# Devin Townsend talks about getting an ESP 8 String



## Karl Hungus (Dec 17, 2005)

Thought this might be of great interest to a few people here.

I was reading my copy of Total Guitar and there's a Strapping Young Lad sweeping lesson. There's a small interview aswell where Devin explains his tuning:



> "I've used open C tuning [CGCGCE] for 15 years" explains Devin. "The song Friends [Led Zeppelin III] inspired me to try it. Since I'm using seven strings, I can add a low G string, which provides a pretty heavy sound. I'm really a bass player at heart, so I'm getting ESP to make me an eight-string, and then I can add an extra low C string."


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## nyck (Dec 17, 2005)

Wow!! Can't wait to see how it turns out.


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## Drew (Dec 17, 2005)

I saw that. I'm, naturally, dying to hear this in action -Devin's sorta a hero of mine.


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## Shannon (Dec 17, 2005)

A EXTRA Low C? Good gawd!!!  

But then again, Byron (SYL's bassist) is playing an EXTRA Low E string on a few tracks off SYL's Alien CD. Yes that's right....one octave below a standard bass E string. Now I know what Drew's farts sound like after a night of binge drinking.


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## eleven59 (Dec 17, 2005)

I was browsing around http://video.google.com and found some cool Devin Townsend Band live videos, as well as some SYL stuff.


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## Shannon (Dec 17, 2005)

eleven59 said:


> I was browsing around http://video.google.com and found some cool Devin Townsend Band live videos, as well as some SYL stuff.



Here's some direct links for ya....
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=strapping+young+lad
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=devin+townsend


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## Naren (Dec 17, 2005)

I have to say that Devin probably has the ugliest haircut I've ever seen.


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## Nik (Dec 17, 2005)

Huh, I thought he was a vocalist exclusively, didn't know he played guitar too.

His work on Vai's "Sex and Religion" album is great, even though that's probably my least favorite Vai album...

Nonetheless, all 8-strings interest me and I'm looking forward to seeing this


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## eleven59 (Dec 17, 2005)

Naren said:


> I have to say that Devin probably has the ugliest haircut I've ever seen.


That's kinda the point lol I love the skullet. He looks like the kind of guy that scares kids on the street for fun, then goes to poetry readings in the evening 

Though he was creepier bald in my opinion.


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## Shannon (Dec 17, 2005)

Nik said:


> Huh, I thought he was a vocalist exclusively, didn't know he played guitar too.



Oh yeah! Minus the Vai CD, he plays guitar & produces everything he's involved in.


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## Naren (Dec 17, 2005)

eleven59 said:


> That's kinda the point lol I love the skullet. He looks like the kind of guy that scares kids on the street for fun, then goes to poetry readings in the evening
> 
> Though he was creepier bald in my opinion.



I thought so. But that still doesn't change the fact that he's got the ugliest haircut I've ever seen. I remember the first time I saw Strapping Young Lad about 1-2 years ago and I was like "What the fuck's wrong with his hair!?"


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## Pauly (Dec 17, 2005)

I mentioned this in the thread about...SYL in Total Guitar, lol.


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## D-EJ915 (Dec 17, 2005)

I think the said that he made his hair like that because he was balding or something and wanted to do something with it...whatever, he is fugly, that's for sure.


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## maliciousteve (Dec 18, 2005)

Come on guys, be real MEN! instead of house wives talking about peoples hair and how ugly they look


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## Digital Black (Dec 18, 2005)

I have alwasy loved his guitar sound on his Solo albums..How he gets everything so clear with all that echo is beyond me..


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## eleven59 (Dec 18, 2005)

Hell, I say the uglier the better  If he looked like Justin Timberlake, it just wouldn't suit the music...actually, that might make it even funnier


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## Karl Hungus (Dec 18, 2005)

maliciousteve said:


> Come on guys, be real MEN! instead of house wives talking about peoples hair and how ugly they look



Yeah, who gives a flying fuck if he looks ugly? He's a phenominal guitarist, and that's what matters! I mean look at that pile of puss Malmsteen.


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## Chris (Dec 18, 2005)

I'd like to see his rig setup that allows him to play a low C without it sounding muddy as sin.


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## Naren (Dec 18, 2005)

Karl Hungus said:


> Yeah, who gives a flying fuck if he looks ugly? He's a phenominal guitarist, and that's what matters! I mean look at that pile of puss Malmsteen.



Malmsteen is naturally ugly. Devin Townsend simply has the ugliest haircut I've ever seen. I like his music and I think he's a pretty slick guitarist. I was just commenting on his hair. I think he makes it ugly on purpose.


