The Quintessential ’80s Metal Tone
Are you tonally frustrated? Have you tried every overdrive, distortion, and boost pedal you can get your hands on and still can’t nail an ’80s metal tone? Well, your aggravation stops here, thanks to Seymour Duncan’s Diamondhead. Using the classic half-stack-pushed-hard-with-a-drive-and-boost formula, this multi-stage distortion stompbox serves up the quintessential ’80s hard rock tone. Think Priest, Maiden, RATT, Ozzy — all those classic sounds lurk inside. Diamondhead has tons of gain on tap, along with a 3-band EQ, switchable 805 Overdrive circuit, and an independent 15dB boost. From a fat growl to a metallic scream, Diamondhead delivers the goods. So, rekindle some Sunset Strip nostalgia — stomp on Seymour Duncan’s Diamondhead!
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Captures the power and versatility of an era-defining guitar rig
Diamondhead can be used in a variety of ways. It works great in front of a clean amp, injecting it with the sound of a cranked amp stack. You can also punish the front end of an overdriven amp, soaking your tone in gorgeous layers of saturation. Many guitarists here at Sweetwater have also achieved seriously brutal tones by running Diamondhead straight into an amp’s effects return, effectively transforming the pedal into a hot-rodded high-gain preamp. Regardless of how you use it, this stompbox delivers an ear-grabbing, aggressive sound with loads of bite, body, and character.
Flexible 3-band EQ unleashes a multitude of hard-hitting tones
If you want to dial in your tone with surgical precision, Diamondhead is the right tool for the job, thanks to its flexible 3-band EQ. The Bass knob employs a super-tight curve at 80Hz to add girth to your tone without any mud or flabbiness. The Mid knob utilizes a broad curve at 800Hz to create colossal scooped chunk, hyper-aggressive attack, and all points in between. And the Treble knob, set at 6kHz, adds sizzle, cut, and articulation to your playing. To complement the EQ, Seymour Duncan has included a SAT switch based on their 805 Overdrive. This function adds a 24dB pre-gain boost that subtly rolls off lows and highs, tightening your lows and allowing your mids to cut through. The chewy, harmonic saturation that the SAT switch adds to your tone is downright amazing!
Gain — the purpose of this pedal
Of course, it doesn’t matter how many cool features Diamondhead has if it doesn’t fulfill its purpose — GAIN! And fulfill that purpose it does, from raw medium-gain crunch to screaming high-gain grind. Palm mutes chug, pinch harmonics squeal, and power chords resonate with glorious harmonic content — all while retaining maximum clarity and touch response. You also get an independent Boost footswitch that kicks in a variable gain boost of up to 15dB. This works great as a lead boost, or you can push an amp on the brink of overdrive into full-on saturation.
Seymour Duncan Diamondhead Features:
- Serves up the quintessential ’80s hard rock tone using the classic half-stack-pushed-hard-with-a-drive-and-boost formula
- Captures the vibe of iconic bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, RATT, Ozzy Osbourne, and Def Leppard
- Injects the sound of a cranked amp stack into a clean amp
- Punishes the front end of an overdriven amp for gorgeous saturation
- Functions as a hot-rodded high-gain preamp — just plug into your amp’s effects return
- 3-band EQ dials in your tone with surgical precision
- SAT switch adds a 24dB pre-gain boost based on Seymour Duncan’s 805 Overdrive
- Independent Boost footswitch kicks in a variable gain boost of up to 15dB
