Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

Tesla

Tesla

New member
I've installed a screamin demon in my all maple strat and so far I'm having no luck in achieving Lynch's tone. I've used it in conjuction with my modded JCM 800, which has plenty of gain, the moderate pickup output shouldn't be a problem at all, and I've also tried it with the Axe FX II. I got the best results using some type of 808 based OD pedal in front of my JCM 800, but it still sounded very cold and lifeless. Same thing with the Axe FX II. The lows and the mids are weird, in my opinion. The lows are rough but at the same time muddy, the mids are almost non-existent. I kind of dig the highs but I wish that they would enhance the screaming even more. So far, my JB and Bareknuckle VH II pickups are screaming much better, even though the latter has a lower output than the Demon and even slightly less highs.

I bought this pickup because I wanted a "pissed off " PAF and I knew that the name screamin demon was misleading. I did not expect a high gain beast, but I did expect a low to moderate output Duncan Distortion, if that makes even sense. What I got is something very different to what I'm used to associate with Lynch.

Am I missing here something? How do you guys make this pickup shine?
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

You probably want a distortion because thats what Lynch actually used as well as tons of other gear. The Demon was made to let the amp do the work and remain articulate and it does just that. I have the lil Demon and it's a very articulate and bright pup which I like. Unless you can crank the amp or push the gain your not going to be happy with it.
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

The demon is a pickup with clarity. It has a very expansive clean sound, I love the bloom and sustain of the lead sound,
BUT I felt like I had to practically double the gain level to get anywhere near the kind of full warm rock power chord you can easily get from other Humbuckers.
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

I wish I could help, but I don't have much experience with it. General concensus is that the demon is very dependant on the guitar it's installed in. You could try moving it to the neck position if possible and try a custom in the bridge.
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

The Screamin' Demon is probably one of the clearest and articulate pickups that Duncan offers imho. I currently have it installed in a bright Jackson super strat and also had it in a rosewood Fender strat. I never had issues with mud and plenty of mids in normal tuning and B standard.

For your situation I'd suggest trying it with a 250K volume pot and lowering pickup height slightly. I have an unmodded JMP with a Tube Screamer and have plenty of gain still.
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

I use several screamin demons in the neck position of my guitars. It's great for that position and has good clarity. For pissed off paf you want a custom or a distortion neck in the bridge.
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

Rockstar216 said:
You probably want a distortion because thats what Lynch actually used as well as tons of other gear. The Demon was made to let the amp do the work and remain articulate and it does just that. I have the lil Demon and it's a very articulate and bright pup which I like. Unless you can crank the amp or push the gain your not going to be happy with it.
Click to expand...

I've only played the Ducnan Distortion once and it was a bit too compressed sounding and too hot for my taste. I'm not using a non-master-volume amp, I don't need a pickup that pushes the amp into distortion. I think that this was Lynch's thought-process, too. Most modern rock amps have enough gain, so why not use a moderate output humbucker that's not as compressed and harsh than the hot pickups. Apparently, the hot pickups still add something else to the mix that moderate output pickups can never achieve...

CountFeedback said:
The demon is a pickup with clarity. It has a very expansive clean sound, I love the bloom and sustain of the lead sound,
BUT I felt like I had to practically double the gain level to get anywhere near the kind of full warm rock power chord you can easily get from other Humbuckers.
Click to expand...

I get the clarity part, and I agree to a certain extent. It's a clear pickup until you turn up the gain and play the lower A and E strings, then it starts to get muddy. Maybe it's because they tried to add the low-mid growl to the pickup, I don't know. Gain is no problem for me, the JCM 800 has tons of preamp gain, however, once you reach a certain point, the pickup starts to scream, but at the same time, it gets muddy, and the mids are missing.

Big Flannel said:
I wish I could help, but I don't have much experience with it. General concensus is that the demon is very dependant on the guitar it's installed in. You could try moving it to the neck position if possible and try a custom in the bridge.
Click to expand...

I can't really imagine that it might be my guitar. It's an all maple beast, just like George's M-1 Tiger. It's even almost as heavy as his Tiger (12lbs). I think I'm using it in a wrong way. Is George not using a TS 808 at all times? That seems to add a lot of the missing mid-range. But it still sounds a bit lifeless to me and I can't push it into the desired gain territory without losing the tight low end.
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

Have you adjusted the height and screw pieces.

