Aceman
I am your doctor of love!
Had a friend grab a Tom Delonge Strat for a steal, Invader and all ($299). He brought it right over and we plugged it into the H&K TM18 on the crunch channel set moderately and gave it a go.
First - haven't had an Invader around in a while. I'll say it sounded fantastic in that 25 1/2 scale Strat. Loud, thick, full, and bright enough for anything I'd want to do. Not so sure I'd love it in a mahogany 24 3/4 scale - but that was not where it was! Anyway - we started pulling pickup after pickup loaded guitar and giving a listen. Here were some of the comparisons (Mostly in Les Paul styles)
Duncan Distortion: More open, less thick, less distorted, sharper highs. I don't think as loud!
Duncan Custom: Did not punch as much as Inv, as in mid punch, sharper highs, bass was maybe punchier than the Inv, but not as thick. Seemed as loud
DiMarzio Distortion: Sounded surprisingly similar, with better? highs....SuperD not as loud.
Duncan Pearly Gates: Distinctly less output, way more clear and articulate. Probably sounded better on the H&K lead boot with highs that were both more cutting and sweeter.
Duncan Detonator: This was a very similar sound, but the Invader still had it beat in the bass/power area.
Again - over all the invader was just a raging rock monster of a pickup. I was really surprised at how much I like the full spectrum of sound from it. Only tweet to the classic 5/5/5 B/M/T settings we made was a little treble bump to ~6.5. The thing was brutal to the clean channel too. It easily brought breakup to the H&K with even a moderately hard hit. It also cleaned up pretty well when you lowered the volume enough. Wouldn't be a choice for a clean pickup. The mids were a little "honky" if you will that way. Might have just been Strat factor there. But this isn't gonna be played clean anyway...
First - haven't had an Invader around in a while. I'll say it sounded fantastic in that 25 1/2 scale Strat. Loud, thick, full, and bright enough for anything I'd want to do. Not so sure I'd love it in a mahogany 24 3/4 scale - but that was not where it was! Anyway - we started pulling pickup after pickup loaded guitar and giving a listen. Here were some of the comparisons (Mostly in Les Paul styles)
Duncan Distortion: More open, less thick, less distorted, sharper highs. I don't think as loud!
Duncan Custom: Did not punch as much as Inv, as in mid punch, sharper highs, bass was maybe punchier than the Inv, but not as thick. Seemed as loud
DiMarzio Distortion: Sounded surprisingly similar, with better? highs....SuperD not as loud.
Duncan Pearly Gates: Distinctly less output, way more clear and articulate. Probably sounded better on the H&K lead boot with highs that were both more cutting and sweeter.
Duncan Detonator: This was a very similar sound, but the Invader still had it beat in the bass/power area.
Again - over all the invader was just a raging rock monster of a pickup. I was really surprised at how much I like the full spectrum of sound from it. Only tweet to the classic 5/5/5 B/M/T settings we made was a little treble bump to ~6.5. The thing was brutal to the clean channel too. It easily brought breakup to the H&K with even a moderately hard hit. It also cleaned up pretty well when you lowered the volume enough. Wouldn't be a choice for a clean pickup. The mids were a little "honky" if you will that way. Might have just been Strat factor there. But this isn't gonna be played clean anyway...
