Neck pickup to match The Demon?

[FlyingBee]

Hey guys, I recently got the SH-12 installed in the bridge of my SG, and it plays like a dream. I am also going to add to that and say that I totally dropped the ball and ordered what most would call an inappropriate neck pickup to match (Dimarzio D-Activator anyone?). The D-Activator sounded nice and clear, but belonged in the bridge of some extreme metal guitar as opposed to the neck of my SG. I have selected three pickups to replace the DiMarzio: The SH-1 '59, SH-2 Jazz, and SH-10 Full Shred. I've never played the '59, and I need a pickup with warmth, but I'm afraid it'll be too muddy. The Jazz I know and like, but I'm afraid it'll be too bright and my guitar with lack the warmth I want it to have. All I can say about the Full Shred is that I've heard that a lot of guys have had luck with it in the neck with a Demon in the bridge, I just have no clue as to what that would sound like. I want my neck pickup to crunch power chords and slur a fast solo slightly so that is hides small mistakes when the amp is distorted, but I kind of want it to back off when it's clean, similar to a jazz. My styles of music would include thrash, blues, a little acid rock, and a touch of fusion. My guitar has a maple neck, rosewood fretboard, and a mahogany body. Am I asking for the impossibly perfect neck pickup here? I'm opening to anything besides the three pickups I mentioned. Any help is appreciated, thank you!

[Inder_Cine_Mann]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

59n in an SG is nice in my opinion. You could also go P90 for a different flavor. A GFS Mean 90

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

I've always used my Pearly Gates neck (my favorite neck pickup) with my Screamin' Demon.

[chadd]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

My favorite neck pickup is the Jazz, it should balance pretty well with the Demon as well.

[CountFeedback]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

I found the Jazz balances well with the clarity of the Demon.
I like the 59n with other bridge pick-ups but found it too warm and bassy to balance against the demon.
That was my experience with a mahogany explorer maybe a little different with an SG.

[Snow007]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

I was in a similar situation as you with a Gibson SG and I ended up going with a Screamin' demon in the bridge and a pearly gates in the neck for and I'm very happy.

To compare the pearly gates neck with the jazz neck which I own in a different guitar; I find the PG neck has a little less bass, more mids and still enough treble but not as bright as a jazz, but fairly close. I would think it has that warmth you're looking for.

[ErikH]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

The Slash neck matches up really well with it. Speaking from experience here. Although, I've used the setup in a Strat and not a SG.

[blueman335]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

To me, the Demon is fairly bright, as others here have also said, and I'd think a neck PU would need an A5 to match up well with it, otherwise you can wind up with a relatively warm neck. But if you like bridge and neck PU's to have big differences in EQ's, than something like an A2P would be good in the neck slot.

[Mr. B]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

The 59n is about as good as it gets in an SG neck in my opinion. I wouldn't use an A2 magnet neck with the Demon in the Bridge.

[mrpinter]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

I have a 72 Thinline Tele with a Screamin' Demon in the bridge and a Full Shred in the neck. I like the combination. The darker FS is a nice counterpoint to and blends well with the Demon to make a great middle position sound. You also have what amounts to two different guitar tones in one.

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

Get another demon, makes a better neck pickup in my opinion.

[soulforger]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

Get another demon, makes a better neck pickup in my opinion.

+1 Demons are fantastic in the neck, in fact was just thinking of running two of them together!

[chadd]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

+1 Demons are fantastic in the neck, in fact was just thinking of running two of them together!

I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I am going with an A8 Demon in the bridge of an ibanez with a stock demon in the neck. I have all the parts, just haven't done the swap yet.

I have a 72 Thinline Tele with a Screamin' Demon in the bridge and a Full Shred in the neck. I like the combination. The darker FS is a nice counterpoint to and blends well with the Demon to make a great middle position sound. You also have what amounts to two different guitar tones in one.

That's an interesting idea. I have a 72 thinline and I was thinking about filtertron style replacements. Did you cut a new pickguard or modify the pickups to fit the larger pickup holes?

[Masta' C]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

I didn't read through the entire thread, but did anyone suggest the Pearly Gates neck? It would be a great match with the Screamin' Demon bridge!

Let us know how well you like the Demon/Demon8 combo if you continue with that...

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: Neck pickup to match The Demon?

My experience is only with the '59 and Jazz for necks. If you want some 80s scooped sound, the Jazz is closer to that, but it's not extremely scooped. The '59 would be more like a stock Les Paul neck, more mids, more flutey sounding. If you wanted woman tone ("Sweet Child Of Mine"), and had to use either the '59 or Jazz, the '59 would be better for that. But I like the Jazz in a mahogany body guitar because it compensates for the mids (in my experience the '59 in mahogany starts to overdrive a tiny bit).