UberMetalDood
New member
This is one pickup which I initially disliked. I remember trying one in an alder body MusicMan and immediately noticed the mid scoop. In my mind, I was against it from the start because I had it in my mind that any pickup with scooped mids is just not as good. Then the other day I was going through a box of old pickups that a music store was giving away for $10 each and found a Steve's Special, Air Zone and Duncan nickel JB. They were fairly mint condition so it was a steal for only $30. I installed the Steve's Special last because I wasn't that much interested in it. I should mention that they are all candidates for my Mahogany American Strat.
First went the JB. I wasn't doing it for me. Then I put in the Air Zone, not expecting much but perhaps too much fatness and overbearing mids and dark tone. BUT, that wasn't the case. The Air Zone turned out to be an incredible pickup for my mahogany strat. I like it so much better than the PAF36th, in fact, because it doesn't have all that processed feel. I'm really considering keeping this pickup in it.
Finally, just for kicks, I installed the Steve's Special. At first, it was the same tone I remembered and I wasn't impressed. BUT, I decided to play with it anyway because I was tired of swapping pickups. After a while, especially on my XTC101B, I started really digging it. It rolls beautifully from low to high and back with clarity. The highs are illustrious but it's not harsh or too bright. The high end is really spectacular. Also, it's not like the Steve's Special is without enough mids. When you compare it to other Dimarzios, it's rather scooped, but it doesn't have a problem cutting through because the lows and mids kind of sparkle. When they say the mids are pulled back, it just means that they're not all out front like most Dimarzios.
As for what the Steve's Special can do, well it's very good for rhythm work of course because of its clarity and low end. However, it's a really outstanding pickup for soloing. It's smooth to play and it squeals with all kinds of harmonics. I really like how open it sounds because it cuts through everything but you never feel like the mids are too up-front. You might wonder whether it sounds thin without all the mids, but it doesn't sound thin at all. There is enough low end and low mids to keep it firm. It's not thick, but not thin. It's right in the middle.
You would think that a ceramic pickup with low-profile mids would be bright and harsh, but the Steve's Special isn't like that. It also has enough power to do a lot of different things, including hardcore metal, but it would be a waste if that's all people did with it. The clean sound is spectacular by the way. It's categorized as a high-output pickup and it does have a fairly strong output, but it's controlled. You can get pristine clean tones without having to work the volume control much. It doesn't overdrive the preamp a lot, but it can push it enough when you want like for a dirty blues lead sound or classic rock.
I'm glad that I revisited the Steve's Special because I would have continued to miss out on an awesome pickup. I'll tell you what the ultimate test was. I have this swamp ash strat with maple fretboard. When I took the JB out of my mahogany strat, it put into this guitar. It's not really a bright guitar, not even compared to alder. If anything it has a little bit of sizzle. Given that ash is a tonewood that resembles the EQ of a Steve's Special, it would be logical to assume that either it augments the qualities of the Steve's Special or becomes too much of what the Steve's Special offers. I'm pleased to say that the results were fantastic. I'm just surprised because I thought the JB would work well in an ash strat but I'm having better results with the Steve's Special. Anyway it's a super cool pickup and I like it a lot now.
First went the JB. I wasn't doing it for me. Then I put in the Air Zone, not expecting much but perhaps too much fatness and overbearing mids and dark tone. BUT, that wasn't the case. The Air Zone turned out to be an incredible pickup for my mahogany strat. I like it so much better than the PAF36th, in fact, because it doesn't have all that processed feel. I'm really considering keeping this pickup in it.
Finally, just for kicks, I installed the Steve's Special. At first, it was the same tone I remembered and I wasn't impressed. BUT, I decided to play with it anyway because I was tired of swapping pickups. After a while, especially on my XTC101B, I started really digging it. It rolls beautifully from low to high and back with clarity. The highs are illustrious but it's not harsh or too bright. The high end is really spectacular. Also, it's not like the Steve's Special is without enough mids. When you compare it to other Dimarzios, it's rather scooped, but it doesn't have a problem cutting through because the lows and mids kind of sparkle. When they say the mids are pulled back, it just means that they're not all out front like most Dimarzios.
As for what the Steve's Special can do, well it's very good for rhythm work of course because of its clarity and low end. However, it's a really outstanding pickup for soloing. It's smooth to play and it squeals with all kinds of harmonics. I really like how open it sounds because it cuts through everything but you never feel like the mids are too up-front. You might wonder whether it sounds thin without all the mids, but it doesn't sound thin at all. There is enough low end and low mids to keep it firm. It's not thick, but not thin. It's right in the middle.
You would think that a ceramic pickup with low-profile mids would be bright and harsh, but the Steve's Special isn't like that. It also has enough power to do a lot of different things, including hardcore metal, but it would be a waste if that's all people did with it. The clean sound is spectacular by the way. It's categorized as a high-output pickup and it does have a fairly strong output, but it's controlled. You can get pristine clean tones without having to work the volume control much. It doesn't overdrive the preamp a lot, but it can push it enough when you want like for a dirty blues lead sound or classic rock.
I'm glad that I revisited the Steve's Special because I would have continued to miss out on an awesome pickup. I'll tell you what the ultimate test was. I have this swamp ash strat with maple fretboard. When I took the JB out of my mahogany strat, it put into this guitar. It's not really a bright guitar, not even compared to alder. If anything it has a little bit of sizzle. Given that ash is a tonewood that resembles the EQ of a Steve's Special, it would be logical to assume that either it augments the qualities of the Steve's Special or becomes too much of what the Steve's Special offers. I'm pleased to say that the results were fantastic. I'm just surprised because I thought the JB would work well in an ash strat but I'm having better results with the Steve's Special. Anyway it's a super cool pickup and I like it a lot now.
