Encountering a surprise in the digital world, Stephen Carpenter, from Deftones, has switched back to tube amps for their latest tour.
Deftones' Stephen Carpenter Embraces Tube Amps for Latest Album
Stephen Carpenter, the guitarist of the renowned band Deftones, has made a significant change in his setup, moving away from amp modelers and re-incorporating tube amps. This shift is evident in Deftones' latest album, private music, which was released last month.
Carpenter's live rig is now headed by Bogner Uber-Ultra heads, which are loaded with KT88s. These powerful amplifiers provide the organic sound, feel, and response that Carpenter appreciated during the recording of private music. In the studio, Greg Dubinovskiy, Carpenter's guitar tech, handled the amps.
The decision to return to tube amps was a pivotal moment for Carpenter. He found the sound produced by his digital equipment unappealing and had issues with it. However, Carpenter has stated that "the amps never fail."
Before crafting songs for private music, Carpenter and Chino Moreno were chasing sounds. To achieve this, Carpenter added an amp for every take during the recording process. His live rig also includes Bogner cabs, and he uses the Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier tube amplifier for his live rig configuration.
Interestingly, Carpenter did not touch the amps during the recording of private music. Instead, he made a decision that revolutionized his relationship with amp modelers: resetting his amp blocks and presets to the factory state. Since then, Carpenter only uses the factory presets on his Strymon BigSky, Timeline, and Mobius pedals without touching any knobs.
Carpenter's previous setup was a compromise hybrid rig, running his Helix into a Fryette power amp. However, with the success of private music and his new setup, it seems that Carpenter has found a sound that truly resonates with him and his music.
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