Steve's Special in a Jackson?

[El Supremo]

Hi, I want to try a new bridge pickup and one that caught my attention is the DiMarzio Steve's Special. The DiMarzio pickup picker suggested the D-Activator, but I'm not crazy about what I heard on youtube.

The guitar is tuned to C# standard, poplar body, maple neck, ebony fretboard played through a Mesa Studio or Marshall JMP-1.
Currently I'm using a X2N (and PAF JOE in the neck) and though it sounds good, I'd like to try something with a little less output, less emphasis on the mids and more and tighter bass response for some fast chugging.
Anyone have experience or some other tips for this pickup or another that has a kind of scooped EQ?

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

The Steve's Special fits what the description you posted. I think it is a great pup, it is similar to the seven string Blaze pups. I run a custom Steve's Special in my Parker Fly Classic (custom only in the sense that it was made to fit in the Fly as opposed to a standard pup).

It is very articulate, it will put your money where your mouth is when you play...no hiding.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

seems like every post I see for Dimarzios, thier suggestion is the D activator.
Just an observation..

 

[El Supremo]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

The Steve's Special fits what the description you posted. I think it is a great pup, it is similar to the seven string Blaze pups. I run a custom Steve's Special in my Parker Fly Classic (custom only in the sense that it was made to fit in the Fly as opposed to a standard pup).

It is very articulate, it will put your money where your mouth is when you play...no hiding.

Parkers are made from poplar to aren't they? The fact that the SS is similar to a 7 string pickup is indeed one of the things that appealed to me. Really need some tight bottom end, articulation and definition when playing chords.

Haven't tried the X2N in parrallel, but output isn't my biggest reason for a pickup swap. It's a great pickup, but my Jackson has an abundance of mids and needs something that reduces them somewhat to get my preffered rhythm sound.
I like the mids (and less bass) to come from the neck pickup for smooth soloing and fat clean sounds, so a FRED might seem interesting for that in the future.

 

[El Supremo]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

seems like every post I see for Dimarzios, thier suggestion is the D activator.
Just an observation..

Yup, when you get to pick your style and fill in "Heavy Metal" it will recommend a D-Activator for almost every need (except for a warmer sound).
Personally, I find the pick attack kinda weird sounding.
Seen a clip from Guitar World and some Chris Broderick footage, but that weird pick attack is always there. Chris said that "pop" was one of the reasons he uses that pup, so just a matter of taste I guess.

 

[dominus]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

I think that you'd like the Steve's Special. The X2N is a great pickup, but the Steve's Special is one pickup that will always be in one of my guitars.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

I think that you'd like the Steve's Special. The X2N is a great pickup, but the Steve's Special is one pickup that will always be in one of my guitars.

what pickup wont be in one of your guitars??? hahaha you have the most awesome test bed cuz you can compare pup to pup in the same axe.

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

Parkers are made from poplar to aren't they?

Depends on the model, the two I have are mahogany bodies, one with a basswood neck and the other with a mahogany neck.

 

[dominus]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

what pickup wont be in one of your guitars??? hahaha you have the most awesome test bed cuz you can compare pup to pup in the same axe.

59 was too weak, JB and Custom Custom were too finicky, Invader was a little sludgy...

 

[SteveAlysis]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

Dimarzio Evo

 

[El Supremo]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

Dimarzio Evo

I was thinking about the Evo or EVO 2, but I heard some people here saying it's somewhat close to a Full Shred with more bass. The FS however, didn't really work out for this particular guitar in this tuning in combination with my Mesa stuff.
Ordered the Steve's Special today along with some new pots. Can't wait to hear what it sounds like. The EVO is next in line if the SS doesn't work out for me though.

 

[John E Rokker]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

Tuning that low I would consider the Duncan Custom 5 (sh/tb 14).

 

[dominus]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

Tuning that low I would consider the Duncan Custom 5 (sh/tb 14).

I tune to open B. The Steve's Special handles it just fine.

 

[SteveAlysis]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

I was thinking about the Evo or EVO 2, but I heard some people here saying it's somewhat close to a Full Shred with more bass. The FS however, didn't really work out for this particular guitar in this tuning in combination with my Mesa stuff.
Ordered the Steve's Special today along with some new pots. Can't wait to hear what it sounds like. The EVO is next in line if the SS doesn't work out for me though.

I've tuned to B standard with a mahogany les paul and the EVO sounded great... very articulate

 

[El Supremo]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

Tuning that low I would consider the Duncan Custom 5 (sh/tb 14).

I have considered the Custom 5. Many people on the forum say it's basically a Full Shred with filister and slug coils. I have replaced one row of hex poles with filisters on mny FS and that did reduce some mids and bring out some bass.

Anyway, that wasn't close enough to what I wanted for this guitar. Had the feeling the mids were in the wrong place and had to use a parametric EQ to get the rhythm tone I was looking for. More upper mids, less lower mids, more bass etc. Sounded great when I had it tweaked, but I want a simpler setup. With the EQ on the amp close to 12 'o clock and no additional EQ.

I've already managed this with my strat (Super Distortion and Heavy Blues II) and Charvel (JB and '59).
The Jackson paired up great with the SH12 EQ wise, but that pu fell short when it came to driving the input of my amps. Had to really crank up the gain compaired to the other pickups I've tried.
So a scooped high output bridge pickup with a higher resonant peak than the Custom series is basically what I'm looking for. Hope the SS delivers.

 

[Ed Hunter]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

seems like every post I see for Dimarzios, thier suggestion is the D activator.
Just an observation..

this is because the sales on these are not as good as dimarzio hoped! the pickup picker gave me three options,
Air zone
tone zone
AT-1
I am after the AT-1

Back on topic, the SS is a great pup for anyone that wants a clean,open super articulate tone. this pup was so clear i hit a very distorted sus 4th bar chord and still heard every note in it clearly. like someone else said it is very close to the blaze 7 string pup.

 

[El Supremo]

Re: Steve's Special in a Jackson?

Well, got my Steve's Special this monday. It has 2 very distinctly different sounds depending on how you install it. Here's how it worked out for me:

First, I installed it with the pickup exit cable coil facing the neck. This produced a sound that reminded me a bit of the Full Shred. Impossible to make it sound muddy and very bright. The EQ wasn't what I expected. Still a big amount of mids, which left me twiddling the eq quite a bit to get my preferred rhythm tone. The pick attack wasn't very present. Overall: good for rock sounds and especially bright clean stuff.

Today, I reversed the pickup. Knobs on the Marshall at 12 'o clock and... exactly what I wanted. Tight, thumping bass, fat lead sound and an insane sustain that I never ever got from this guitar. Clear chords under heavy gain and a very defineable C# string.
Haven't really gotten to experiment with the clean sounds, but what I've heard sounds good.
Haven't got much time as I'm at work 12 hours a day this week, so I'll get right back to my playing.

BIG THANKS to everyone who posted on this thread! The bridge position of my Jackson finally sounds like I wanted it to.