Invader vs Black Winter?

M

Metalhead123

New member
Hello everyone!

I'm in a pretty big dilemma about whether I should get the Invader or Black Winter pickup.
Anyway, my guitar is Mahogany body with set-thru maple neck and ebony fretboard,
but the guitar is very very light so it's very bright sounding.

I currently have SH-6 Distortion in the bridge position and it sounds too bright/ ice-picky especially on higher notes.
Very weird judging by the fact that I've had it in basswood guitar before and sounded great.
I've played with pickup height and pole-pieces but it's still too bright and "sharp" to my ears.

I play mostly death and thrash metal, but also black, heavy and some power.
The guitar is ALWAYS between D standard and E standard tuning, never lower.

So what do you think which pickup would suit me better, the Invader or Black Winter?

I need it to be TIGHT for those fast palm muted riffs (the Distortion is great for this), but I don't want that sharp brightness and ice-picky tone when soloing.
I've heard Black Winter is just a louder/more versatile Distortion, so I'm not sure it would beef up my tone and make it less bright but still retain that tight riffing sound.
Maybe Invader is the way to go?

I've set my mind on these two so please don't recommend other pickups, especially not the 160$ BKPs (never gonna pay that much for a pickup)...
Might look into D Activator or Custom as well.

I play both leads and rhythm. And clean isn't important AT ALL as I have a neck pickup for that :)

Thanks in advance guys! :)
 
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Re: Invader vs Black Winter?

I've never tried the Invader, but I just played the Black Winter bridge in a friend's mahogany body superstrat, and it was fantastic. Much more versatile than I thought it would be.
 
Re: Invader vs Black Winter?

ive heard some people describe the black winter as ice picky, but ive also heard it described as very versatile and a great djent pickup. The invader was designed with standard tuning in mind and was used on metallicas first few records for hetfields parts. Its been described as boomy and muddy by some. Probably nail the black sabbath sound pretty easily as well. i know u said no other recommendations, but the dimarzio dactivator or x2n (or dactivator x) might be good for u. Both are hailed as great death/thrash pickups, and chuck schuldiner from death used an x2n. But between the 2 u mentioned, probably the invader. The bw will have more clarity, but the invader will be less trebly and more at home in standard than the bw.
 
Re: Invader vs Black Winter?

The black winter in my SG and LP was very sterile and flat. It was the only pickup where I had to significantly change my amp settings to get character out of it. That doesn't mean it's bad, it's just different, and it's not a Distortion.
 
Re: Invader vs Black Winter?

Thanks for the info guys!

I've had X2N in my basswood Ibanez and didn't like it, sounded kinda too compressed/artificial to me.
Yeah Black Winter might not be the way to go as it's still a very bright pickup, I know it's great but probably not suitable for my already too bright tone.

What do you think about D Activator or SH-5 Custom?

I've heard D Activator is great but apparently it's also bright?
And anybody knows if Custom is like a warmer/bassier Distortion?

Cuz that's basically what I need, the tightness and chug of Distrotion but without those piercing highs :P
 
Invader vs Black Winter?

Having played both for extended periods of time in different tunings I shall give my in depth review/opinion of both for you and then you can decide for yourself
The black winter is a extremely versatile pickup that sounds great no matter what tuning you put it in, its tight and aggressive however the high end is quite sharp on the bridge pickup but this lends it to having clarity in low end (B standard and lower), it squeals very well and is designed for death and black metal, if you want to play aggressive and generally p/ssed off sounding extreme metal then yeah go for it
The invader is a very different beast, it’s tight but nowhere near as tight as the black winter to my ears, and it can get rather flubby depending on the pickup height and amp settings, they can work for low tunings too (as Nile can prove) however I wouldn’t go below D standard with these.
The high end on the invader is not really intrusive, the mids are powerful and the bass is very heavy (as I said sometimes too heavy)
I also recommend a Duncan Custom 5 alnico, if you’re playing with high gain it’s much more dynamic and tight without having the overly harsh high end and it’s a fairly common pickup
This is only from a short time playing on at the guitar store and such but guys like ola Englund seem to like em too.
Another suggestion is just using your neck pickup for when you play solos and it is naturally a bit more warm sounding, if your neck pickup is too sharp go for a vintage output neck pickup or a dimarzio, as dimarzios are fantastic for making really smooth and articulate neck pickups for soloing/shred
Also black metal and death metal is the home of sharp and aggressive high end tones
I also think the guys from gorgoroth used invaders but they don’t use much bass on their amps so it really depends on your settings
The black winter for me is the be all end all metal pickup but can do cleans too, doesn’t matter what settings you dial in to be honest it will still sound great
The invaders is much more sensitive to your bass and gain settings so it really depends on you
The d-activator for me lacks balls and it’s too focused on clarity, the d-activator neck is amazing for leads though
And my amp settings are fairly bright but not too crazy
Gain:6
Bass:6
Mids:8
Treble:6
Presence:6 (8 at low volumes)
Lead volume:2
Master:6 [emoji20]2-4 at low volumes)
This is on a engl ironball by the way
 
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Re: Invader vs Black Winter?

INVADER

It's is exactly what you're describing, and even a bit more chug than the Distortion without as much in the upper-mids/treble.
You'll need a little more space between it and the strings than you do with the Distortion.
 
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Re: Invader vs Black Winter?

dxlxntxxlxr said:
was used on metallicas first few records for hetfields parts.
Click to expand...
i thought hetfield used EMGs for pretty much ever except the kill em all record, when were the invaders introduced, also wouldn't they mention hetfield's usage?
just researched it and ill be damned that's pretty cool
 
Re: Invader vs Black Winter?

Thanks for the info! :)
And thanks for detailed answer 6stringerguy!

By the way, my amp is 6505.
The problem is I don't have too much money to experiment with pickups haha, I can try one or max two more then I need to settle :D

So I'm definitely trying out the Invader,
but first I'll try to tame the Distortion somehow, as I really like its chug for fast palm muting.

Yeah I've tried custom 5 and didn't really like it, wasn't chuggy/gainy enough.
I don't really dig the Alnico magnet in the bridge position.

Has anybody played the SH-5 Custom? Judging by its EQ it is a Distortion with more bass, but on videos I've seen it sounds brighter than Distortion (wtf?).
 
Invader vs Black Winter?

Metalhead123 said:
Thanks for the info! [emoji4]
And thanks for detailed answer 6stringerguy!

By the way, my amp is 6505.
The problem is I don't have too much money to experiment with pickups haha, I can try one or max two more then I need to settle [emoji3]

So I'm definitely trying out the Invader,
but first I'll try to tame the Distortion somehow, as I really like its chug for fast palm muting.

Yeah I've tried custom 5 and didn't really like it, wasn't chuggy/gainy enough.
I don't really dig the Alnico magnet in the bridge position.

Has anybody played the SH-5 Custom? Judging by its EQ it is a Distortion with more bass, but on videos I've seen it sounds brighter than Distortion (wtf?).
Click to expand...

The could be endless, the amp, mic position, pick, tuning, string gauge, pickup height, magnets etc could influence the sound
Plus YouTube compresses the s£it out of audio
On the terms on money I feel you man
And you’re welcome and more questions just ask
 
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Re: Invader vs Black Winter?

6stringerguy said:
i thought hetfield used EMGs for pretty much ever except the kill em all record, when were the invaders introduced, also wouldn't they mention hetfield's usage?
just researched it and ill be damned that's pretty cool
Click to expand...

Yup, before using EMGs, Hetfield had an Invader in his white V.
 
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