James Lomenzo

"When I approached Yamaha, I had a very definitive idea of what I wanted," he says. "It has a bolt-on neck, because on neck-through basses, the envelope of the notes is far too long for this genre of music. It has an alder body and a full maple neck. There"s a P-style middle pickup, and then the same pickup mirrored in reverse at the bridge, which creates interesting, complex harmonics. Meanwhile, there"s a big EB-0-style pickup in the neck position, an idea I got from Billy Sheehan"s Yamaha bass. I can use that neck pickup for that old, grunting Felix Pappalardi/Jack Bruce sound, though that"s not something I do much with Megadeth. Between the three pickups, it"s an "every rock" bass--you can get pretty much any sound from the past 50 years out of it. It's an amazing instrument, and I can't put it down." - James Lomenzo.

In this photo, James Lomenzo can be seen playing a Warwick Stryker bass.

This photo is of James Lomenzo formerly of Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne, and HAIL! performing live during Megadeth's ENDGAME tour. The bass he is seen playing is the Fender Marcus Miller Jazz Bass V. He has removed the pickup cover of the neck pickup.

In this photo, James Lomenzo can be seen playing a Warwick Buzzard bass.

From his official site:

"I have a custom model based on Yamaha's venerable BB series". "When I need something even bigger sounding, I use Yamaha's "Billy Sheehan" model (mine have the addition of an additional reverse "P" pickup in the bridge position".

In this video, at 2:11 and onward, we can see LoMenzo with a Gibson Thunderbird IV in a Sunburst Finish.

In this photo, LoMenzo can be seen with a Black Yamaha Attitude Bass, this Bass appears to have been modified with a reversed Split-Coil Bass Pickup in the Bridge as is common on LoMenzo's Basses.

In this user-uploaded photo, James LoMenzo is pictured with an Alembic Series II Bass. Alembic instruments are known for their customization, but the distinctive shape in the image suggests it is a Series II model.

In this photo, LoMenzo can be seen holding a Vigier Passion 5-String Bass.

In this video we can see LoMenzo using a blue Gibson Non-Reverse Thunderbird in backstage rehearsals. It can also be seen in music video for "We'll be Back".

This photo is of James Lomenzo formerly of Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne, and HAIL! performing live during Megadeth's ENDGAME tour. The bass he is seen playing is the Fender Marcus Miller Jazz Bass. He has removed the pickup cover of the neck pickup.

James Lomenzo is currently using the Yamaha BBP34 bass on tour with Megadeth, as seen in the video "Megadeth - Live in Denver (4K) | Full Set (With Chapters) | Ball Arena, Colorado, August 6th 2024" by Metal & Rock Concerts in 4K on YouTube.