New theory on maple guitars

[j9fd3s]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

interesting. i have a poplar MIM strat w/ a maple neck, and the stock pickups actually sound great in that guitar. they have a nice growl to them that just sounds nice. on a more common (to me) "alder"/rosewood MIM, i think the stock pickups sound grainy and nasty....

 

[skynyrd]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

Get an EQ pedal,, dial down the mids just how you want them, a fish and chips eq is cheaper than most pick ups.

 

[CountFunkula]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

A demon in a maple guitar is the definition of shrill, yuck.

Now do you know that for a fact and have actually tried it, or are you just speculating?

 

[Mr 9finger]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

A demon in a maple guitar is the definition of shrill, yuck.

Now do you know that for a fact and have actually tried it, or are you just speculating?

I'm wondering the same thing. Considering the fact these pickups were designed for George Lynch at a time in his career when he was using all maple guitars.....body and neck, and the fact that's it was specifically made and EQ'd for all maple guitars, I'm finding that a little hard to believe. Add to that, my personal experience with a few maple Kramers and a couple builds I've done with maple and the Demon in the bridge......

I use to have an old Guitar World mag around that had an interview with Lynch where he talked about the Demon. IIRC, he basically wanted something that was more scooped sounding in the pickup due the mid character of his guitars and the Marshalls he was using at the time had more than enough mid range character to fill in the tonal gaps.

If you notice later in his career, when he switched to using higher gain amps like Mesa, Diezel, Bogner, etc..., that are already intended to be scooped a little, he moved away from the Demon and uses a more mid oriented pickup.

FTR, Georges tone has never been thin or shrill. Out of all the guitar players I listen to regularly, he's probably got one of the thickest growlier tones I've heard.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

Yes, I have actually heard it, I've owned way too many of them. I have owned more Lynch ESP's than anyone who is not a fan should be allowed, the last one being a custom shop neckthru Kamikaze. It was better in the serpent and the Tiger (from memory, well over 10 years ago that I had them, NOT maple). To me it was complete ****e in the Kamikaze. You guys may like it, seems like I get in a pissing match everytime I say something bad about it, but it's one of the worst pickups I've ever heard, IN MY OPINION. I suppose people who like strats would be down with it, which is fine, I just personally hate it.

As far as GL's sounds, again I say, he used a harmonizer and bunch of other crap to the point that it probably doesn't matter what he used.

Do this, plug your maple bodied demon equipped super strat with no tone control straight into your Marshall and turn it up to show volume and then tell me what you think. If you're doing what he was doing with it then it will probably work great for you, but I think a 59b or a PGb would be even better.

Sorry, I'll stop ranting now.

 

[ErikH]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

I've never personally played a maple guitar equipped with the Demon so I cannot say if it's shrill or not. I will say this, his main guitar at the time the Demon was complete is alder with a rosewood fingerboard, the Skulls & Snakes or "Haji". I have the Demon right now in an alder Strat body with a maple neck/fingerboard guitar and it's anything but shrill.

I do like the JB in maple. It sounds fantastic there.

 

[IanBallard]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

interesting. i have a poplar MIM strat w/ a maple neck, and the stock pickups actually sound great in that guitar. they have a nice growl to them that just sounds nice. on a more common (to me) "alder"/rosewood MIM, i think the stock pickups sound grainy and nasty....

People often confuse "cheap" with "good". Some woods that are lower priced in the market, can make a good tonewood with the right parts attached to it. Poplar and Basswood catch a lot of flack because they are "cheap" but the fact that something is easy to find and readily available (large supply) has nothing do with sonic qualities. Most of the Kramers of the early 80's were poplar and even EVH's 5150 Kramer was alleged to be poplar by many sources and techs who fiddled with the guitar. IMO, that was one of his best-sounding guitars... way better than that ash partscaster.

 

[Mr 9finger]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

I've never personally played a maple guitar equipped with the Demon so I cannot say if it's shrill or not. I will say this, his main guitar at the time the Demon was complete is alder with a rosewood fingerboard, the Skulls & Snakes or "Haji". I have the Demon right now in an alder Strat body with a maple neck/fingerboard guitar and it's anything but shrill.

I do like the JB in maple. It sounds fantastic there.

That's some ESP/Duncan marketing crap right there and it really kind of yanked my chain when I figured it out. The original "Haji" guitar was Alder/Rosewood. I drooled over those guitars for years, but George didn't have a Demon in his personal Haji, he had a Duncan Distortion. When ESP introduced the sig Haji's on to the market, they changed the headstock to a reverse pointed and put the Demon in it. Later on George did retire the original Haji and had a new one built, but it was all maple and had a demon in it. If memory serves me correct, the Demon was actually designed for his purple Bengal, which was actually a Kramer body w/ an ESP neck on it and his yellow Bengal, which was all maple and all ESP. This is, of course, if my memory is serving me properly lol. I used to be fascinated with Lynch. He was the best thing I had heard since Randy Rhoads when I was a kid.

 

[Mr 9finger]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

Yes, I have actually heard it, I've owned way too many of them. I have owned more Lynch ESP's than anyone who is not a fan should be allowed, the last one being a custom shop neckthru Kamikaze. It was better in the serpent and the Tiger (from memory, well over 10 years ago that I had them, NOT maple). To me it was complete ****e in the Kamikaze. You guys may like it, seems like I get in a pissing match everytime I say something bad about it, but it's one of the worst pickups I've ever heard, IN MY OPINION. I suppose people who like strats would be down with it, which is fine, I just personally hate it.

