Steve's Special vs Duncan JB?

[necrotechno]

I want to get another Humbucker From Hell and put it in the neck position of an SL2H. I love the JB in the bridge, but I want to get out of the habit of mixing brands. So, I'm looking through the DiMarzio site and all of their humbuckers that I've tried already are either inappropriate to mix with the HBFH (the X2N, for example), or just really don't do anything for me (e.g. the ToneZone). But the specs and the EQ wave for the Steve's Special seem like they're kinda close to the JB. Any thoughts on how the two compare?


Also, who's Steve? Vai? Stevens? Lukather? I'm almost embarrassed I don't know this... [img]/images/graemlins/what.gif[/img]

[childrenob]

Re: Steve\'s Special vs Duncan JB?

I think it's called the steve's special because it's a 6 string version of the blade's vai uses on 7 string guitars. The guitarist of sonata arctica uses the special, and petrucci used to use it aswell.
I wouldn't go with the special, it sounds very 'small' imo (on the records). For some reason I like the sound of duncans more (they sound more mature imo), so if you like the jb why don;t stick with it? I don't see why mixing is a bad thing?

[toejam]

Re: Steve\'s Special vs Duncan JB?

Nothing to do with Steve Vai. It's named after Steve Blucher who works at DiMarzio. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
And I believe that pickup has scooped mids, whereas the JB has more mids (mostly high mids).

[ranalli]

Re: Steve\'s Special vs Duncan JB?

Steve's Special doesn't sound too much like the JB. It's fairly scooped whereas the JB is kinda big on the upper-mids.


There's no real Dimarzio equivalent to the JB but they do make many pickups that are heavy on the mids. I'd try an evolution possibly...that one is EQ'd a good bit like the JB to my ears. I've compared them both in the same guitar.

[jgcable]

Re: Steve\'s Special vs Duncan JB?

I use basically only 2 kinds of bridge pickups.
Duncan JB's and Dimarzio Steves Specials.
My comparison between the 2 is very simple.
To my ears, if you roll the volume back on a Steves Special to around 7 it sounds very much like a JB. A JB is a great bridge pickup if you are mixing it with a neck position single coil or a stacked single. It also mixed well with a Duncan Jazz or a 59. The Steves Special is a high output pickup that mixes well with another high gain pickup like an EVO, a Custom, Super Distortion. I think that a Steves Special would be too hot for the Humbucker from Hell. I would suggest you try a Norton.

[necrotechno]

Re: Steve\'s Special vs Duncan JB?

Dang, you were the guys to ask!

I initially discounted the Norton because of the cropped-off treble in the EQ wave. But I do like the PAF-Pro a lot, and reading through the tech notes it seems like the Norton is supposed to be a mutated version of that. I'll give it a try, thanks!

[jgcable]

Re: Steve\'s Special vs Duncan JB?

The Norton is a PAF on steroids.
The Duncan Jazz/59 is a popular combination.
A Norton/Humbucker from Hell would be the "metal" version of it.

[toejam]

Re: Steve\'s Special vs Duncan JB?

I've got a black/blue Norton laying around... it will eventually go in my blue snakeskin Dinky refin that WarriorX7 still hasn't gotten around to doing yet (along with a black Chopper and blue Fast Track 1). [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I really want to hear those pups bad!

[jgcable]

Re: Steve\'s Special vs Duncan JB?

[ QUOTE ]
I've got a black/blue Norton laying around... it will eventually go in my blue snakeskin Dinky refin that WarriorX7 still hasn't gotten around to doing yet (along with a black Chopper and blue Fast Track 1). [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I really want to hear those pups bad!

[/ QUOTE ]

The Norton is a most excellent pickup. Black/blue is a great color combo too. That pickup combination sounds like it is gonna be great.

[toejam]

Re: Steve\'s Special vs Duncan JB?

Yeah, I looked at the charts and thought they would work pretty well together. I know the San Dimas "reissues" had a Tone Zone in the bridge with a Fast Track 1 in the middle and The Chopper in the neck, but I'm going to do the Chopper in the middle and Fast Track 1 in the neck (just because the Chopper has more output and I figured it would be better in the middle and I could get a brighter, cleaner sound with the Fast Track in the neck). And I decided on the Norton because it's got less bass than the excellent TZ but I wanted something a little different but still with a decent amount of mids. I've heard nothing but great things about the Norton! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]