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Seymour Duncan SH12/ TB12: Screamin’ Demon
List: $99
The Screamin’ Demon joins Ibanez’s Tubescreamer in the line of products with a rather deceitful name tag. I’m sorry to invalidate all hopes of this pickup being a super high output & menacing…
The SH12 was initially a Custom Shop exclusive for guitarist George Lynch who wanted a pickup of similar warmth & subtlety of an SH1 (’59) but with a touch more output for responsive harmonics & added lower midrange for a deserving growl. In use, the SH12 is a great accessory for high gain/ drive settings. As promised, the harmonics response was more pronounced & unlike the vintage voicing of the ’59, one can hear an added lower midrange response. Unlike Duncan’s midrange menace, the SH4 (JB), the Demon’s midrange sounds coarse, very suitable for players who intend to make their low end thumping audible & not mush-out with increased volume.
Another killjoy- if you really think that the ’59 individuality is in tact here; not really. This is particularly evident when the humbucker is played clean. As the pickup holds an increased lower midrange serving, one will hear a lack of acoustic crisp from it. This pickup is also intended as a bridge unit primarily (no neck counterpart offered by the manufacturer to date). We read in countless forums/ discussion boards of how successful the Demon can be in the neck. It does well there, I must say, but it lacks the transparency of a typical neck unit.
Last say
The ‘Demon’ name is a very misleading tag indeed. Players who invested in this pickup often expressed regret upon discovering a less demonic nature, inherently. However, if you intend to own a humbucker with a healthy dose of lower midrange, a slightly raunchy lower midrange & above-average harmonics response, the Demon is an apt pickup to consider. Do keep in mind that the SH12 isn’t high output at all.
