The Invader neck is actually a really good pickup

[stratguy23]

I have a Tele-type guitar that's ash with maple neck/fretboard and stainless steel frets. The result is an extremely scooped and bright sounding guitar. It's so scooped that a Pearly Gates neck sounded hollow and was too bright, something I've never experienced before.

So I replaced it with the least scooped Duncan neck humbucker I could find, the Invader. The B/M/T profile is, like, 6/8/4. I literally chose the pickup just based on EQ profile.

Guess what? It's perfect in this guitar. And it *still* sounds bright, but now pleasingly so. I'm actually getting a cool P90 vibe with it. Really throaty mids, beautiful cleans (?!), pairs perfectly with a Hot Rails for Tele bridge. Output doesn't seem very high, though I wouldn't pair it with a PAF. Due to its fatness, it calls for a hotter pickup in the bridge.

I'm not a huge fan of the ceramic attack in terms of feel under my picking, but this guitar sounds so good now that I'll put up with it, at least for a little while.

I don't play metal. The application here is classic rock and blues, and surprisingly, the Invader neck is killing it in this application. Who woulda thunk?

 

[saladin]

Re: The Invader neck is actually a really good pickup

I bought a used Epiphone Dot years ago that someone had put in a set of Invaders.
I got it cheap and was planning on replacing them...until I plugged it in.
Very nice tones and that was clean. I wouldn't hesitate to use them, an HH Strat with Invaders
would be just about perfect.

 

[Mincer]

Re: The Invader neck is actually a really good pickup

I think this is a case of finding the right tool for the job. I have a guitar that has so many mids, that my normal pickup combo (Alnico II Pro & Custom Custom) sounded like it was under a pillow. I switched the magnets to A5s effectively making it a Jazz & Custom 5, and now it is so much better. Those are 2 pickups I would normally not use for my music, but they work here.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: The Invader neck is actually a really good pickup

Cool... Still got to build my double Invader Strat....

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: The Invader neck is actually a really good pickup

I've been tempted to try the Invader neck as a medium output bridge pickup in a scooped sounding guitar.

 

[Mincer]

Re: The Invader neck is actually a really good pickup

I've been tempted to try the Invader neck as a medium output bridge pickup in a scooped sounding guitar.

This would probably rock in something made out of maple, or something really bright, too.