As far as GL's sounds, again I say, he used a harmonizer and bunch of other crap to the point that it probably doesn't matter what he used.

Do this, plug your maple bodied demon equipped super strat with no tone control straight into your Marshall and turn it up to show volume and then tell me what you think. If you're doing what he was doing with it then it will probably work great for you, but I think a 59b or a PGb would be even better.

Sorry, I'll stop ranting now.

Sorry Bro, wasn't trying to squish your grapes on the topic or start a fight. You're experiences prove the pickup otherwise for you, and you're entitled to that. On the other side of the fence, there are a lot of people that bash the Screamin Demon based only on internet parrots and the specs without even trying one. The same thing goes for Maple as a body wood. People automatically assume that because it's dense and heavy that it's super bright and unfit for anything other necks. In reality, it's not anymore heavy or bright as a hard ash body.

Horses for courses bro. My "hey, that tone is ripping" moments, may be your "dam, that sounds like ass" moments.

 

[ErikH]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

That's some ESP/Duncan marketing crap right there and it really kind of yanked my chain when I figured it out. The original "Haji" guitar was Alder/Rosewood. I drooled over those guitars for years, but George didn't have a Demon in his personal Haji, he had a Duncan Distortion. When ESP introduced the sig Haji's on to the market, they changed the headstock to a reverse pointed and put the Demon in it. Later on George did retire the original Haji and had a new one built, but it was all maple and had a demon in it. If memory serves me correct, the Demon was actually designed for his purple Bengal, which was actually a Kramer body w/ an ESP neck on it and his yellow Bengal, which was all maple and all ESP. This is, of course, if my memory is serving me properly lol. I used to be fascinated with Lynch. He was the best thing I had heard since Randy Rhoads when I was a kid.

AFAIK, the Haji has always been alder/rosewood. Yes, it did come with a Duncan Distortion at first and that's because that's what he was using at the time Wicked Sensation was recorded (and the JB in the quilted top Strat). I played one of those first run Hajis and fell in love with it. Awesome guitar. It had it the original non-reverse headstock on it. They were that way until the mid-90's I believe. It started coming with the Demon after the second Mob album was out. That's a sig model I would still like to own.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

Sorry Bro, wasn't trying to squish your grapes on the topic or start a fight. You're experiences prove the pickup otherwise for you, and you're entitled to that. On the other side of the fence, there are a lot of people that bash the Screamin Demon based only on internet parrots and the specs without even trying one. The same thing goes for Maple as a body wood. People automatically assume that because it's dense and heavy that it's super bright and unfit for anything other necks. In reality, it's not anymore heavy or bright as a hard ash body.

Horses for courses bro. My "hey, that tone is ripping" moments, may be your "dam, that sounds like ass" moments.

Ha, no problem bro, I'm just expecting GuitarDoc to come in and blast me.

I like maple guitars, and they're not all bright. I've got that M-302 that isn't really bright at all, it's not all maple, but maple neckthru and top, which *should* be bright.

What guitar is the Haji? I've played all of them, we used to have an ESP dealer here that was into Lynch pretty hard, which is how I ended up owning those guitars. Awesome, awesome freaking guitars... once I changed the pickups, haha.

While we're on the subject, the reverse serpent was the baddest of them all, even moreso than the $3500 monstrosity I had.

 

[ErikH]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

What guitar is the Haji? I've played all of them, we used to have an ESP dealer here that was into Lynch pretty hard, which is how I ended up owning those guitars. Awesome, awesome freaking guitars... once I changed the pickups, haha.

Haji is the Skulls and Snakes guitar, the graphic from the Wicked Sensation album cover. That's my favorite one out of all of them. I picked up a Kami once and thought it was a 70's Les Paul. The thing weighed a ton.

 

[Franknfilms]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

any pickups out there with a scooped midrange/big bass/moderately smooth treble?

When I think about typical duncan scooped pickups: 59, Dimebucker, Custom, they all match your description, except they have piercing treble. You might want to consider the Dimarzio Steve's Special for a smoother treble response.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

Haji is the Skulls and Snakes guitar, the graphic from the Wicked Sensation album cover. That's my favorite one out of all of them. I picked up a Kami once and thought it was a 70's Les Paul. The thing weighed a ton.

Ah, the serpent (the white and black one) I had was real similar to the S&S.

No joke on the Kami weight thing, mine weighed more than any LP I've ever played.

 

[CountFunkula]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

*long post*

Thanks IzzO, I really appreciate your input! So you really think a 59 would work well in maple?

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

Oh man, I'm seriously probably the last person you'd want input from, BUT sure, I think a '59 would be fine in maple. Personally I'd go for a JB A2, but if you're going for bright-ish, PAF type that would still be able to do high gain chunky stuff with a high gain amp and not sound stupid then hell yeah, a 59b would work in maple.

 

[devastone]

Re: New theory on maple guitars

I played the original Haji a few years ago (for a few minutes), it had a D-Tuna on it, don't remember if the bridge was blocked or not though. IIRC, it had a '59 in it then.