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JOE: Hi, this is Joe Penola with Musical Distributors Group, also a distributor of Palmer which is why we're having the distinct honor and pleasure of being here with Stephen Carpenter from the Deftones who is a big fan of the Palmer PDI-CTC tube DI box doing his best Vanna White impression. So Stephen, basically I just want to know what the PDI-CTC has done for you and your talent and how it's working with the axe effects you have here.
STEPHEN: Well, hello everyone! For me it's really simple. I'm using it simply because it's got the tube in this so I just throw the output of this – this can be dry or seem artificial if you don't really go into it – through these. If said units in here are all dialled the way you like it this will transform it back into the genuine thing that's coming from this digital unit right here. So that's the whole purpose of these. They just add for me that actual feeling of the amp we're modeling in here already. This actually turns that artificial bit into something genuine again.
JOE: From artificial to authentic!
STEPHEN: Yeah, but I mean in it's core it's still a digital replication, of course, but this gives back the life that some would say has been stripped away from it. I don't really personally feel it but I just like that. And like I was also saying before I like – and I'm not using it totally yet – but I have the 4-band EQ access here depending on the room. I would love to change it into today's room to adjust for all the boom in here and stuff like that.
JOE: You guys are a legendary act. You've been on the road for quite a long time, and touring has changed significantly since then, and your rig's shrunk down for obvious reasons. Now, is this something you would recommend to any other national touring act, or even just because of it?
STEPHEN: This is without question quality and efficiency all in one little package, and the truth being is it actually could probably be smaller if I wanted it to be and use less. I mean, some people are sitting and going, “man, that's a whole lot of *** you got there, boy”, but it's really not that much. I mean, it could be a lot less, it's my basic lot. But for what I had previously this is considerably less than what I was already rolling.
JOE: Coming from a couple stacks...
STEPHEN: You know, I'm 42 now, I'm getting older and I realized I just don't need to carry around all that *** no more. It's just not necessary.
STEPHEN: Prior to these, though, I've used the blue box, you know, the speaker emulators – I don't know the actual model names. I've used those for years and years. Even near before this setup those were always on my cabs.
STEPHEN: This cab is simply here for my own monitoring, it doesn't have DI on there or anything like that. But I think about it really. When I go home here in less than a month I'm going to rebuild from scratch. I'm gonna have these just on standby waiting because I'm going to rebuilt everything from scratch with my cabinet like this is an actual amp and dial it in that way. And then, once I do that, once I go to the DI stage of this, just once I have it coming out of here great whatever I throw into there that's just coming from that same signal is going to be exact. Just like when you throw the head, you're throwing that output right out of your amp right through that little speaker emulator to the cabinet it sounds like the cab.
STEPHEN: It was great, you should have seen when we were in Europe when Baptiste came out. I was showing him all the stuff, and Chino was making some comments about his guitar because he has the box on his cabinet. He didn't know this, and he's been using that *** for ages, you know. Like it's just with everyone's they set it up for him 'cause it's front-of-the-house. And he's like, he's making some comment about whatever it is. “Well, you're having a microphone on your cabinet for years, where have you been?” But that's how good it is, like he didn't even know that his *** wasn't mic'd. It was coming DI, and he had no clue. So that says everything.
JOE: That's a great anecdote. It really does. Thank you for sharing that.
STEPHEN: I was just pie in the eyes! It was the most classic faux pas like, “man you didn't even know it was there”, that's what's so great about it. "You're sitting there clowning on me and all my digital technology, and you're doing the same thing and you don't even know it!"
JOE: Awesome. Well, thank you again Stephen, we really appreciate it, and if you're not a Deftones fan, just listen to them, you will be!
STEPHEN: No big, don't trip!