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## Drew (Dec 18, 2005)

Dude, eleven, thanks for those links - "Regulator" is one of my absolute favorite of his peices. I think I'm going to spend the rest of the morning watching videos. 

Chris, I know he cut the majority of "Terria" with a stock stratocaster - single coils are amazingly clear when they're tuned low under high gain, because they have such a phenominal attack. 

Oh, and whoever didn't know he was a guitarist - not only does he play, he's actually pretty damned good. Depressingly so, considering how amazing his voice is.


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## Shannon (Dec 18, 2005)

Chris said:


> I'd like to see his rig setup that allows him to play a low C without it sounding muddy as sin.



Well, he's big a huge proponent of Peavey 5150s for years now. Even with his current Low G, his tone is pretty clear. Check out the SYL forum. They have an "Ask The Band" section. Jed (the other guitarist) has said numerous times that they get their tone by playing with relatively low gain and a very heavy right picking hand.


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## Shawn (Dec 19, 2005)

Karl Hungus said:


> Thought this might be of great interest to a few people here.
> 
> I was reading my copy of Total Guitar and there's a Strapping Young Lad sweeping lesson. There's a small interview aswell where Devin explains his tuning:


Nice.


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## Drew (Dec 19, 2005)

Although, on his site he mentions that recently he's started using a modified Recto for rhythm, and a 5150 for leads. I don't know if that's just his studio rig, or he'll use an amp switcher when they go on tour, but... 

He claims he was never really a recto fan, but liked this one, so I'm guessing it's not a very standard-sounding Recto. I think his description was the 5150 is very "full frequencied," while the Recto was comparatively filtered sounding, but in a way that lends itself well to rhythm guitar frequencies, while the more open-sounding 5150 still owned for leads.


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## blackout (Dec 19, 2005)

I saw the Lad the other day (they were absoutely amazing) supporting arch enemy, and I'm pretty sure they were both using rectifiers.


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## chaz1527 (Apr 13, 2008)

sweet, as if the F# standard tuning was not enough wow, so he basically is going to be playing in th same tuning he has always been playing in, but an octave lower.


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## PostOrganic (Apr 13, 2008)

chaz1527 said:


> sweet, as if the F# standard tuning was not enough wow, so he basically is going to be playing in th same tuning he has always been playing in, but an octave lower.



Way to be like.. 2+ years late on this post.. 

I still haven't really heard anything more about him playing 8's though which sucks.


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## ibznorange (Apr 13, 2008)

lol bumpage
oh well. so anybody know what happened to this

oh chaz, there are people who tune lower. tomawesome tunes his 6er to low Bb, like a semitone down on the open 5th string of a bass


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## Esp Griffyn (Apr 13, 2008)

Well saying as he is taking a hiatus from music, and its unclear whether he will ever distribute his own music again, I wouldn't hold my breath about hearing him on an 8 string. It would be a crying shame if he stuck to producing from now on. I hope he gets his fire back and starts making music, particularly his solo stuff again.


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## FYP666 (Apr 13, 2008)

''I'm really a bass player at heart'' 
Still, can't wait!


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## Blind Faith (Apr 13, 2008)

Esp Griffyn said:


> Well saying as he is taking a hiatus from music, and its unclear whether he will ever distribute his own music again, I wouldn't hold my breath about hearing him on an 8 string. It would be a crying shame if he stuck to producing from now on. I hope he gets his fire back and starts making music, particularly his solo stuff again.



He is still doing his solo stuff, he is just on Hiatus from SYL and TDTB so we might end up hearing and seeing the ESP 8 string in use on the next album


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## templton89 (Apr 14, 2008)

sorry guys but i just had to bring it up... Is it just me or does he look like Pickles from Dethklok?


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## MF_Kitten (Apr 14, 2008)

templton89 said:


> sorry guys but i just had to bring it up... Is it just me or does he look like Pickles from Dethklok?



it´s the other way around actually


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## OwlsHaveEyes (Apr 14, 2008)

Yeah, Brendon Small and Tommy Blancha fashioned everyone in Dethklok to look like some metal icon....Pickles looks like Devin Townsend, Murderface looks like Geezer Butler, Toki looks like Mikael Akerfeldt, Skwisgaar looks like Alexi Laiho, and Nathan Explosion looks like George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher....


As far as Devin using an 8 string I think that will be sick


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## templton89 (Apr 14, 2008)

yep that's what I meant )) after all Dethklok was created 2 years ago, and Devin was around for decades


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## Clydefrog (Apr 14, 2008)

Skwisgar looks more like Jesper from In Flames than Laiho.