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

I have a strat with a set of Lil Screamin Demon, it's a difficult pickup to find suitable uses for. I was hoping for Lil 59's with pizzaz like you were, but it seems like it doesn't have a clear use, it's got that high end, but it's not as raunchy as single coils and not as warm as the regular lil '59, and it's just not high enough output to distort lusciously. It's a pretty sounding clean, but I have a hard time thinking of something to play with them where the tone is especially fitting. They're like a cute shy girl.
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

i got it in a vintage japanese super strat with wood that is unknown to me. its the only pickup in there. no neck pickup. pots and electronics were updated with new stuff. vintage trem. maple fretboard. sounds awesome. yes it is a hard rock 80s metal sound.
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

Put a normal ceramic in a JB.

No. Really.


Sent from my armored battle station using Tapatalk
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

have one in a rosewood neck strat. very clear & articulate. could have just a little more bottom end, but I'm pretty satisfied with it, I just turn down the treble on the guitar a little.
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

uOpt said:
Drawer decoration.
Click to expand...

^^^ this ^^^


lol!



to paraphrase a drummer joke....

Q: what do you call it when you toss a Screamin Demon from across the room and it gets into the trash on the first throw?
A: perfect pitch
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

It is good to un-boom a Les Paul's neck position, though.

But then so is a Stratocaster.
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

Only thing I found with the demon was MOAR GAIN. It's a very dry, almost spikily dynamic pickup with no inherent sparkle or compression. It can sound very woody and controlled under massive gain. But it eats gain for lunch. It can make a gain setting that's ZZ-Top saturated with a paf sound almost clean.

You must quest for more gain. You must cross the plains of dull crunchiness, over the mountains of muddy fizzliness into the far lands of unbelievable saturation. You want something like 30 on the gain knob of a modded 800. Like full-up on a bogner. All other pickups will have melted in the intense heat and been reduced to pure garbled white noise. The demon will still sound amazingly tight and controlled with a satisfying dose of screaming harmonic overtones. But it needs to be amp(or amp-like) gain - boosting with a TS will only cause muddiness.

Or it doesn't like your guitar.
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

ParameterMan said:
Only thing I found with the demon was MOAR GAIN. It's a very dry, almost spikily dynamic pickup with no inherent sparkle or compression. It can sound very woody and controlled under massive gain. But it eats gain for lunch. It can make a gain setting that's ZZ-Top saturated with a paf sound almost clean.

You must quest for more gain. You must cross the plains of dull crunchiness, over the mountains of muddy fizzliness into the far lands of unbelievable saturation. You want something like 30 on the gain knob of a modded 800. Like full-up on a bogner. All other pickups will have melted in the intense heat and been reduced to pure garbled white noise. The demon will still sound amazingly tight and controlled with a satisfying dose of screaming harmonic overtones. But it needs to be amp(or amp-like) gain - boosting with a TS will only cause muddiness.

Or it doesn't like your guitar.
Click to expand...


I found this as well. I love how tight, woody, open and articulate the 'demon is; regardless of how much gain you throw at it. But I always wanted a little more heat from it, especially in the bridge position. There also isn't a lot of "give" or "squish" to it either, so if you are playing with a really tight sound on your amp, it can actually FEEL a little too unforgiving. My remedy for it was to get the custom shop to overwind me one. I can tell that once you wind a 'demon up to around 13k....it actually becomes its namesake. ;) That said, not everyone is up for the custom pickup thing. Right now, I don't have any stock ones in the bridge, but I love the way it sounds in the neck position. One of my faves there.
 
Re: Screamin' Demon - How do you use it?

the thing is when I say you have to double the gain level to get anything like the full warm sound you can get from other Humbuckers...
I really mean any good Humbucker, doesn't have to be high output JB,Distortion,etc..., it can be a 59, seth, whatever it's going to sound more like you expect a humbucker to sound than the Demon.
I have a similar setup, I run a JMP/JCM800 with an old RAT, I didn't find it got muddy when I upped my gain to compensate for the Demon.
I found upping the gain gave the Demon the worst stereotypical 80s Hair Metal tone, very plastic sound, never warms up or blends into the gain.
 
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