Deftones’ Stephen Carpenter is now playing Kiesel guitars – but will continue endorsing ESP at the same time

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.

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. 

“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 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.”

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.

Specifically, the all-white model is a custom build constructed for Carpenter, featuring a similarly spaced set of Fishman Fluence pickups and a white-finished fretboard.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen a high-profile 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 first 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.”

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.