Deftones Guitarist Steph Carpenter Shows Off Tour Gear on ‘Rig Rundown’

Deftones have been riding quite high with their recent release Private Music, still on the road in support of it. They’ve only got one more show in the states, so it was lucky that Premier Guitar’s Chris Kies was able to catch their guitarist Stephen “Steph” Carpenter before the band heads oversees (Carpenter famously does not travel overseas for whatever reason, so these last few US dates would be the only time to catch him in that “gig rig” element). In the newest episode of Rig Rundown one Premier Guitar’s Youtube channel, Carpenter goes in depth about the equipment he currently uses, and there’s a lot of it.

Carpenter was first on Rig Rundown back in 2013, but he mentions in the new episode how he basically turns his nose up at that old rig now. His second appearance, which was filmed last month at a Deftones show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shows how he’s updated it to perfection. Watch him give all the details below.

Like I said above, Deftones only have one more performance in the states for the upcoming future, their Dia De Los Deftones festival on November 1 at Petco Park in San Diego, California. This year’s fest will see them playing with Deafheaven, rap duo Clipse, and Glare among others, before they head over to Europe and the UK early 2026 with Denzel Curry and Drug Church.

Deftones 2026 tour dates:

01/29 – Paris, FR @ Adidas Arena
01/30 – Brussels, BE @ Forest National
02/01 – Hamburg, DE @ Barclays Arena
02/03 – Munich, DE @ Zenith
02/05 – Lodz, PL @ Atlas Arena
02/06 – Berlin, DE @ Max-Schmeling-Halle
02/07 – Dortmund, DE @ Westfalenhalle
02/09 – Stuttgart, DE @ Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
02/10 – Amsterdam, NL @ AFAS Live
02/12 – Birmingham, UK @ BP Pulse Live
02/13 – Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro
02/14 – Manchester, UK @ Co-Op Live
02/16 – Dublin, IE @ 3Arena
02/18 – Cardiff, UK @ Utilita Arena
02/20 – London, UK @ The O2