Justin’s bass tech Pete Lewis said they sometimes go through a string change mid-performance.

Justin Chancellor explained why he’s in no rush to try out 5-string basses as his workhorse instrument, also reflecting on why he prefers his strings changed as often as possible, sometimes even in the middle of a concert.Five-string basses are frequently associated with progressively-minded daredevil virtuosos, and while Tool’s long-serving bassist is one, he argued during a recent chat with Premier Guitar that the extra range isn’t something his job really requires, given all the possibilities a standard bass, when coupled with all the accompanying gear, already offers.

“Never!”, he shouts in mock rage at the question of whether he’s ever considered switching to a 5-string, then proceeding to provide a more serious answer (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):

“No, I make a joke about that, but I would give it a go. For me, there’s so much to explore within the realm of four strings; there’s 24 frets on this [his Wal bass] as well, and I’ve got an octave pedal, so I can pretty much go anywhere. I mean, going lower than the bottom string is challenging, especially with the pedal, tracking gets a bit weird, but I’m obsessed with just keeping it this way, I can put thicker strings on…”


Speaking of strings, Justin and his bass tech Pete Lewis also explained why they prefer changing strings on the bassist’s instrument as often as possible — the polar opposite of players such as The Meters’ George Porter Jr, who recently said that he only goes for a string change when they break.

“Absolutely. Before soundcheck, if it’s a heavy soundcheck where they’re doing a lot of songs, I’ll change out the D string, or maybe do a complete change. And then, halfway through the show, Justin and I were like, ‘Why don’t we do a string change?’ It takes me five minutes to do a complete overhaul. He plays on the backup, and I’ll switch ’em all out.”

Explaining why he prefers the sound of fresh strings, Justin chimed in:

“Just the attack, brightness. Especially once people have been through half a show, their ears are beaten up a little bit, so it cuts back through, lifts it up, and gives it brightness again.”

Earlier this month, Justin revealed that Tool has been writing some new music lately, adding that fans won’t have to wait for a new album as long as they did for 2019’s “Fear Inoculum”:

“Danny [Carey] is 62 now, so there’s no thought of taking 13 years if we’re gonna do it,” Chancellor said. “We’re gonna have to be more efficient, and we’ve been talking of ways that we can do that.”