Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

[June-5-1994]

Hey,

I am trying to set up some pickups in my HSS american special strat and this is what I was thinking

N: Classic Stack
M: Vintage Hot Stack
B: SH-8 Invader - either neck or bridge invader?

i was wondering if these would sound good together, i play mostly punk and rock and i was hoping to get a good clean tone from the neck, nice rock tone clean and distorted from the middle and obviously go ham with the invader. Cant really decide whether to go with the bridge invader or the neck invader in bridge position kinda like Tom DeLonge. if somebody could tell me how these would work together, or suggest any other neck and middle pickups to put in that would be really appreciated

thanks heaps

 

[Shadow78]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

Hey!

Well, I hope this helps get your brain going. I know Tom DeLonge played the Invader bridge for the longest time. He stated many times it was his favorite pickup until he went to Gibson and grabbed the Dirty Fingers last time I saw. He still has his strats with them in there. The Invader is a really loud pickup and has a really midrange heavy sound. I had one with a '59 model neck in a Fender Double Fat strat for the longest time and even then there was a noticeable volume drop between the two. I think the ones you've looked at could be a way to go and I'd recommend listening to them all if you can. You may also want to consider any of the rails pickups like a Cool Rails or even a Hot Rails. There's also the Lil '59 and JB Jr too. It could be worth an email or a call to Duncan themselves to cover all your bases. I usually use my ears and try to pair even output levels and balance the tone I'm after. It could take different values in the pots well with a HSS wiring. Well worth talking to Duncan about too. Hope that gets you into a direction at least. Just my thoughts on it. Give as many as you can a listen and good luck on your search!

CM

 

[Mincer]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

Welcome to the forum!

Your ideas are pretty sound. You will get some great clean from the neck, and driving rock from the middle. Thing is, the bridge Invader will be pretty mid heavy with a huge output, so while tone-wise it will be a good contrast, volume-balance will be way off. But not much in the single coil clean department can compete with the Invader. This is why you don't see it a lot in HSS setups. You either see it alone, or with another Invader.

 

[CaptainWhizz]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

Warman and Dragonfire both do single coil versions of their Invader-type pickups; the Warman 6 Gauge and the Dragonfire Crusader single coils. They are quite possibly the same pickup from the same Chinese manufacturer. No idea how good they are.

The SD custom shop might make you some single-coils to match the Invader?

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

The SD custom shop might make you some single-coils to match the Invader?

Why yes they will.

I've actually been looking for someone to do a sound clip on one, so maybe I just got lucky.

 

[CaptainWhizz]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

SD could do you one to your needs.

 

[June-5-1994]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

thanks for the reply,

i can live with there being a bit of volume difference between the invader and the other 2, but I am worried about the position between the invader and the middle pickup. will that be pretty much unusable?

thankyou

 

[CaptainWhizz]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

Probably not if it was wired to auto-split the Invader when it was combined with the middle pickup. If you use the neck Invader in the bridge, that would balance it a little more, as I believe that pickup is lower output.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

You would have to auto-split the Invader, or auto parallel it in order to be distinct from the Invader alone. The Invader in combination with most single coil pickups sounds just like an Invader, as it is so bold to take over whatever it is paired with.

 

[June-5-1994]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

You would have to auto-split the Invader, or auto parallel it in order to be distinct from the Invader alone.

would you be able to fill me in on auto parallel? also what would you personally recommend of the two for my situation

EDIT: I just looked into parallel and looks like it will reduce the Invader a bit too much so that it pretty much defeats the purpose of being an Invader. If i understand correctly splitting the invader will enable me to use half of it with the hot stack, and 100% of it when in full bridge position? would this be my best bet?

thanks

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

If i understand correctly splitting the invader will enable me to use half of it with the hot stack, and 100% of it when in full bridge position? would this be my best bet?

thanks

You can do that with parallel as well. With the right type of pickup selector switch you can have it wired something like tbis:

3-Neck single coil
2-Neck and bridge in parallel
1-Bridge in series

 

[Toejam]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

Either a single coil Invader or Quarter Pound would be my choice.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

Either a single coil Invader or Quarter Pound would be my choice.

Neat, have you any experience with the single coil Invader? I was looking for someone who has.

 

[Toejam]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

I only have personal experience with the QPs, not the single coil Invader. I used a pair of Invaders in an old Jackson before and was interested in the single version for a project but just never got one. I remember reading about them on here awhile ago from a couple people that had experience with them who enjoyed them. I've debated about getting one for the bridge of my G&L to pair up with its neck and middle QPs, but can't seem to ditch my Lil Demon just yet.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Pickups to pair with an SH-8 Invader

I don't know how many single coil Invaders are in the wild. While I've seen pics of them on the Custom Shop site, I don't recall many people actually talking about using them, so I am not sure how many are out there. As far as a regular Invader in parallel, it actually sound pretty good, is still hum-cancelling, and doesn't knock down the volume by that much. It sort of scoops the middle out, though.