Stephen Carpenter's guitar strings: the Deftones 8-string rig, sourced

Stephen Carpenter's Deftones rig has centered on ESP 8-strings since 2010, with new additions as of 2025:

• Guitars: ESP STEF B-8, a 27-inch baritone-scale 8-string built at ESP's Custom Shop in Tokyo, his primary guitar since Diamond Eyes. Since recording Private Music (2025), he also plays Kiesel Vader 8 headless guitars, switching between ESPs and Kiesels depending on how he's feeling. ESP separately sells more affordable LTD-line Carpenter signatures (SC-607 Baritone, SC-608 Baritone, SCT-607 Baritone), distinct from his ESP-brand Custom Shop models.
• Strings: Ernie Ball Paradigm 8-string sets, coated nickel-plated steel. Carpenter has given his own gauges on Ernie Ball's artist page: a .069 low string for standard 8-string F# tuning, a .076 low string for Drop E.
• Tuning: 8-string Drop E, Drop D#, or Drop D by song. He has also written on 9-string guitars since 2020's Ohms, confirmed independently by Fishman's own 9-string Stephen Carpenter Signature pickup set.
• Pickups: Fishman Fluence Stephen Carpenter signature, active, voice-switchable humbuckers, sold in 6- through 9-string configurations.
• Amps: A hybrid rig built by tech Greg Dubinovskiy and amp builder Dave Friedman: KT88-loaded Bogner Uberschall Uber-Ultra heads into Bogner 2x12 and 4x12 UberKabs (Celestion V-30 and G12T-75 speakers), with a Line 6 Helix handling switching and a Fractal Axe-Fx II still in the rack.

Carpenter brought 8-string into Deftones on 2010's Diamond Eyes, a decision that reshaped the band's sound around extended-range rhythm work. Diamond Eyes, Koi No Yokan (2012), Gore (2016), and Ohms (2020) are all 8-string-dominant records. Deftones' post-2010 catalog is one of the most commercially successful 8-string-heavy catalogs in mainstream alt-metal.

Carpenter's health limited his role on Private Music (2025): undiagnosed type 2 diabetes left him lethargic and in pain during the writing and recording sessions, and singer Chino Moreno ended up playing a significant share of the album's guitar parts as a result. Carpenter publicly disclosed the diagnosis in interviews around the album's release. The rig and gauges above describe Carpenter's documented touring and studio setup; exactly which Private Music tracks feature his playing versus Moreno's has not been itemized publicly.

Carpenter is a documented Ernie Ball artist. Paradigm string use is directly verified on Ernie Ball's own String Theory page for Carpenter, where he says in his own words that he returned to Ernie Ball after a period on other strings and now plays Paradigm. One correction worth flagging: the retail ESP STEF B-8 does not ship strung with Ernie Ball. ESP's own spec sheet lists Elixir Nanoweb 8-String Light (.010-.068) as the factory string on a new STEF B-8. Carpenter's personal touring and studio set is Paradigm, confirmed independently through Ernie Ball's own artist marketing; the factory-string spec describes the guitar as sold, not what Carpenter plays live.

Paradigm's construction targets the durability problem heavy 8-string low strings face on tour. Ernie Ball's own marketing for the line cites 35% more tensile strength and up to 70% more fatigue resistance than its standard strings, from a Reinforced Plain String ball-end design (no stress-causing lock twist) plus a plasma-treated wrap wire the brand calls Everlast. Ernie Ball's own corrosion testing is framed as buying confidence in "months and months instead of weeks" before rust sets in. For a band like Deftones, whose touring cycles span multiple weeks of nightly performances, that durability matters more than squeezing out maximum upper-mid output.

The trade-off is slightly lower upper-midrange output than uncoated NPS or Cobalt would give at the same gauge, a reasonable one for Carpenter's application: Deftones' mix aesthetic emphasizes midrange body and low-end weight more than the aggressive upper-mid attack that djent-lane bands like Periphery prioritize.

Deftones' 8-string sound sits adjacent to but distinct from djent. Where Periphery or Animals as Leaders build compositions around the low string's articulation at speed, Deftones often uses the 8-string for heavy, slow, open-string chugs with significant sustain. That application benefits from heavier low-string gauges (.076-.080+ for Drop E territory) and string sets that survive the mechanical stress of the heavy-detuned playing style.

The ESP STEF B-8 uses a 27-inch baritone scale, ESP's standard length for its 8-string production models, which keeps Carpenter's sub-F# and Drop E tunings at playable tension without requiring extreme custom gauges.

• ESP Guitars, STEF B-8 product page: specs, scale length, factory strings.
• ESP Guitars, Stephen Carpenter signature-model listing: current LTD and ESP-brand models.
• Ernie Ball, String Theory: Stephen Carpenter: his own transcript on gauges and his return to the brand.
• Fishman, Stephen Carpenter artist page: pickup configurations, 6- through 9-string sets.
• Premier Guitar, "Deftones' Stephen Carpenter Rig Rundown," Sept. 17, 2025: amps, pedalboard, Kiesel Vader 8 guitars.
• Sweetwater InSync, "Ernie Ball Paradigm Strings": Paradigm's documented durability claims.
• Wikipedia, Stephen Carpenter: 9-string writing since Ohms, the Dunlop interim period, Private Music credits.
• Guitar World, "Chino Moreno on why he played more guitar on Private Music," Oct. 16, 2025.

Re-verified 2026-07-15. Re-check on the next Deftones album cycle, ESP signature refresh, or Ernie Ball line change.