What would be the closest BKP to Dimarzio Steve's Special ?

['Ash' J. Williams]

... This one has a strange voicing for sure.

Thinking of the Cold Sweat or Miracle Man...
Possibly the new Painkiller ?


Any ideas ?

[Philly Q]

I know what the Steve's Special sounds like - strong bass and treble with quite a pronounced mid scoop.  I like the sound for chords, but there's not enough push in the midrange for old-school rock solos; or maybe that's just my sloppy playing.  

Didn't Petrucci use it before he switched to the D-Sonic?

As for which BKP comes closest, that's one for the experts.  I'm not sure any of the BK humbuckers are designed to do that mid-scoop thing, are they?

['Ash' J. Williams]

I'm not sure any of the BK humbuckers are designed to do that mid-scoop thing, are they?

Yep, that's what i'm thinking too but i had this question in my mind for some times now...

But, yes basically the Steve's Special isn't a "beautiful" souding pup but a very defined one. Great for legato, sweeped arpeggios, playing and so.

Again, maybe that the comparison with the Painkiller was not too stupid. We'll see.

[JamesHealey]

Miracle Man bridge + Cold Sweat neck sounds like Petrucci.

[Eric]

Yeah Petrucci used a slightly modified version of the Steve's Special before moving to the D-Sonic in his signature guitars.

The Steve's Special which is high output and scooped heavily in the mids for clarity's sake apparently is indeed an odd one. The thing is because Bare Knuckles uses scatter winding on all and coil offsets on most of their pickups they have more definition and eat up a lot more sonic space than other maker's pickups. So something like say a Nailbomb is really clear and defined, given its output.

So to answer your question, in a very windy fashion, I'm not sure any BKP has the Steve's Special EQ curve but they all give great definition and clarity no matter how hot they are wound.