Band: L'arc en Ciel

Bio:
tetsuya is one of Japan's most celebrated bass players. After forming "L'Arc~en~Ciel" in 1991, tetsuya used his trademark picking style with his Zon Legacy Elite on the band’s album "Dune", which reached No.1 on the Japanese indie chart.

In 1999, tetsuya released two albums simultaneously, “ark” and “ray”, which together sold a record 6 million copies (simultaneous sales from 7 Asian countries). In the same year tetsuya’s 12 twelve concert "1999 GRAND CROSS TOUR" attracted audiences totaling 650,000 people, and was also broadcast live to various Asian countries.

In tetsuya's book released by Bass Magazine, he was quoted as saying his reason for initially purchasing a ZON bass for their debut album was: "There just weren't any good basses around... ZON wasn't being used by many people, plus it had a high class image, so I thought it might be good." He describes the sound of his Legacy Elite as "incredibly clear, and with a wide dynamic range. I think of it as 'snappy'."

tetsuya owns four Legacy Elite basses and has been using his original Legacy Elite 4-string for almost all of L'Arc-en-Ciel’s recordings for over 10 years. tetsuya's playing style has been described as melodic and he has been known to switch between his Legacy 4 and 5-string basses.

tetsuya has released two solo albums, "Suite November" and "Come On!" in 2002 and 2011 respectively. He also has over 7 singles and a song written for Japan's hit movie / Manga soundtrack "Love for Nana: Only 1 Tribute."

Discography:

Zon bass(es) of choice:
Legacy Elite 4, Walnut/fretted
Legacy Elite 4, Koa/fretted
Legacy Elite 5, Metallic blue/fretted