For a while I’ve been looking for the

perfect allround set to go in either a Les Paul or Super strat and I believe I stumbled on the set that ticks all the boxes for me. I wanted a bridge pickup that was hot but not overly so. Great harmonics, singing leads with enough edge to cut through the mix without sounding too thin or thick. I want my rhythm parts to be chunky and crunchy but when I roll back the volume I want clarity.

For the neck I want clarity too, but not a shrill sound, or a hi-fi-ish sound. I want it to respond to my tone pot so I can add more creaminess if I want to or have it warm and articulate when it’s full open on 11. It has to do fluid leads where every note is audible with high gain as well as in a clean setting. I’m not too concerned about split sounds since splitting a humbucker is always a compromise (although a few do sound great when split: just check out my favorites here).

Of course I could’ve tried hybrids but I was adamant about finding a set that could be bought off the rack. So, by chance I found the perfect set, a set that really ticks all the boxes. The Alternative 8 for the bridge and the Screaming Demon in the neck. No mods, no tweaks. Just the pickups, ready to go. And here’s why!

The Alternative 8
The Alternative 8 is a strange pickup. It was the first production pickup Seymour Duncan offered with an Alnico 8 magnet. The alnico 8 is a stronger magnet and will give you much more mids, tighter lows and highs with a much more ‘vocal’ like quality than an Alnico 5 or even Alnico 2 with the same coils. The Alternative 8 was developed to maximize the tonal yield of the Alnico 8. I’m not sure what’s going on inside in terms of wire gauge, insulation and coil geometry, but the tone is so immense. It’s got hints of the JB – the fluid feel, the strong upper mids and treble detail – but it lacks the softer lows when put in mahogany nor does it exhibit the honky upper mids if it’s put in the wrong guitar like the JB can have. It’s got the balls and power of the Custom. It’s got the crunch of the Distortion without the aggression and upper mid sizzle. And the harmonics just scream! I was surprised to hear this pickup in a Les Paul: I expected a much thicker tone, but strangely enough it retained so much clarity. In a Superstrat it’s also an amazing powerhouse.

The Screamin’ Demon
The Demon was developed in the late 1980s/early 90s and is a very unique pickup, to say the least. It’s just 10k with an Alnico 5 and two rows of adjustable polepieces. It’s really unlike anything in the lineup. Stick it in the bridge position and you may think it’s a single coil: it’s so clean and and focussed but strong at the same time. Crank up your amp to 11 though and you’ll discover a whole new dimension to your playing. But since most of us don’t play at 11 the Demon is often misused by putting it in a very warm guitar to ‘clean’ it up. I can’t remember what I was thinking but I stuck it in the neck position of a Les Paul two years ago and never looked back. The single coil-like voicing translates to a lot of articulation and clarity when placed in the neck. I mean… it’s insane. I hooked it up to a 1 megaohm pot with a .47 pF paper-in-oil cap and toyed with it for a while. I was able to go from clean, honky yet warm tones (think ZZ Top on steroids with volume on 5, tone all the way open) to a lead tone reminiscent of Gary Moore (volume on 4, tone on 4) to the thick, juicy, creamy, full fat lead tone which instantly reminded me of Slash (volume open, tone on 7) to the ‘Woman’ tone (tone all the way closed). It seemed like the tone pot and volume pot actually had a purpose in stead of just bleeding off the highs of the pickup’s tone.

These two pickups are to me the most versatile setup available. Seymour Duncan offers so many great pickups. I mean, the JB is absolutely unbeatable in an 80s shred stick: after all, it’s loaded in so many guitars listed here for a good reason. The Black Winter leaves a path of scorched and crushed souls in its wake as you’re able to read here and here and more specifically about the neck pickup. The Pearly sets the Gates to Heaven on fire…. But when it comes to sheer versatility as well as picking a set that will work in nearly all guitars? The Alternative 8/Screaming Demon is very, very hard to beat.
Luckily my buddy Yannick feels the same way! He made this awesome recording. All of his leads and dirty rhythms were done with the Alternative 8, the cleans with the Demon.

http://youtu.be/G3-4BwMTlTM
I also found this clip, also with the Screaming Demon in the neck but with a JB in the bridge. This will give you a nice comparison between the JB and the Alternative 8 as a nice, little bonus too.
http://youtu.be/xfbrlale9j8

What made me even happier about this set was the coilsplitting capabilities. I hooked them up in another guitar of mine, with an SSL1 in the middle and an auto-coilsplit in the notched positions (i.e.: 2 and 4). I was extremely impressed. I’m not sure if that can be attributed completely to the pickups or just the middle but the combination really works. I was able to coax very convincing quacky sounds out of that guitar.