Is a Hot Rails close to an Invader?

[Jpodesz]

Hi, after looking at specs it seems that both pickups are ceramic and have a similar EQ pattern. I’ve seen the Invader / Strat connection mostly as the Blink 182 guitar. So is the Hot Rails similar? Thanks!

[Demanic]

I think that the narrower sensing window of the Hot Rail would make it somewhat brighter than the Invader.

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[Demanic]

Makes me wonder what an S-H setup with a Hot Rail and an Invader, 5 position switch, V-T-T setup would sound like.

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[jeremy]

they are sorta similar, but definitely not the same

[Mincer]

The Hot Rails is like a sledge hammer, while the Invader is a wrecking ball. To my ears, the Invader is darker, and does better with more doomy metal.

[freefrog]

As Demanic said, a narrowed magnetic window changes the response of a transducer. So, Single coil sized rails HB's can't be really compared to full sized ones.

Here is a useful tool showing this (it just requires to modify the "width" parameter by setting it on the measured size of a rails PU or regular humbucker):

https://www.till.com/articles/PickupResponseDemo/

Furthermore, the Hot Rails has 1/3 more inductance and a different "coils coupling" because of its shape and size. These features added to its narrowed strings sensing make it more focused on the high mids (which can make it comparatively "brighter" than the Invader, depending on the rig used).

The Invader has a flatter bandwidth by comparison, with progressively more high frequencies from 2 to 10khz, making it a wee bit more "open" sounding. That said, its mushroom poles appear to make its response more complex, especially in single notes, with a kind of selective scooping action promoting fatter low mids - vs the more even sensitivity of flat rails in the other model...

At least that's what my archived notes and data suggest. YMMV. :-)