Stone Temple Pilots

We meet Dean and Robert DeLeo, alongside luthier/tech extraordinaire Bruce Nelson, to discover their tonal recipe

- Rob Laing

“I’ve been using the same setup, the same rig since 1990,” Dean DeLeo, tells us, “every time we plug in it sounds great.” The guitarist’s soundcheck in London confirms this. It’s a huge, full-bodied sound, perfect for one of alternative rock’s most versatile players. Favoring reliable rigs and reliable people, the Stone Temple Pilots team are a loyal bunch who Dean and bassist brother Robert are quick to praise, noting: “You’re only as good as the people around you”. FOH engineer James ‘Hootsie’ Huth has worked with them since the pre-Core days of ’90. Affable tech Bruce Nelson, who has manned his station side stage for over 16 years with STP and also builds the DeLeo brothers’ instruments (as well as guitars for the likes of Joe Perry). “I don’t know where I’d be without him,” says Dean. “He’s just an amazing person.” So it’s only right we get his input alongside the sibling songwriting powerhouse duo with the instrumental chops to match.

DEAN DELEO

2009 GIBSON LES PAUL

1 Bruce: “All the Les Pauls in this rig are 2009. They all have Seymour Duncan Jazz pickups in the bridge; they’re clear and they’re pretty similar to the stock pickups the 70s Les Pauls have. With this rig, I was trying to replicate his other 70s Les Pauls and that pickup was the closest. He’s playing on the bridge 99% of the time, the only time he’ll flip to the neck is when they’re jamming or something like that between songs. We’re mostly using gauge 10 strings, but on low alternate tunings we’ll go up to 11s.”