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## Blind Faith (Apr 15, 2008)

Dethklok FTW! 

I forgot to say that i was reading a total guitar just after download had taken place and there was an interview with a lot of the guitarist from download and there was a picture of Devin playing an 8 string blackmachine


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## ZeroSignal (Apr 15, 2008)

I thought Skwisgar was supposed to be Jeff Loomis?


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## JerkyChid (Apr 16, 2008)

Hevy Devy's stuff for anyone who cares

ESP guitars
D'addario strings
Mesa Boogie Dual Recto (for low and low mids) with tubes changed
Mesa Boogie Stilleto (for mids and high) with tubes changed
Maxon overdrive to tighten things between the two amps
Morely wah
Planet Waves cables
Rack echo and reverb effects
Huge graphic EQ
Tiny Planet Waves tuner

I THINK Jed's is basically the sane except for the rack effects, DR strings, no Stilleto, a Maxon may or may not be there.


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## ZeroSignal (Apr 16, 2008)

What did he use on the Accelerated Evolution to get that really "spongy" sound? Think Away and you'll know what I'm talking about.


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## bostjan (Apr 16, 2008)

I'm confused. Has there been any more word on the eight string or is this just the once every 2 1/2 years zombie rebirth thread?


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## PostOrganic (Apr 17, 2008)

bostjan said:


> I'm confused. Has there been any more word on the eight string or is this just the once every 2 1/2 years zombie rebirth thread?



I think it's the latter.


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## george656 (Jan 30, 2009)

I can't wait to hear him with the ESP 8 string guitar. So If the guitar has an extra low C string then the guitar would be tuned CGCGCGCE right?


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## twiztedchild (Jan 30, 2009)

george656 said:


> I can't wait to hear him with the ESP 8 string guitar. So If the guitar has an extra low C string then the guitar would be tuned CGCGCGCE right?



won't be any, he isn't with them anymore I think. He was making a 6 and 7 string with Peavey last I heard


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## Ze Kink (Jan 30, 2009)

Yeah, this topic is really old, he isn't with ESP anymore. He's into strats and vintage tube amps nowadays. He's got a custom Peavey signature strat coming out, and a head from Budda.


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## lefty robb (Jan 30, 2009)

You mean he isn't using Mesa anymore??!!?


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## Koshchei (Jan 30, 2009)

I get the feeling that as a father, his stress and angst are no longer issues requiring a major outlet like SYL. It's a shame, because he did some seriously interesting stuff in that band - The New Black was verging on a whole new genre imo.

Now, he's playing CanCon


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## lefty robb (Jan 31, 2009)

Koshchei said:


> I get the feeling that as a father, his stress and angst are no longer issues requiring a major outlet like SYL.




Wait till the kid hits their teens, I bet they get back together 

I can just see it now:

Kid: Dad, Can I have the Keys to the car tonight?
Devin: Fuck Yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou! 

Kid: I'm going out tonight, I don't care what you say!
Devin: NOW You'll fucking listen to me...Everybody in my MOTHERFUCKING LIFE!!!

(Kid comes home past Curfew)
Devin: I warned you I'd be right here waiting!!


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## eleven59 (Jan 31, 2009)

Koshchei said:


> Now, he's playing CanCon



That makes no sense at all. CanCon meaning Canadian Content? Meaning anything created by a Canadian?

And if you mean "radio-friendly" music, where did you hear that? His description of his new album sounds pretty experimental and amazing, it's just not metal like SYL.


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## yevetz (Jan 31, 2009)




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## Demiurge (Jan 31, 2009)

Koshchei said:


> I get the feeling that as a father, his stress and angst are no longer issues requiring a major outlet like SYL. It's a shame, because he did some seriously interesting stuff in that band - The New Black was verging on a whole new genre imo.




Devin has pretty much semi-retired SYL after each album since "City," and see how well that has gone. 

I'm still waiting for Ocean Machine II, myself.


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## 7deadlysins666 (Jan 31, 2009)

eleven59 said:


> it's just not SYL.



Fixed.


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## Panterica (Feb 2, 2009)

this i'm tunin in for


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## 7 Dying Trees (Feb 2, 2009)

Demiurge said:


> I'm still waiting for Ocean Machine II, myself.


Same here, that was and still is a stellar album!


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## astrocreep (Feb 2, 2009)

7 Dying Trees said:


> Same here, that was and still is a stellar album!



Is, was and always will be!


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