So who still digs the Invader?

[Diego]

It seems that in the realm of hard rock/metal pickups, the way to go these days is the Custom 8, or the Alt 8, or the Blackouts, or maybe the Crunch Lab, according to all of you savvy folks.

You know, all newer, super hot and clinically tight pickups.

But I've always been curious about the Invader.
It's old-school. It's got the huge polepieces. It's definitely not super tight and clean.
And apparently it's so bassy and full that it can turn out to be problematic.
You could even call it sort of wrong, in a way.

But still, I'm interested. I've heard nothing about it besides James Hetfield using it at... uh, some point between Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. I think.
Oh, and Tom Delonge. Rejoice.

I also don't play any classic Metal at all.
I play a bit of everything Rock in this world, but thin bridge pickups make me vomit.

And I've got an appropiate guitar for it, I think. a double cut mahogany Ibanez with a fixed bridge which is kind of bright and jangly sounding.

I've got a Demon 8 in it and it sounds great, but I might consider swapping it to the neck (and replacing the A8 magnet with a UOA5 maybe) and slapping the Invader in, just because it should sound freakin' HUGE.
And that's always good. Always. :headbang:

I usually play in E tuning. I don't need a super tight bite like Meshuggah.
But it has to be defined.

Am I screwing up? Or it could be the right call?

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

I love the invader! If you back it off it sounds pretty tight, punchy and defined, but still full without any thinness creeping in at all. It's pretty height sensitive and needs to be fairly low under the strings.

 

[Varg]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

Nile use Invaders, as did Vivian Campbell on the two albums he made years ago when he was any good.

I love the Invader. I dont have one in a guitar right now but thats purely because Im happy with the setup I have and Im trying out a Custom. If that doesnt do it for me in my cheapo BC Rich Warlock I would be going the Invader route again.

Do it man!

 

[javimm]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

If I remember correctly, the guitarists of Lamb of God use them (or have used them). Listening to their records, I think that the sound is very good indeed.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

I had a '85 Kramer with a JB in the bridge and when I saw the Invader I thought it looked so cool that it had to sound great - ah, the musings of my teenage mind. it was much looser and muddier than what I was expecting. it's cool that a lot of guys dig it and I wouldn't be opposed to re-visiting it now that I have more than one guitar to go to. but when it was the only guitar and I was wanting to cover many differnt rock sounds (like you are), it meant going back to the JB.

but check it out. if it's not for you, put your bridge pup back in and I'm thinking you won't have any trouble finding someone on the board that'll take it or swap out with you. everyone's a winner.

 

[Diego]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

And now I'm kinda discouraged.

Not just by Darth's review. I just spent about 30 minutes searching and reading reviews and opinions.
And the "TOO MUDDY" card pops up too often for my comfort.

If you're not just cranking the gain to 11 by default, like many do, can the Invader deliver a clear, defined rhythm tone?
Imagine Metallica's Battery as an example. Could it do that?
Will it deliver defined crunch and thick sounds for Hard Rock and overall some really heavy and punchy chugga-chugga?
I think low mids is the key here. That's what I want.

As a sidenote, I love my Demon 8, but I'd like something thicker and more compressed for the bridge.
It's very open and a terrific pickup by itself, but I want a change.
I'm also using 9-42 strings now (from 10-52) so I need to compensate a bit on that.
And I'd like a more radical flavor as well. Never had a super hot pickup before.

 

[formula73]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

It's about as far from that Battery tone as you can get. A good compromise between an Invader and a Distortion is the Detonator...I think it's the massive field from the 3 ceramic mags that covers so much string area that makes the Invader so mushy. The Detonator only has 1 mag and covers less string area...more focused...less mush. Of course, this is all conjecture but I like em better.

 

[Diego]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

Hmm.
Maybe the Alternative 8 is a better idea? Apparently it's extremely thick AND defined in the high end as well.

 

[gvis]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

I have two invaders in my nitefly and love em. And alt 8 bridge sitting in the neck position.

