So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

[B2D]

I dropped a Dimarzio Steve's Special in the bridge of my music man. I got one in trade from another forum bro and decided to give it a shot.

I liked the reduced midrange and the bass content. The highs were kind of subdued but they were there. The output and feel of the pickup were pretty good, too.

I didn't like the midrange tonality itself... just enough on the nasal side to make me shake my head. Plus I could've used some more top end.

Maybe it's the ceramic magnets... I tend to prefer alnico 5. Ceramics work great for my dirty tones but they don't really do it for my mid-gain and clean tones.

I will say this: I was using a FRED before and I still really like that pickup, I just needed something different for the heavy-rock thing I'm doing now. The Steve's Special was a step in the right direction, but not quite there yet.

I'm thinking I ought to try a Custom 5 or a Dimarzio Breed bridge. Number/spec wise the Custom 5 looks like it might be the first choice to try. I also have a spare A5 magnet lying around so I'm gonna try putting an A5 mag in the Steve's Special to see what happens.

Thoughts?

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

i've heard that the coils in the steve's special are "hybrid" style, with one being in the paf range and the other being of a much higher value. maybe try flipping the pickup around first?

 

[alex1fly]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

i've heard that the coils in the steve's special are "hybrid" style, with one being in the paf range and the other being of a much higher value. maybe try flipping the pickup around first?

Dimarzio's site recommends trying this as well

 

[B2D]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

i've heard that the coils in the steve's special are "hybrid" style, with one being in the paf range and the other being of a much higher value. maybe try flipping the pickup around first?

Dimarzio's site recommends trying this as well

What's that supposed to do? Make it more trebly?

 

[Curt]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

I dig the steves special but it depends on the amp it's being used with, I like it best with a Mesa Dual Recto or the stilletto duece.

I might recommend the tone zone. it's a solid hard-rockin pickup.

 

[B2D]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

I dig the steves special but it depends on the amp it's being used with, I like it best with a Mesa Dual Recto or the stilletto duece.

I might recommend the tone zone. it's a solid hard-rockin pickup.

I'm using a Bogner Ecstasy 101B.

I had a Tone Zone once. I opted for something else in the end... I think a Norton.

 

[ACH91332]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

If you're staying heavy I have a SS too and I love it personally, its finally what I needed in my bridge because I have an EQ to mess with other crap. I'd personally stay with Dimarzio and try other Dimarzio pickups because Duncans are sloppy as hell. Sorry, but they are to me. I used to be all about Duncans until I bought Dimarzios. So clean.. keep looking at other Dimarzios you'll find something. Just keep in mind tho if you have a mid heavy amp then you'd want something a little on the dark side or else you'll have a really loose and spongy low end.

 

[B2D]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

If you're staying heavy I have a SS too and I love it personally, its finally what I needed in my bridge because I have an EQ to mess with other crap. I'd personally stay with Dimarzio and try other Dimarzio pickups because Duncans are sloppy as hell. Sorry, but they are to me. I used to be all about Duncans until I bought Dimarzios. So clean.. keep looking at other Dimarzios you'll find something. Just keep in mind tho if you have a mid heavy amp then you'd want something a little on the dark side or else you'll have a really loose and spongy low end.

I personally stay away from adding extra EQ into the chain if it's not absolutely necessary. I like to get my tone off the guitar and the amp.

I'll agree that DiMarzios are in general tighter pickups than Duncans are, but I certainly wouldn't call Duncans sloppy. I think the response of a pickup depends on several factors... pot value, amp response, player control, etc.

Ive got other DiMarzio options in mind (the Breed I mentioned), but I have a little more experience with them than I do with Duncans so I'm going to explore my Duncan options first. I'm looking at the Custom 5, Custom 8, and the JB-8. I'll be testing the JB-8 this week in rehearsals.

 

[B2D]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

So how hot is that pickup.

Can you play pretty clean in the bridge with it? I am wanting an old Petrucci setup: SS and Air Norton.

It's in the "high power" section of DiMarzio's offerings... not the hottest they have but it's but there!

I can get clean tones with it just fine if I back the volume off a hair. It sounds really cool split... kinda quacky and twangy.

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

What's that supposed to do? Make it more trebly?

well if the coil towards the bridge in normal orientation is the lower powered, brighter coil, then putting that side towards the neck would get that half of the pickup heard louder, making it brighter. i'm not sure how it's oriented though, so it's just a thought.

