Canada's own strapping young lad, Devin Townsend, is featured in a gear talk interview with Guitar World. He dives into discussion about his preferred guitars, amps, and tuning. Following is an excerpt from the chat:

On the subject of his tools to create those sounds, he explains he’s fortunate enough to work with several companies who help bring his otherworldly ideas to life. His main instrument, the Stormbender by German company Framus, takes inspiration from the flagship Gibson Les Paul Custom, though with a few tweaks and customisations to assist with Devin’s modern metallic assault. 

“I still occasionally bring out my white Les Paul Custom,” he says, revealing it was bought for him by a group of friends for his 40th birthday. “But the problem with Les Pauls is they look shit on me! On some people they look fantastic. When you see Joe Perry or Slash holding a Les Paul you think, 'Damn, that’s a match made in heaven!' I already look like a dork so if you add a guitar that’s too small for my stature, it looks awful!"

He continues: “The Framus design was about replicating that sound but with a shape closer to something I could get behind. One major difference is the scale length. My Framus is 25” because I mainly play in open tuning with 10-52 gauge strings. The Gibson scale length would feel a little shaky tuned down like that. The pickups are my signature set that I designed with Larry Fishman some years ago, which have a bit more chewiness and less compression compared to the regular Fluence Moderns.”

Read the complete story at Guitar World here.

Check out Townsend's Framus Custom Shop Masterbuilt signature guitar, The Stormbender, below.

Photo by Paul Harries