Screamin Demon in Neck?

[marshallartist]

I have an Ibanez S370 that I'm trying to configure as a Heavy Metal/Hard rock guitar. In case your not familiar with this model it's a strat style with HSH configuration, mahogany body, rosewood fretboard and locking trem. My current pickup configuration is:
Bridge: Dimebucker
Middle: Dimarzio HS3 (split)
Neck: Dimarzio Breed Neck

The Breed is a good pickup but it is very warm sounding and I want something voiced a little more like the Dimebucker, but about the same output level as the Breed. I was thinking the Screamin Demon might be a good choice.

Anyone tried this?

 

[Dave Z]

Re: Screamin Demon in Neck?

Also consider a PAF Pro - about like a Demon in output. Some folks will even use a Fred.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Screamin Demon in Neck?

Anything over 8k in neck = mud.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Screamin Demon in Neck?

I've heard good things about the PAF Joe in the neck position when a higher output, but still articulate, neck bucker is needed.

 

[fab.regnaut]

Re: Screamin Demon in Neck?

I tried the Demon in neck ; not as treebly as a Jazz or '59 , the note sound still percussive but thick , big , not thin at all .
It can be good for soloing is you don't want a lot of treebles , and for rythm is you remove before the preamp a little bit of bass ( with an EQ or an overdrive ) to avoid mud .
Remember it sound BIG !
And splitted it is fine for clean ( or distorted if you want thiner leads )
Worth trying IMO

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Screamin Demon in Neck?

Anything over 8k in neck = mud.

Not in my experience.

 

[MikeS]

Re: Screamin Demon in Neck?

Everything we love about the SH-12 transfers from the bridge to the neck. The sound is still very open and bright (without being overly bright). The pick attack is still sharp and crisp. Even with the tone rolled back a bit the pup sings clear. I had to really try turning knobs on both the amp and the guitar to muddy up the pickup (I generally find neck pickups easily fall into mud if you aren't careful). I would liken it very much to a '59 neck in terms of voicing. It's slightly hotter, and IMO, not quite as full on the bottom end as the 59.

It's got plenty of power to push the neck position, too. Under gain, the tone is very sweet with great punch and articulation. It's a very raw tone that works well with searing melodic leads under high gain, as well as short quick runs.

It's only "downfall" I would say is that it's missing a little character in the neck position. This is an apples and oranges comparison, but it lacks the smooth, well rounded bottom end and the warmth that I get out of the Jazz (in the LP) and the Cool Rails. This is less evident under gain. With very little or no gain the pickup simply doesn't seem to have much complexity in it's tone, and IMO sounds a little 2D.

In the end I pulled the SD from the neck because it wasn’t perfect for the role. I tend to prefer a smoother, lower output neck pickup, and the SD was a bit harsh and too crisp. It missed the warmth. But, it was far from muddy, and IMO not a bad option for the neck of a metal axe.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Screamin Demon in Neck?

What about changing the hex against filister head screw. Would that smooth out the sound of the SD?
I have a 9k rewound DiMarzio PAF (unbucker 4k/5k) in the neck: It is warm, lacks a little bit of cut but seems very near to a P90 - not bad.

 

[marshallartist]

Re: Screamin Demon in Neck?

Thanks for the input guys.

In response to some of your suggestions:
I may look into the PAF Pro. I know it was a popular neck P/U among shreaders and '80s metal guitarists. Since that's what I'm going for with this guitar it kinda makes sense. Likewise the PAF Joe would probably be another good choice since it seems like it would be a little more versatile.

As for >8k=mud. I can see where this might generally be the case but there are exceptions. As you can see I've been using a Breed neck on this guitar which is a 10K P/U but it is no more muddy than a Duncan 59 and is slightly cleaner sounding than the APH-1 I have in the neck of another guitar.

And a special thank to MikeS. Your description really helped me reach a conclusion. I was hoping to use the neck for melodic stuff with distortion. Clean doesn't really matter as much to me since I have an HS3 in the middle for that.

 

[Children of Bodom]

Re: Screamin Demon in Neck?

Everything we love about the SH-12 transfers from the bridge to the neck. The sound is still very open and bright (without being overly bright). The pick attack is still sharp and crisp. Even with the tone rolled back a bit the pup sings clear. I had to really try turning knobs on both the amp and the guitar to muddy up the pickup (I generally find neck pickups easily fall into mud if you aren't careful). I would liken it very much to a '59 neck in terms of voicing. It's slightly hotter, and IMO, not quite as full on the bottom end as the 59.

It's got plenty of power to push the neck position, too. Under gain, the tone is very sweet with great punch and articulation. It's a very raw tone that works well with searing melodic leads under high gain, as well as short quick runs.

It's only "downfall" I would say is that it's missing a little character in the neck position. This is an apples and oranges comparison, but it lacks the smooth, well rounded bottom end and the warmth that I get out of the Jazz (in the LP) and the Cool Rails. This is less evident under gain. With very little or no gain the pickup simply doesn't seem to have much complexity in it's tone, and IMO sounds a little 2D.

In the end I pulled the SD from the neck because it wasn’t perfect for the role. I tend to prefer a smoother, lower output neck pickup, and the SD was a bit harsh and too crisp. It missed the warmth. But, it was far from muddy, and IMO not a bad option for the neck of a metal axe.

Good post... I was pretty much in that position when i had mine in... I took mine out and put in a 59 and i have to say it I never looked back.

 

[MikeS]

Re: Screamin Demon in Neck?

I'm glad I could be of some help. I copied that from a review I did of the Screamin Demon neck several months ago. One thing I failed to copy was that the section that stated this was in a 24 fret BC Rich Mockingbird, so the position of the neck pickup is slightly different than a traditional neck pickup. That, I am sure, partially attributed to the clarity and possibly even the lack of warmth. However, I still believe most of the tone issue had to do with the pickup rather than its slightly altered neck position.