emaccarthy
New member
I am currently on a quest to find a new bridge pickup.
My guitar is a alder/maple superstrat currently with with a jb/jazz set. I have tried the regular screamin demon but felt it was a little to thin/hollow and shrill but had good cleans and articulation. I like the JB but feel like its a touch too hot and one dimensional. I really like its grindy/crunch but feel it lacks some versatility and would like it to be a bit less honky with just slightly less output.
I recently learned of the custom shop "original" El Diablo pickup and it peaked my interest. Correct me if I'm wrong but I hear it is simply an overwound screamin demon that meters out at about 13k. This seems to me to be right in the sweet spot of slightly less than the JB but more than the Demon. I have heard that the slight overwind tamed the harsh highs, filled out the tone a little, all while keeping the great clarity that the demon is known for. I play mostly instrumental shreddy 80s hard rock stuff but also blues, fusion, country and other genres just as much. So I need a pickup that can sound good and handle a fair amount of styles and playing dynamics. I really like my Jazz neck pickup, would this mesh well with it?
I did some reasearch and could only really find this review describing this pickup:
The original "El Diablo" was inspired by and directly based on the Screamin’ Demon. From the outside, you can't tell the two apart. Like the Demon, the Diablo featured a coil with 6 adjustable hex screws mated to a second coil with traditional fillister type pole pieces. Both the Demon and the Diablo housed an A5 (Alnico V) magnet at their core. However, the coils of the Diablo were wound to a much higher resistance than the Demon’s typical 10K range. When I spoke with MJ about the design more than a decade ago, she said the goal of the El Diablo was to increase the output and tame the sometimes harsh top end of the Screamin' Demon without losing its tightness, drive and clarity. This "original” El Diablo was designed at the request of Scott Ian, but is not the model most SD fans associate with him because it was not the pickup found in his signature guitars.
This all sounds good but I would like to learn more. Anyone have any more info/experience with this pickup?? If I do end up wanting to get this, where and how do I order it? I couldn't even find it on the seymour custom shop website. Does it still exist?
My guitar is a alder/maple superstrat currently with with a jb/jazz set. I have tried the regular screamin demon but felt it was a little to thin/hollow and shrill but had good cleans and articulation. I like the JB but feel like its a touch too hot and one dimensional. I really like its grindy/crunch but feel it lacks some versatility and would like it to be a bit less honky with just slightly less output.
I recently learned of the custom shop "original" El Diablo pickup and it peaked my interest. Correct me if I'm wrong but I hear it is simply an overwound screamin demon that meters out at about 13k. This seems to me to be right in the sweet spot of slightly less than the JB but more than the Demon. I have heard that the slight overwind tamed the harsh highs, filled out the tone a little, all while keeping the great clarity that the demon is known for. I play mostly instrumental shreddy 80s hard rock stuff but also blues, fusion, country and other genres just as much. So I need a pickup that can sound good and handle a fair amount of styles and playing dynamics. I really like my Jazz neck pickup, would this mesh well with it?
I did some reasearch and could only really find this review describing this pickup:
The original "El Diablo" was inspired by and directly based on the Screamin’ Demon. From the outside, you can't tell the two apart. Like the Demon, the Diablo featured a coil with 6 adjustable hex screws mated to a second coil with traditional fillister type pole pieces. Both the Demon and the Diablo housed an A5 (Alnico V) magnet at their core. However, the coils of the Diablo were wound to a much higher resistance than the Demon’s typical 10K range. When I spoke with MJ about the design more than a decade ago, she said the goal of the El Diablo was to increase the output and tame the sometimes harsh top end of the Screamin' Demon without losing its tightness, drive and clarity. This "original” El Diablo was designed at the request of Scott Ian, but is not the model most SD fans associate with him because it was not the pickup found in his signature guitars.
This all sounds good but I would like to learn more. Anyone have any more info/experience with this pickup?? If I do end up wanting to get this, where and how do I order it? I couldn't even find it on the seymour custom shop website. Does it still exist?
