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Thoughts on Steve's Special and Humbucker From Hell?

7K views 24 replies 15 participants last post by  Big Red 
#1 ·
Users of the Steve's Special, can you give me your thoughts / opinions of this pickup? I am planning on pairing it with a Humbucker From Hell (my favourite neck position pickup), just wondering how well the two would mix in an RG550.
 
#3 ·
Having never heard the Special and only read about it, I would imagine the tone would be a decent match -- both pickups don't have a great deal of mids, the HFH stays nice and clear when distorted, etc., but I'm wondering if the output might be just a tad too far apart.

I'm trying to avoid the typical combinations of pickups here... you know "get some Evo's", and "hey, get a Tone Zone"... those pickups just aren't me, I want some soul in my tone, dammit! I just know that the HFH is the best kept secret and I want the perfect match.
 
#5 ·
I have a Steve's Special in my PRS SE (mahogany), and the tone is incredible. It's really smooth, and I can distinguish individual notes on open chords, even with the maximum amount of gain. It's a really nice pickup in mahogany, but I don't know how it would be in basswood.

Have you looked at Breeds?
 
#7 ·
I used to have a SS in my RG 570 and it sound fantastic, the sound was cristal clear, very hi-fi. It is not loger living in hat guitar cos my Other one, a S-470 was a little muddy with the new amp I get, so I used the SS to clean it up. In basswood it was cristal clear hi-fi, in mahogany, it sound smooth and clean the mud a lot.
Hope it helps.
 
#9 ·
i didn't really like the steve's special too much, it is great for smoother stuff but i have a neck pickup for smooth stuff . I want a bridge pickup with a bit more drive on the pre-amp.

i am sure if i had another amp or setup the SS would be useful but i didn't like it for what i have now .

the hum from hell is loud , very loud . it says it is a vintage output pickup but it will overpower a lot of medium range pickups and even some of the high output ones , i dont think it would match ideally with a hum from hell but there again that is just my opionion .
 
#11 · (Edited)
I think I'm sold on the SS, sick boy. Olie, waylay and JM''s replies have given me the confidence to put the SS at the top of my list. Clarity in high gain situations is important to me, and plenty of bite. I like to knock the treble back on the amp a little and if I can do that without getting a muddy sound, that's great. I have thought about Breed's but I was under the impression they are quite bassy?

As far as I know the Bluesbreaker or virtual PAF are not really what I'm after, but I'll certainly go read up on those a little more. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

EDIT: Nah, the Virtual PAF is out of the question, it's just a bit too vintage, going on the description on the Dimarzio site. I can't find specs for the Bluesbreaker, but that sounds like a blues kinda pickup, which is just not my thing. I'm wanting a Jimi-ish single coil kinda clarity on steroids.

EDIT again. I'm stupid, I found the description now. But no, it seems to be mainly bassed up with very little treble. I bet it's a creamy sounding pickup, which is not what I need.
 
#12 ·
The HFH sounds loud but it's bright. BTW Dee, you're looking for the Bluesbucker and not the Bluesbreaker pup correct? I ordered a Norton and Bluesbucker for my new Les Paul. I expect to have them by the end of the month. The Bluesbucker is designed to sound like a kick butt P90. So it's like a single coil on steroids.
 
#13 ·
Damn, yeah the Bluesbucker. My bad. I'm half zombified here mate, no sleep since Thursday! Well let me have a think about that one, preferably after some snooze! I won't be buying for a little while anyway, so maybe I'll wait for your report on the pickup when you get it. Cheers again.
 
#16 ·
I've never personally owned a Steve's Special but seeing that it's supposed to be more or less the 6 string version of the Blaze II pickups, I can say that it's got lots of clarity because of the scooped mids. But I'd still rather get a Duncan JB or Custom Custom.

I should also note that you can get a little more top end drive out of the SS/Blaze II's by using a 1meg volume pot or even rigging it up with a direct to output switch(bypassing the volume pot and controls entirely)
 
#17 ·
I'm trying out a D-Sonic and HfH in my strat. When I resolve the clearance issues, I'll try to remember to report how it sounds :)

Most of my other guitars have SS or Blaze in the bridge. Haven't gotten a chance to play with the HfH yet... but I like clear, biting pickups.
 
#21 ·
Has anyone here played a Steve's Special while using a solid-state amp or something like a Line 6 Pod? I keep reading conflicting opinions on whether or not a pickup upgrade (e.g. from a V8 to a Dimarzio whatever) would be very noticable on a solid-state amp? Obviously jumping from an INF-series to a Dimarzio would be noticable (from personal experience with my RG320FM), but would the jump in output/tone-quality be noticable between a V8 and a Steve's Special (on a solid-state). I've been thinking about a Steve's Special for my new RGA121.

Thanks in advance.
 
#22 ·
Has anyone here played a Steve's Special while using a solid-state amp or something like a Line 6 Pod? I keep reading conflicting opinions on whether or not a pickup upgrade (e.g. from a V8 to a Dimarzio whatever) would be very noticable on a solid-state amp? Obviously jumping from an INF-series to a Dimarzio would be noticable (from personal experience with my RG320FM), but would the jump in output/tone-quality be noticable between a V8 and a Steve's Special (on a solid-state). I've been thinking about a Steve's Special for my new RGA121.

Thanks in advance.
You would notice a little bit.
 
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