 

[Diego]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

Why are you interested in a Breed? It's like the complete opposite of a Steve's Special.

More natural on the lows (not so tight and mechanic), lots of mids and moderate highs. Best way to Les Paulize a shredstick. If anything it sounds like a step in the other way!

 

[B2D]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

Why are you interested in a Breed? It's like the complete opposite of a Steve's Special.

More natural on the lows (not so tight and mechanic), lots of mids and moderate highs. Best way to Les Paulize a shredstick. If anything it sounds like a step in the other way!

I like Alnico 5 mags in humbuckers and thought that the Breed might've been a good option, but you don't sound like you think it would be. Thanks for the advice... though I still would like to try one sometimes.

 

[dr. ad]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

well if the coil towards the bridge in normal orientation is the lower powered, brighter coil, then putting that side towards the neck would get that half of the pickup heard louder, making it brighter. i'm not sure how it's oriented though, so it's just a thought.

my understanding is that one half of the steves special is waay hotter than the other, don't know which way around it is but you could meter it and it'd be obvious

B2D - i think trying an alnico mag in the SS is a great idea, turning it around will make a big difference too

 

[B2D]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

Well I took the Steve's Special apart tonight... what a pain. As it turns out Dimarzio uses a light adhesive to help secure their magnets to the baseplate, which mean i couldn't just slide the thing out from under the coils like you can with Duncans. Boo. And to top it off the magnets DiMarzio uses on the Steve's Special (dunno if this is the same with other pickups) was taller and less wide than the Duncan magnet, so changing my Steve's Special to an A5 mag was not possible. I'd have to get ahold of a DimArzio loaded with an A5 mag to try that out.

I did, however, reverse the hot coil to be the one closer to the bridge, so we'll see how that goes in rehearsal tomorrow. I'm testing that plus the JB8 i got made over the weekend. Whee!!

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

I did, however, reverse the hot coil to be the one closer to the bridge, so we'll see how that goes in rehearsal tomorrow. I'm testing that plus the JB8 i got made over the weekend. Whee!!

Let us know how that sounds. Interesting stuff.

I happened to score a Dimarzio H3 on E Bay a few years ago. Dimarzio informed me it's very similar to a Steve's Special, but the H3 was the stock pickup in the higher end Yamaha Pacifica guitars. I have it in a mahogany body Floyd equipped shredder with ebony fretboard and 25 1/2" scale. Not the least bit nasally in that guitar. In fact it has an evil-sounding growl. I can hear the even tonal response - a deeper bass, less midrange, though the treble isn't nearly like the crystaline sparkle of a '59. It's very defined and clear, but sinister and aggresive sounding.

I hope flipping the Steve's Special is the trick to getting the best out of the pickup. If this pickup I have is similar, there are great tones in there.

 

[ACH91332]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

Yea I want to hear what it sounds like turned around so give some feedback. And that EQ I use, my tone is totally centered around. Cheers.

 

[ksmith63]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

I found the drop sonic to be a much better pickup that sounds really similar to the steve special. Seemed more defined in the mids and had more output....easy to get a good crunch with.

 

[B2D]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

OK, so rehearsal got delayed until last night, and I finally got the chance to give my reversed Steve's Special a go in my Music Man. I also tested my JB8 and my SSL5, but that's for another thread.

With the hot coil now right next to the bridge, it did get less bassy and gained the amount of treble I desired, but the mids got kid of weird in the process. They went from a slightly nasal sound, to a sound that seemed to be centered as a very high mid, right on the cusp of the treble frequencies. Not sure of the number of the frequency it was centered on, but listening to it wasn't very pleasant. It was kind of like a rude poke in your ear as opposed to being nice and smooth and musical. It might have worked with a different amp, but not mine, I guess. I played with the amp's EQ quite a bit and couldn't dial it out, either.

Long story short, I don't think this pickup's gonna work for me in the end. It was a step in the right direction, though. I think I'll try a Duncan C5 next.

Anyone want a Steve's Special in black, non-F spaced? Haha!!

 

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Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

how much?!

 

[B2D]

Re: So i tried a Steve's Special in the bridge of my Music Man.

how much?!

$40 plus shipping. If you're in the US it's about $6 via USPS priority, and in Canada it's about $10 for first class.

FYI i put new black electrical tape around the sides after attempting the magnet change, but there's still plenty of clean lead left.