchmark tone for him, while he also used a Dual Rectifier. On Train Of Thought in 2003, it was a Road King that could be heard, but he returned to the C+ for his solo album Suspended Animation in 2005. He then kept pace with the evolution of the brand’s flagship amp: the Mark IV in 2007 on Systematic Chaos and the Mark V in 2013 on the self-titled album.
Neural DSP
Quad Cortex
But in 2016, John Petrucci became the only guitarist to have his own signature model with Mesa Boogie. The JP-2C is a 100-watt, three-channel head with two five-band graphic EQs, bringing together all of John’s favourite tones. After ten years of use, the JP-2C has barely changed at all and remains the foundation of the Dream Theater sound. Live, it runs into a straight Rectifier 4×12 cabinet housed in an iso box to keep it from taking up too much space in the overall mix.
Into the Racks
When it comes to effects, Petrucci is extremely precise and demanding. He uses relatively few effects, but every component is top-notch. From the very beginning, he has relied on the legendary TC Electronic 2290 rack unit for his delays and modulation effects, and it can be found in most versions of his rig, right through to the 2024 incarnation, which features both the original rack unit and the more recent pedal version.
In 2002, his rig featured a rack-mounted Dunlop CryBaby wah and a pedal rack containing a Boss DD-3 delay, an MXR Phase 90 and a Fulltone Full Drive 2. On the multi-effects side, there was an Eventide DSP7000 rack unit and a TC Electronic M2000 alongside the 2290.
By 2016, Petrucci’s system was split into two signal paths, with the piezo running into a TC Electronic BodyRez pedal and then a Radial DI on one side, and the magnetic pickups on the other. This was the year the Petrucci CryBaby was launched, and it remains one of the most interesting signature models in Dunlop’s extensive range, as it features internal trimpots that replicate the settings of the rack version. At the time, he was also using a TC HyperGravity Compressor, a Keeley Red Dirt Overdrive, a TC Helix Phaser, two TC Dreamscape pedals (his signature modulation pedal) and an MXR Uni-Vibe.
Finally, for the latest version of his rig in 2024, the system remains very similar, with a stereo split that uses two MXR Chorus pedals with slightly different settings.
Essential Accessories
John is a guitarist who leaves nothing to chance, and even the smallest details of his gear have been carefully considered. In fact, he has so many signature picks with Dunlop that they have been brought together in a single pack. There are Ultex Jazz III, Flow, Trinity and PrimeTone Jazz picks. As for strings, he still uses Ernie Ball Slinky 10-46s, a tried-and-tested classic. But don’t get your hopes up: even if you put all these ingredients together, you’ll still need to clock up a few thousand hours of practice before you can hope to get anywhere near the master himself.
This article is an adaptation of a piece originally written by Julien Bitoun, who is credited as the author of the original French t.blog article.
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