Pickup Suggestions

[Parap14]

Hi guys, I am looking for some help on "real world" pickup experience. Here's my dilemma.
I have a solid flame maple HSH Floyded strat body with a one piece maple bolt-on neck. I am happy with the neck and middle pickups. I have a major love/hate relationship with the bridge pickup. It is a Floyd spaced Duncan Screamin' Demon from around 1988. It is the only thing that I have tried that sounds good some of the time. It just doesn't have enough ???? to push my amp the way my other guitars do. I have tried many higher output pickups in there, but they all sound like mush. The Demon has all the clarity and tone, but it lacks the balls. I am looking for suggestions other than the online pickup pickers.
Pickups I have tried are:
Duncan Distortion
Duncan JB
Duncan Custom
Duncan Custom 5
Duncan 59
Duncan Full Shred
DiMarzio Tone Zone
DiMarzio Super Distortion
DiMarzio Fred
DiMarzio Steve's Special
EMG 85
EMG 81
EMG 89

Any suggestions would be welcomed.

 

[axemane]

If you like the Demon there are some pickup mods for it , i.e. changing one of the magnets.

I had a Demon in one of my guitars but I recently swapped it just for S & G's...might put it back in soon. The Demon just has this percussive articulate thing and is clear . I wish it had a little more ooomph to it also.

What amp you play through can help/hurt with this too. Demon sounds great with a heavy gained out Marshall

For what you are wanting a Rio Grande BBQ might be the ticket .

 

[ericsabbath]

bare knuckle vhII, holy diver and cold sweat are plenty of balls and clarity

 

[sandman]

Bareknuckle alinico nailbomb

 

[DoomBuggi]

bare knuckle vhII, holy diver and cold sweat are plenty of balls and clarity

+1

 

[Badronald]

Love the Suhr Aldrich in my Strats. I cannot imagine that pickup ever sounding muddy.

High output with tons of clarity. Balls to spare.

 

[Gainzilla]

Love the Suhr Aldrich in my Strats. I cannot imagine that pickup ever sounding muddy.

High output with tons of clarity. Balls to spare.

+1

 

[JimmyDoomsday]

bare knuckle ceramic warpig, bare knuckle alnico nailbomb, bare knuckle miracle man, suhr aldrich, hell even a gibson 500t has some pretty big balls.

depends on what you're looking to accomplish musically, whether you're looking for a good lead or a good chunking rhythm sound, what kind of amp you're playing through, etc.

 

[Cflat96]

I find it hard to imagine how anyone can possibly help you without asking what you meant by saying every other pickup you tried sounded like mush. Do you mean mush as in, muddy and loose lows?
If that's the case, you might have a hard time finding a tighter pickup than some you listed. But I'd prefer some more information before I could feel comfortable giving you recommendations.

 

[Parap14]

I appreciate all the responses. Maybe I need to be more clear as to what I am looking for. I like the Suhr SSH+ in 2 of my guitars. I like the JB in one of them. I like the Petrucci pickups in my early(2001) JP6. The Demon sounds good musically to my ears, it just doesn't get me enough sustain or musicality. The Suhr pickups really make the guitar sound "alive" with plenty of clarity, sustain and harmonics. The JB has balls to the wall in my alder body GMW. The DiMarzios in the Petrucci really make that basswood guitar sound awesome. This maple guitar sounds fantastic acoustically. The clean tones are great also. It just needs the right bridge pickup. My amps are both Brunetti's. 1 is an XLR-EVO 120W head. The other is an MC2 60W closed back combo. Both EL34. I don't have this issue with my other guitars. Just this one. I have been considering trying the Suhr Aldrich. I just wanted some other thoughts and suggestions. Thanks to all that have taken the time to reply so far.

 

[OUTLAW1969]

I have a Suhr Aldrich (Dbl Blk / 53mm spacing), that I will send you for $80.

The best pickup that I have found lately is the Tom Anderson H2+, for what it is worth.

 

[Jordon]

PRS Tremonti Treble and Gibson 500t are my top two...The PRS has been at the top for me for years.

 

[racerevlon]

Dimarzio Super 3. Or Steve Morse Bridge model.

 

[2prog4u]

Have you thought about adding an EMG PA2 or SD BMP to your existing Demon? The PA2 will be more transparent, but add up to 20db of clean boost. Though in my TAT it was a little noisy at full throttle. The SD BMP will also add boost, tho I heard it colors your tone somewhat...

 

[metalmaniac93]

Suhr Aldrich kicks ass in a Super Strat like guitar. I also like the MCP Angel Dust!!!

 

[bigangryguitar]

what about a paf style pickup? I have a Rio Grande Genuine Texas in my PRS singlecut (I realize totally different beasts) and it is magic. Might give you the clarity you want. Also it might be a question of pickup height and pole piece adjustments. Maybe try raising the demon up a bit or raising the pole pieces. It should sound really thick!

 

[Cflat96]

I appreciate all the responses. Maybe I need to be more clear as to what I am looking for. I like the Suhr SSH+ in 2 of my guitars. I like the JB in one of them. I like the Petrucci pickups in my early(2001) JP6. The Demon sounds good musically to my ears, it just doesn't get me enough sustain or musicality. The Suhr pickups really make the guitar sound "alive" with plenty of clarity, sustain and harmonics. The JB has balls to the wall in my alder body GMW. The DiMarzios in the Petrucci really make that basswood guitar sound awesome. This maple guitar sounds fantastic acoustically. The clean tones are great also. It just needs the right bridge pickup. My amps are both Brunetti's. 1 is an XLR-EVO 120W head. The other is an MC2 60W closed back combo. Both EL34. I don't have this issue with my other guitars. Just this one. I have been considering trying the Suhr Aldrich. I just wanted some other thoughts and suggestions. Thanks to all that have taken the time to reply so far.

Ok. That helps a bit. Now for the really important questions;
Which of those pickups have you tried in the maple guitar, and what didn't you like about them? When trying to find the right pickup for a guitar, you have to understand that guitars can and will sound different from each other. Even of the same wood types. It doesn't really matter too much what you thought of a certain pickup in a different guitar, because it can be a whole different issue with another.

That's why I asked what pickups you've tried in the guitar in question and what you didn't like about each one. Then, I could get a better idea of what pickup might work for you in that guitar.

 

[newlyformedmind]

I'm a fan of the EMG 81's myself

 

[zz666]

Aldrich

 

[Parap14]

Finally getting back to this. Still looking for suggestions.