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Hey what's up bros! A bit overdue, here're my reviews of the Duncans I recently bought:
Duncan Distortion [bridge] - A kick ass p/u for any kind of rock. It's really hot, and you can hear your signal being pushed harder and hotter through your amp. My caveat with it was that while it was a much hotter pickup, it didn't really make my tone crunchier, which is what I thought was looking for. So, instead of returning it, I moved it to the middle position, which will take us to the next review:
Duncan Distortion [middle/neck] - Hooooooooooooooooly ****. Those were the first words out of my mouth when I moved my selector to the middle positions. This pickup sounds out of ****ing control in the neck. Great for nailing older/vintagey kinda tones, like old school metal and 80s hardcore, etc. Fantastic for rhythm work as well due to the unparalled clarity this pickup offers. Keep in mind that the Duncan Distortion I bought is intended for the bridge and not the neck, so take this particular review with a grain of salt.
Duncan Invader [bridge] - Awesome, awesome pickup for punk, metal, hardcore; our kind of ****. I see exactly why Senor Ramos uses this *****. It ****ing roars, rocks, and rips; killer lead tone. To sum it up:
The Invader gives you CRUNCH and power
The Distortion gives you CLARITY and POWER.
I knew there'd be some sort of tradeoff and I had to find out for myself what it was. The Invader isn't muddy **** as alot of people claim it to be, however you DO lose a bit of clarity when you play actual chords as opposed to power chords. Not so much with mid-high register triads but with lower register triads, 7ths, 9ths, 11ths etc you'll have to tweak your settings and/or voicings to really hear all the notes sing. But where you lose a little bit of clarity [and power compared to the Distortion], the Invader ****ing delivers with crunch and a burning tone when you're playing leads.
When I switch to the Distortion (which is in the middle/neck position) it's actually LOUDER than the Invader, which confirms my suspicions that its a hotter pickup in regards to raw volume and power. This past sunday I'm practicing with my new band [Last Semester] and I find myself turning up my amp as the current mix [bass, drums, 2 guitars, no singer as he was in O-town] was just too thick for the Invader. I didn't have to do that when the Distortion was in the bridge. IMHO, the Distortion just naturally CUTS through the mix better than the Invader does. But almost everything in life is a tradeoff when you really think about it.
All in all, I'm happy with my purchases. I might end up selling the Invader and getting Twin Distortions, but for now I'm very happy with my tones. This will definately hold me over until the most righteous EC-1000 is off of ****ing backorder. Short of buying EMGs, I know for a fact that my guitar is loaded with quite possibly a couple of the hottest pickups, passive or active, that are currently available.
-Astheskyfalls
P.S. If any reps from Seymour Duncan happen to read this, it'd be nice if you guys made a custom/hybrid sort of pickup that blends the qualities of the Distortion and Invader Pickups. That'd be the ultimate pickup for harder music.
Duncan Distortion [bridge] - A kick ass p/u for any kind of rock. It's really hot, and you can hear your signal being pushed harder and hotter through your amp. My caveat with it was that while it was a much hotter pickup, it didn't really make my tone crunchier, which is what I thought was looking for. So, instead of returning it, I moved it to the middle position, which will take us to the next review:
Duncan Distortion [middle/neck] - Hooooooooooooooooly ****. Those were the first words out of my mouth when I moved my selector to the middle positions. This pickup sounds out of ****ing control in the neck. Great for nailing older/vintagey kinda tones, like old school metal and 80s hardcore, etc. Fantastic for rhythm work as well due to the unparalled clarity this pickup offers. Keep in mind that the Duncan Distortion I bought is intended for the bridge and not the neck, so take this particular review with a grain of salt.
Duncan Invader [bridge] - Awesome, awesome pickup for punk, metal, hardcore; our kind of ****. I see exactly why Senor Ramos uses this *****. It ****ing roars, rocks, and rips; killer lead tone. To sum it up:
The Invader gives you CRUNCH and power
The Distortion gives you CLARITY and POWER.
I knew there'd be some sort of tradeoff and I had to find out for myself what it was. The Invader isn't muddy **** as alot of people claim it to be, however you DO lose a bit of clarity when you play actual chords as opposed to power chords. Not so much with mid-high register triads but with lower register triads, 7ths, 9ths, 11ths etc you'll have to tweak your settings and/or voicings to really hear all the notes sing. But where you lose a little bit of clarity [and power compared to the Distortion], the Invader ****ing delivers with crunch and a burning tone when you're playing leads.
When I switch to the Distortion (which is in the middle/neck position) it's actually LOUDER than the Invader, which confirms my suspicions that its a hotter pickup in regards to raw volume and power. This past sunday I'm practicing with my new band [Last Semester] and I find myself turning up my amp as the current mix [bass, drums, 2 guitars, no singer as he was in O-town] was just too thick for the Invader. I didn't have to do that when the Distortion was in the bridge. IMHO, the Distortion just naturally CUTS through the mix better than the Invader does. But almost everything in life is a tradeoff when you really think about it.
All in all, I'm happy with my purchases. I might end up selling the Invader and getting Twin Distortions, but for now I'm very happy with my tones. This will definately hold me over until the most righteous EC-1000 is off of ****ing backorder. Short of buying EMGs, I know for a fact that my guitar is loaded with quite possibly a couple of the hottest pickups, passive or active, that are currently available.
-Astheskyfalls
P.S. If any reps from Seymour Duncan happen to read this, it'd be nice if you guys made a custom/hybrid sort of pickup that blends the qualities of the Distortion and Invader Pickups. That'd be the ultimate pickup for harder music.
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