Who's playing metal with a Duncan Screamin' Demon through a high-gain amp?

[Trussrod]

I had one and sold it--just too much treble...

[Hellraiser6502]

The Demon blows. It's not a high gain p'up - more of a muddy mess. I just don't know what it would really be good for. I've tried it through many amps. Nothing sounded good.

The Full Shred is everything the Demon wishes it could be. I've had the Demon in three guitars, and hated it in every single one.

THIS ^ is 100% accurate.

The Screamin' Demon is the most useless pickup ever...the only one I've ever HATED in a guitar.

[straycat]

I had this situation many times with guitars I have traded for, the SD's were in a few basswood bodies and I could never bond with it.
I landed a non logo'd SD and use it in the neck of a mahogany bodied guitar and actually like the sound not loose and flubby at all which is why I never liked them in the bridge of a basswood or alder body.Maple bodies yes it sounds good.
Try it in the neck you may find it better suited for metal.I think it being in the neck seems to take some hair off of it and mellows it out.
Pretty articulate in the neck too just a bit brighter than a 59 which makes the neck position have a bit more attack.

[rstites]

The Screamin' Demon is finicky. It sounds great in the right guitar and horrible in the wrong guitar. I've left it in my '84 solid maple Charvel for years. It's killer in that guitar. I never left it in any other guitars because something else always sounded better. It is a bit misleading in that it's not a high output pickup at all, but it does scream in the right guitar.

If I want a pickup that'll sound great in anything, I'll use a Custom. If I go with a Demon, JB, Full Shred, etc. then I know from the outset that it's a gamble as all are more likely to suck than sound great, but when it matches just right, it's worth it.

For the record, I do run through high gain heads....at least by older standards: Soldano, Mesa, etc.

[akoch]

read this thread and it is interesting. Obviously this pickup seems to be hit and miss for different players.

Having said this, I love it. I play metal, probably not really "extreme" though, more along the likes of prog metal. Works really really well for me, one of my favourite pickups, which sounds great for rhythm, solo and surprise... clean, in context of a humbucking pickup. But most likely my gain is not that high by some standards, I like to stay on the edge of saturation and listen to the notes and chords bloom and open up as they evolve and decay. I am consistently finding that this pickup gives a lot of that. And yes, probably because it is less hot then some others. A clean high-gain amp like a VHT really brings it out.

I am also not using a pedal in front of an amp either, it actually kills that magic that the Demon has for me. Just amp's gain at 8/10 and I'm good to go (Mesa IV, V, VHT 50CL, Soldano Decatone). All seems consistently taking this configuration very well.

[DonP]

really? He used a duncan distortion? I did not know that. I never really knew what he used. I just dont ever recall reading an article where he talked about pickups. Thanks for the info.

You must have been under a rock during the 80s I read many GP and GPFTPM articles where he said the formula was a DD, a TS-808 Tube Screamer, into a Marshall. He prefered a purple head Aspin Pittman of Groove Tubes owned and borrowed it alot. That with a solid maple body.

as far as the demon, I just never had any luck with it. I dont know why. just not my style I guess. I know I am a weirdo, but I am such a duncan JB fan. I know alot of folks dislike them here, but for the stuff I play, they just fucking rule. IMO the JB walks all over the demon. The JB just rips thru any mix. it jumps out and grabs your ears, in a good way. but.... tone is subjective.......its just my opinion of what sounds good. others might think its shit.

Lynch didn't use the Demon until after Dokken was over, and maybe even later than that. I can get a good "Breaking the Chains" tone with JB in my SL2H. The DD and JB are very similar, only differ by the magnet choice.

But the odd thing is that I've recently found my best Lynch tone. Of all places, an EMG81 loaded RR24M. This hitting my DSL100 just sounds perfect to me. This made me realize there are more than one way to hit a certain tone. You just need to get the correct ingredients.

[Inazone]

The guys on the Duncan forum are steering me toward the Alt 8 or Parallel Axis Distortion, both which should have a smoother high end than a regular Distortion (which I don't like due to harsh trebles), and tighter lows than the Screamin' Demon. I still wouldn't rule out another Invader.

Oh well, band practice tomorrow night, so I'll at least try the Screamin' Demon through my live rig at stage volume.

[straycat]

Let us know how it sounds.

[tonemonster]

You must have been under a rock during the 80s I read many GP and GPFTPM articles where he said the formula was a DD, a TS-808 Tube Screamer, into a Marshall. He prefered a purple head Aspin Pittman of Groove Tubes owned and borrowed it alot. .

I spent most of the 80's masturbating. so I guess I just missed that.

[DonP]

I spent most of the 80's masturbating. so I guess I just missed that.

They probably had other magazines for that

[Trem]

I know this isn't what your inquiring about, but if you haven't tried it, a Dimarzio Super 3 is wicked in ash - riffing on it especially, just damn punchy, pretty high output, enough that i turn down my volume knob a hair but it slices and is thick and punchy in my ash bodied guitar. Probably kinda an alter ego to your invader, which are a bit over much to me as well. I'm tuned to D with it, does death type stuff ect to rock with my volume knob dialed back a bit more.

[roodyrocker]

I have the Screamin Demon in many guitars. I have pulled it back out of only one. It just didn't sound right in my 89 Rhoads. It worked fine in other Rhoads' however. I also like and use the JB, Distortion, Custom Custom, Dimarzio Tone Zone, PAF Pro, and others I'm forgetting right now. I also have a set of Suhr Aldrich pickups waiting to go in something. I have not tried those out yet.
Like others have said, the pickup may work better in some guitars than others. You just have to try them and see what you like. I have no scientific proof of it but I'm guessing the Screamin Demon works better in heavier bodied guitars than light ones? Perhaps thats why people who mentioned putting them in maple guitars like the Demon while those who put it in basswood didn't.

[tonemonster]

this is an interesting thread.

I have one guitar....... its a sonic puzzle. Its a mid 80s Jackson strat. strange wood. there is one ONE pickup I have found that works in it: and EMG 81. I have tried an X2N, Screamin Demon, JB, Bill Lawrence XL500, J90C, they all sound like muddy shit in it except the EMG. and here is the weird part.......the EMG dont sound like an EMG in most guitars. it just works in the guitar, but dont sound like an EMG usually sounds. strange shit.

[Inazone]

Since I was going to get a couple other things done to this guitar, I had the shop order an Alternative 8 for me. At low volumes, the Screamin' Demon sounded fine, but as I turned up a bit, it became apparent that - as in previous experiences - the low end would be nowhere near tight enough for the stuff I'm playing. I do know that the Demon can sound good in basswood, but in ash it just sounds way too loose.

[Nightbat]

Hmm, EMG 81's sound shrill in most guitars, your guitar hasn't accidentally been made of concrete now has it?