I don't find the bridge version muddy because I use a 500k volume pot and this to cut bass as needed, although that's more to go from thick chunk to scratcher chuck:

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/PMT-DMTG/Dual-Mode-High-Low-Pass-Tone-Control-For-Guitar.html

I love it's compressed sound and slight chime, and how it sustains. And I even like it for leads, probably because I prefer thick to thin and trebly. I cna still do pinch harmonics.

My neck invader sits in the middle position. It's nothing like the bridge version. Just as trebly as the SD site says.

Alt 8 sounds nothing like an invader. Still big, but more open. Also has some bass, but more compared to the invader's thick. But it's output balances well with the invader.

 

[ericmeyer4]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

Invader in parallel sounds awesome! It makes great for a wider variety of music.

 

[gvis]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

Invader in parallel sounds awesome! It makes great for a wider variety of music.

Yes, it also helps clear it up some thickness. All three of humbuckers have separate single/parallel/series switches. Lots of options.

 

[Artie]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

Yup. Invader in parallel sounds PAF-ish. It's like two pups in one.
One of Seymours best kept secrets.

 

[Diego]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

PAFish?? Wow, that's an impressive call to make.
Sadly I'm not very sure on the Invader, lots of consensus on it being way too sludgy and I don't wanna play stoner rock with it.

One of the A7X guys uses it, how's his tone like? Haven't listened to them, ever.

I haven't tried it, i'm just following the feedback here.
So hard to choose a pickup blindfolded.

 

[Hellion]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

I like the Invader pickup a lot. I have two of them, one in a rebuilt SG and one in my Dean Z. I don't really find them bassy at all. To me, they sound very "full range", very even across the tonal spectrum, which might be why to some guitar players they sound heavy on the bass end, because the trend these days is still to scoop the mids and go heavy on bass. But both guitars just scream with that pickup.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

If you have it right up against the strings it will sound like mush , but if you back it off and find that sweet spot, it sounds thick, tight & chunky...like a sledgehammer

 

[JOEBACCA]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

One of the A7X guys uses it, how's his tone like? Haven't listened to them, ever.

Well Synyster Gates is A7X's Lead Guitarist and I dig his tone and playing. I know that his Schecter Sig Model used to have the Invader Bridge and Neck. But he recently started using a Sustainiac in the Neck but still has the Invader in the Bridge.

Heres a demo of him playing their most well known song "Bat Country"-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1LBM9K3j0s


When he goes into the dual guitar solo the top half is the Invader B and the bottom half is the Invader N.

 

[marvelous_seven]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

My friend got a limited Schecter Synyster Gates Custom in white w/ gold stripes.
The Invader sounds brutal btw. The key to get the most of it is by back it off further the strings AND use the gain just enough to make it chugs without losing sustain and power. Fiddling w/ EQ also help.
Synyster himself uses/d Bogners and Marshalls which is tight in the bottom and screams in the top-end,so that also play role to the tightness you hear on A7X record.

 

[gman128]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

Nile use Invaders

And have you heard Nile's tone? MUDDY, I appreciate they tune to drop A, but then so do I and I use a blackout and it sounds tight! I also have an alt 8 in a strat tuned to D and that slays, has nice thick bass, but it cuts in the high end - something the invader does not do. I can see why you'd want to use the invader in a really bright guitar tuned standard, but for down tuning it sucks, and it is probably overwhelming in darker guitars. Synster Gates' marshall tightens up his rhythm tone a lot and don't forget a7x are usually in drop D.

 

[Guston7]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

The invader was my least favorite Duncan. I wish I would've tried it in parallel, as some have suggested here. That's gotta cut down on the mud, and it's so powerful that I'll bet parallel it's still as strong as most HB's in series.

 

[Diego]

Re: So who still digs the Invader?

My guitar is bright-ish for a mahogany guitar and I rarely downtune. Hmm.
I'll go nuts reading opinions here. Lots of differing views.
Nile's tone is super muddy, but they downtune real low and they GO after that mud.
Synyster doesn't and it works for him.
And of course I'll back it off as much as needed.

Maybe next month I'll buy it.

The Demon 8 more than does the heavy lifting job, shame that it's an unknown because many of you guys would LOVE it without a doubt.