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Deftones’ Stephen
Carpenter is now playing
Kiesel guitars – but will
continue endorsing ESP at
the same time
By Matt Owen published about 1 hour ago

The Deftones guitarist’s new model

lineup begs the question: are dual-
brand endorsement deals the future
for signature artists?

(Image credit: Kiesel/Instagram)

Stephen Carpenter has added Kiesel

instruments to his electric guitar rotation in
a deal that will also see him remain as an
ESP signature artist.

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As such, the Deftones guitarist will now

formally endorse two guitar brands, and will
play both Kiesel models and his variety of
ESP signature guitars going forward.

The news was announced in a statement

posted on Kiesel’s social media pages, which
reads, “Kiesel Guitars is excited to announce
that the iconic Deftones guitarist Stephen
Carpenter has added our guitars to his
lineup alongside his amazing signature ESP
Guitars instruments. 

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“He has been and will continue to endorse

ESP, for whom he has been partnered for
nearly 30 years,” the statement goes on.
“This is an incredible pairing, with VP Je@
Kiesel’s love for the Deftones and Stef’s love
for the brand and our guitars. We look
forward to a long future with Stef along with
ESP.”

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The statement is accompanied by a picture

of Carpenter, who was snapped holding
what looked to be a Floyd Rose-equipped
version of his ESP Stef-B8 Satin Pink
signature model, as well as an all-white
headless Kiesel guitar.

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Kiesel Guitars is excited to announce that the

iconic Deftones guitarist Stephen Carpenter has
added our guitars to his lineup alongside his
amazing signature ESP Guitars instruments. He
has been and will continue to endorse ESP, for
whom he has been partnered for nearly 30
years. This is an incredible pairing, with VP Jeff
Kiesel’s love for the Deftones and Stef’s love for
the brand and our guitars. We look forward to a
long future with Stef along with ESP.

Join us for a special live stream with Stef at 3pm

PST today.
View all 187 comments

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Speciacally, the all-white model is a custom

build constructed for Carpenter, featuring a
similarly spaced set of Fishman Fluence
pickups and a white-anished fretboard.

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It’s not the arst time we’ve seen a high-

proale guitar star add headless Kiesel
models to their guitar arsenal. Less than a
month ago, Devin Townsend announced
that he too would be wielding Kiesel electrics
in a partnership that would run alongside his
longstanding collaboration with Framus.

“I am hereby announcing that for that part of

my [ambient music], I use Kiesel headless
guitars,” Townsend said to Brave Words.
“Thanks to Framus for being understanding
of my desire to be public with that. I use the
equipment I use because I love it, not
because I’m trying to sell people things.”

It’s a view that’s shared by Carpenter

himself, with the Deftones player saying in a
subsequent livestream with Kiesel, “Literally
everything he said explains my position as
well.”

“I am a very loyal ESP endorser, but I’ve also

got love for the headless Kiesels,” he said.
“When [the brand] built me the arst one, I
was like, ‘Man, this is amazing.’ I’m not
looking to leave one for the other, but I do
really enjoy these guitars.

“I’m very grateful that I can do this with the

blessings of ESP, because that was always
my concern. I didn’t want to be disrespectful,
because they’ve always been there for me.”

Stephen Carpenter

(Image credit: Danielle Parsons/Getty Images)

Elsewhere in the livestream, Carpenter

noted that his fondness for the headless
design grew after he saw more emerging
artists showcase their style, in particular
name-dropping notable Strandberg artist,
Plini.

“I’ve seen more and more players [playing

headless guitars],” he went on. “I watch a lot
of playthrough videos on YouTube, and
when I see people with their headless
guitars – artists like Plini; he’s so inspiring –
I’m like, ‘I actually really like that.’”

Whether formal dual-brand endorsement

deals continue to become more common
remains to be seen, but that’s now at least
three big names subscribing to such
partnerships, with Carpenter and Townsend
following the lead of Metallica’s Kirk
Hammett, who has both Gibson and ESP
signature guitars – the ESP LTD KH-V and
Gibson 1979 Flying V, among others.

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Matt Owen

Matt is a Sta@ Writer, writing for Guitar

World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a
Masters in the guitar, a degree in history,
and has spent the last 16 years playing
everything from blues and jazz to indie and
pop. When he’s not combining his passion
for writing and music during his day job,
Matt records for a number of UK-based
bands and songwriters as a session
musician.

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