Stephen Carpenter of the Deftones loves EMG 808′s
Stephen Carpenter of the Deftones loves EMG 808′s
Stephen (Stef) Carpenter
(born August 3, 1970 in Sacramento, California) is the co-founder and lead guitarist of the American rock band Deftones. His guitar technique makes use of both ringing open strings and dissonant chord voicings, as well as stock power chords in polyrhythms. Carpenter is a noted 7 and 8 string guitar player, being influenced by such bands as Fear Factory and Meshuggah.
Musical influences
Carpenter has stated that he mostly listens to rap, but outside of rap, Meshuggah, Fear Factory, Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Faith No More are some of his influences. He also draws influence from Depeche Mode and Led Zeppelin, which can be heard on more subdued tracks. He has also stated that his favorite album of all time is Chaosphere by Meshuggah, saying: “The most brutal record I’ve heard, from second one to second last. It left me wondering where the hell I’d been the whole time.”
Equipment
Carpenter is currently endorsed by ESP Guitars, Marshall Amplifiers, GuitarRig and EMG pickups. He has been a major endorser of ESP since the mid-1990s. He has had a number of ESP/LTD signature models in production, both in six (discontinued), seven string and baritone models. Carpenter has been using a new 8-String guitar built for him by ESP featuring a lower F# string.
Carpenter currently uses Ernie Ball .011-.059 gauge strings. He also uses Dunlop 1 mm
Tortex picks which are black with a custom logo.
On tour, Carpenter takes about 14 guitars.
He uses 7 main guitars, and the rest are back-ups for all the different tunings. Carpenter has a range of different guitar tunings, including standard E, drop D (Adrenaline), drop D♭/C# (Around The Fur), drop C (White Pony), and from then on, G# on a 7 string, in addition to drop F# and various other alternate 7 string tunings (Deftones, Saturday Night Wrist).
On the new album Diamond Eyes, Carpenter has made use of an 8 string in F# tuning. Since transitioning from a 6 string to a 7 in late 2000, Carpenter has played his 6 string songs on a 7 with the two highest strings tuned to the same note while playing live (ex. EADGBEE for Adrenaline), after discovering that Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland used this method. On the single Rocket Skates, the song is played on an 8 string, although Carpenter does not make use of the F# string. In order to prevent confusion between rigs while touring, Carpenter has two identical rigs, one for U.S. tours and the other for foreign countries.
Guitars
ESP Stef SRC-7
ESP Stef B-7
ESP Stef T-7
ESP Stef B-8
LTD SC-607
GPDUSA
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