Humbucker help

zebopdin

Newbie
Messages
14
I recently put together a chambered, Black Korina Strat with a maple top, canary neck and ebony fretboard. After a ton of research, I decided on a screamin demon.  I had heard a guy play a mini demon in a strat and absolutely loved his tone. Plus, I had been playing a basswood guitar with a JB and wanted to get away from that sound. It was starting to feel a little to "metal"  and thin for my taste. However, after a few weeks of playing the demon... I'm really starting to dislike it. In my guitar, at least, the highs (especially on clean channels) are way too glassy. And the lows are really tubby. I feel like I'm fighting the guitar to get a good crunchy distortion and harmonics. Everything I had read (and heard) on the demon seemed perfect for me. But in my guitar, it just ain't happenin'.
Where to go from here? Any thoughts? I want a nice crunchy pickup for a good hard rock tone and feel, but I don't want to sacrifice clarity by going with something super high gain with scooped out mids.
 
try a GFS Lil Killer. they make them in three outputs. cheap enough to try one out and not feel bad if you dont like it. im assuming this is a single coil rout in yor strat.


guitarfetish.com    is the webpage they can be found on


Brian
 
I've heard that alot of the higher output pups sound best in brighter guitars, and maybe that black korina is just too warm. I've also heard that lower output pups can do metal ok, if you get the high gain from your rig, but I don't have enough personal experience trying out pickups to recommend anything.
 
Based on my recent experience, I would try a couple of different magnets in it, maybe you'll get the sound you want, or maybe you'll just learn more about you like in a pickup in that guitar. You maybe should try a ceramic magnet, and also an alnico 3 or 4, maybe. Depends on what you want.
Honestly it is really, really easy to do. Here's the link:
http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=6795.0
oh, I'm assuming it's a full-sized bucker. Otherwise, never mind. Welcome to the pickup merry go round!
 
The demon isn't really that hot. I wonder what you're amp is like, since I had no trouble getting a good distortion tone with mine. It is a very articulate pickup and the highs are very crisp. I didn't find the lows to be flubby though. IMO a lot of complaints about a loose low end are really about the amp.

I would try messing with the height of it. I tend to like bring it as close to the strings as you can. I hold down the e strings at the highest fret and check how much space there is between the string and pole piece. I like there to be just enough room so if I palm mute I'm not going to push the string down and hit the pole piece.

If that doesn't help try backing it off a little at a time and maybe you'll find a better spot for it.

If that didn't work out for you, what I would try to beef it up and tighten the lows and take a little edge off the highs, is swap in an A8 magnet (the demon has an A5). The A8 cures a lot of things that people don't like about the A5. I wouldn't recommend a ceramic magnet, only because I find that they make the sound a little harsh, but for some music they work great.
 
It's a standard size humbucker route. I've tried it through a few different rigs. Including a marshall JVM, line6 Flextone3, small peavey tube amp and a POD. Oddly enough, I first noticed the tubby bottom while running direct out from my POD. I chalked it up to the POD. But, even with real amps at stage volume I'm not much happier. The poster who said the demon is not a hi-gain pickup is right. I wanted a mid-gain pickup with a PAF-type growl. However, to get the feel I want, I have to push the gain on the amp, which is causing more feedback than I would like. I may just go back to the JB. I've also thought about trying to find one of the custom pickups from the original Petrucci MusicMan. I understand it's basically a Steve's Special with the mids pumped up.
I'm not a pickup guru, and I hate to think of trying out a hundred pickups! Especially based solely on the manufactures specs. Because I was waaay of on the Demon! LOL Maybe in a different guitar it would sound fantastic! Who knows?
 
I would definitely try an Alnico 8 magnet before buying a new pickup. I will say with 99% certainty that it will tighten up the low end and make the pickup more powerfull (more compression). I think it's worth a try before you start spending money on other pickups. Unless you want to. I know I did and I don't regret it because I know what the differences are in a lots of them now.


http://www.shop.wymoreguitars.com/category.sc;jsessionid=6176EC15E7CDE09E37594B2C4B4E1E4D.qscstrfrnt02?categoryId=29
 
Because it's not the amp or combo, or the cables or wires or pots, then I'd say experiment.  Try three different pups with different outputs.  The thing you have to remember is, a humbucker will always be a humbucker.
 
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