Dream Theater’s Dreamsonic tour – for which they recruited Devin Townsend and Animals As Leaders – recently came to a close, and to commemorate the occasion Tosin Abasi gifted John Petrucci an electric guitar from his brand, Abasi Concepts.
But this wasn’t just any electric guitar: instead, this was Abasi’s radical Emi 8 model, which revived the artwork of one of Trooch’s most iconic instruments – his Picasso-esque Ibanez JPM100 P1 signature guitar.
The JPM100 was first introduced in 1995, discontinued in 1999, and was notably the only John Petrucci Series production model. It arrived initially with five different color schemes, but arguably its most iconic variant came strapped to the P1, which saw action on Dream Theater's Images and Words record.
Fans of the finish will also associate the guitar with Rock Discipline – the Dream Theater virtuoso’s classic tuition tape from ‘96, which saw Trooch wield the technicolored six-string for a series of in-depth lessons.
It’s not an exaggeration to say Rock Discipline – and, by extension, that quirky JPM100 P1 – had a formative influence on countless players (Abasi Concepts COO Ivan Chopik counts himself among that crop), so to see the finish in 2023 makes us very nostalgic indeed.
What’s more, to see it attached to the okoume body of an Emi 8 – one of today’s most ergonomically crafted and radically designed eight-strings – somehow seems even more fitting.
On Instagram, Abasi shared snaps of the guitar and wrote, “@johnpetrucciofficial has always been a massive source of inspiration for us @abasiconcepts, so we decided to pay homage to the [Greatest Of All Time] by recreating one of his iconic guitar finishes from the past with this sick one-off ēmi 8.”
Chopik went into further detail in a post of his own, revealing they tapped the artist who painted the original guitar, Dan Lawrence, to transform the Emi 8.
“Life definitely came full circle in this very cool moment,” he wrote. “@johnpetrucciofficial has always been a massive source of inspiration to us at Abasi Concepts (for me starting with Rock Discipline about 20 years ago), so we decided to pay homage to one of his iconic guitar finishes with this incredible one-off ēmi 8.”
We haven’t yet seen footage of Petrucci play his new Emi 8, but now he’s got his hands on the spiritual successor to his JPM100 P1, perhaps a Rock Discipline sequel is in order?
What's more, the two Abasi Concepts leaders have stressed this is just a one-off, but we can’t help but harbor slim hopes that the other JPM100 finishes will also get resurrected.
All we’re saying is the artwork of the two-tone JPM100P3 – which saw action on Falling Into Infinity and Liquid Tension Experiment – would be the perfect follow-up model.
Head over to Abasi Concepts to found out more about the standard Emi 8.
While on the Dreamsonic tour, Petrucci and Abasi shared the stage to serve up spellbinding harmonies on Dream Theater's The Spirit Carries On.
