Seymour Duncan Diamondhead Multi-Stage Distortion Pedal

Get the power of a full stack in a small package! The Seymour Duncan Diamondhead distortion has a powerful active EQ onboard and an independent boost switch.

Across genres and generations, the sound of a half stack pushed hard with drive and boost has become a standard for rock tones. No genre or era of players has been more heavily defined by these iconic sounds than the classic metal and hard rock pioneers of the late seventies and eighties. Think Judas Priest, RATT, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Ozzy -- their combination of tube heads and drive pedals resulted in some of the most iconic guitar tones of all time.

Diamondhead captures the power and versatility of that era-defining rig in a package that will find a space on any pedalboard. Whether you're running it into a clean pedal platform amp or into the frontend of an overdriven tube amp, the Diamondhead provides the flexibility and tonal clarity to authentically capture the sound that defined an era.

It all starts with the drive -- from breathy and raw medium gain sounds to screaming high-gain harmonics, Diamondhead is deep and three-dimensional, with clarity and touch response. Three powerful active EQ controls maximize the potential of the gain section. A tightly defined bass control boosts and cuts at 80 Hz, with surgical precision -- making the low end huge, but never muddy. A broader mid-range control set right at 800 Hz allows for massive scooped chunk, hyper aggressive modern attack, and everything in between. And the Treble control, set at 6 kHz, adds sizzle, cut, and attack.

The SAT Switch (based on our 805 Overdrive) adds a 24dB pregain boost that tightens up the low read more end for more aggressive and defined attack. Subtly rolling off lows and highs, it allows the mid-range to cut through, creating chewy, harmonic saturation. Independent from the Drive section, the Boost (activated with the left footswitch) offers 0 to 15 dB of available gain and can be used as a lead boost or to push an amp on the edge into overdrive.

Try using it with a slightly dirty amp as the first gain stage and adding the Drive section for your highest gain sounds. Diamondhead also shines as a pre-amp. By running it into the effects return of your tube amp, or in front of our PowerStage power amps you'll be rewarded with a hot-rodded high gain amp tone with body, bite, and character.

If you've gone through a pile of overdrives, distortions, and boost pedals searching for that quintessential 80s metal or hard rock tone and haven't been satisfied, make Diamondhead the heart of your rig -- versatile enough to handle any covers set, precise enough to surgically dial in your own tone -- it captures the rock 'n roll spirit of a high gain head pushed to the edge

Features:

- Powerful active EQ
- SAt switch adds 24db pre-gain boost and tightens up the low end
- Independent boost with zero to 15db of gain
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Dimensions and Weight in Packaging
Base Item
Shipping Weight: 1 lbs
Shipping Dimensions: 6 x 4 x 3 in
Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 11900-016

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 805-964-9610
Email: support@seymourduncan.com
Web: https://seymourduncan.zendesk.com

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars. (2 ratings)
Submitted January 6, 2020 by Henry Cline in Oklahoma City, OK

"Oh it's just SO GOOD!!!"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
I've had this pedal for a few weeks now and I think it's the bee's knees. Let me elaborate below.

Sound
It seems like the question with most pedals is "Can it do classic rock distortion AND modern metal distortion?" I would have to say, yes this can do both. Although, you may have to crank the gain and flick on that saturation switch. And I would say if you're leaning more towards modern metal and not the in between, it may not be the best pedal for you. But it's a versatile distortion pedal, for sure.

Features
This is one of the only pedals that features a boost that can be used independently. THANK GOD. It doesn't make sense to spend over $200 for a pedal that has two features, but they have to be used simultaneously (cough cough the Palladium cough cough). Also, that saturation switch really kicks a$$! (Can I say that?)

Ease of Use
Extremely easy to use if you know what tone you're seeking. I haven't tried it through the effects loop, and I barely messed around with using it as an overdrive to my Fender Super Sonic's distortion channel. I know some people do that but... not me.

Quality
Solid. In fact, I think because of a holiday rush, it was not packaged very well and it actually bounced around in the box zZounds sent it in. zZounds offered to submit a return request if there were any issues. But it still works like a charm!

Value read more
Definitely worth it. I was saving up for a Palladium for a while (which I think could still be a good pedal to use) but this pedal made me glad I waited.

Manufacturer Support
I haven't had to talk to them about this pedal particularly, but I've worked with Seymour Duncan in the past and they're great!

The Wow Factor
I LOVE THIS PEDAL! Right out of the box, I was blown away. I'm playing through the front of a Fender Super Sonic on the clean channel and I haven't been disappointed so far!

Musical Background:
I've played electric/acoustic guitar since 2007. I've been a studio musician and play some small gigs.

Musical Style:
Rock, metal, acoustic, blues, clown prog metal (jk)
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