John Petrucci

John Petrucci is the guitarist, producer, main lyricist and backing vocalist of Dream Theater, which he co-founded after graduating from the Berklee College of Music. His side projects include Liquid Tension Experiment with Tony Levin, and he is a veteran of Joe Satriani's G3 tours alongside Steve Vai, Eric Johnson and Paul Gilbert¹. He has put his name on a wah with Dunlop and a modulation pedal with TC Electronic, and his TonePrint presets are downloadable for free.

TC Electronic TonePrints and the live rig

Petrucci's relationship with TC Electronic goes back to the company's rack units. He describes himself as a longtime user of the 2290 Dynamic Digital Delay and the Stereo Chorus Flanger⁴, and in his own words:

When TC launched its TonePrint pedals, digital effects whose artist-designed performance parameters can be downloaded by any player with a TonePrint pedal and web connectivity, Petrucci was one of the first rock guitarists to join the program⁸⁹. In early 2011 he created five personal TonePrints: two for the Corona chorus, two for the Shaker vibrato and one for the Vortex flanger¹⁰. By February 2012 the Corona Chorus, Vortex Flanger and Shaker Vibrato were all part of his live rig⁵. His chorus work with TC includes a Crunch Chorus TonePrint that MusicRadar's reviewer describes as Rush-esque¹¹, and MusicRadar also notes a Petrucci TonePrint for the Helix phaser, calling it his "subtle Alex Lifeson impression"¹². A TC Electronic Helix appeared in the gear listing for Petrucci's rig in Premier Guitar's 2019 rig rundown¹³.

His chorus use is a signature part of the Dream Theater sound. He explains where it sits in the set:

On the classic recorded sound, he says he ran the TC chorus as a stompbox right before his amp, because he loved the way the chorusing interacted with the distortion on his Boogie⁴.

How he runs pedals onstage

Petrucci's approach is shaped by the size of the venues Dream Theater plays. In his own words:

Signature pedals

The Dreamscape

The Dreamscape, released by TC Electronic in March 2012, was a first on both sides: Petrucci had never done a signature pedal before, and neither had TC Electronic⁴⁷¹⁴. It is a modulation pedal that collects all of his TonePrint presets into one unit⁵, covering chorus, flanger and vibrato⁴. Performer Mag's reviewer described it as bringing "the modulation effects contained in John Petrucci's monstrous racks to the tip of your foot"¹⁵.

The pedal has a direct lineage to the TC rack unit he used for years. Petrucci says that with the trend of modded, boutique pedals, he told TC he would do a modded version of the SCF⁴, and the design goals were his own wish list:

The Dreamscape is digital, using similar algorithms to create the effect types⁴, with stereo in and out so it can sit in an effects loop⁴. Petrucci designed the presets so that setting the controls at 12 o'clock gives his go-to sounds, including one preset for a clean sound and one for a distorted sound⁴. The pedal houses his six TonePrints, and other chorus TonePrints from TC can be downloaded for free¹⁶. The TonePrint feature is also available on TC's Hall of Fame Reverb, Shaker Vibrato, Vortex Flanger and Corona Chorus¹⁷.

The JP95 John Petrucci Signature Cry Baby Wah

Petrucci has used Cry Baby wahs for as long as he can remember¹. His path to a signature model ran through two Dunlop products: the 535Q, which he says "really got me fine-tuning and honing my Cry Baby sound"¹, and then the Cry Baby Rack Wah, whose many options let him dial in that same sound¹. For years he tweaked and fine-tuned the rack system's parameters until he found the sound that represents the expression and intensity he needs¹⁸³.

The JP95, introduced in 2016, is the result³. Petrucci and Dream Theater engineer Richard Chycki worked with the Cry Baby design team to replicate and further fine-tune that sound in a single pedal². Dunlop describes it as combining all the fine-tuning abilities of the Cry Baby Rack Wah into a standard Cry Baby pedal housing¹⁹, and Guitar World's reviewer found it accurately reproduces the tone of the rack system he had been using²⁰. The pedal's tone range is based on the settings Petrucci used for years on his rack wah²¹.

The manual describes the sound as the "vocal, expressive tones that the Cry Baby Wah is famous for"⁶, and MusicRadar's review says the pedal comes preset with Petrucci's favorite setting, "a very vocal-sounding sweep that most of us would be satisfied with"²³. Though it ships set for Petrucci's sound, Premier Guitar's reviewer noted the internal controls let you tune the wah in precise, specific ways to suit your own rig²¹. In Sweetwater's demo video, presenter Nick describes the preset as Petrucci's favorite rock wah setting, "the angry monster," and notes eight trimpots under the base plate, including one for volume and one for Q²².

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MusicRadar's verdict on the pedal was positive:

Guitar World's video review found the JP95 has "an aggressively musical sweep but it also can be fine-tuned internally to get the preferred W sound of your choice"²⁴.

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Beyond the wah, Petrucci has also collaborated with Dunlop on signature picks¹, and GuitarPlayer notes that brands give him signature models because he is so fond of their pedals²⁵. In 2026 he was among the first players to receive Dunlop's unlabelled Iron Maiden Killers Cry Baby wah packages, sharing his reaction, "How cool is that?", with his followers²⁶²⁷.

Questions