No doubt, I installed a DiMarzio Super 3 in my Charvel this weekend because of this channel (Replaced the stock Duncan Distortion which was too harsh for me), best pickup demo/comparisons out there.
@CJReaper666 How does the Super 3 compare to the Distortion? Is it muddy? Does it handle high gain well? What type of music/tuning are you playing? Sorry for all of the questions haha.
@@nickharper8145 No worries, it's much warmer than the Distortion but not muddy at all. The highs are smoother but there is still plenty of definition under high gain. It was made for high gain so it excels in that area, I play Metal ranging from Sabbath and Maiden to Morbid Angel & Goatwhore, etc. (I tune to Eb for the guitar it's installed in) and it does all of those really well. It's kind of like getting Slayer's late 80s tone without having to use an EQ to boost the mids. It's very full and aggressive sounding, a bit less output than the Distortion to my ears but that gives it more clarity too, it's certainly isn't lacking for output.
they both have qualities that are better than the other, i sorta like the "wholeness" of the invader, and the clarity of the dimebucker, but what i dont like is the shrill or sharp edge of the dimebucker, and the periodically blanket over the sound of the invader.... i would love to see a hybrid of the two... maybe that would be awesome! ... so its like ... rich and fat but also clearer than the regular invader. the Dimevader ? :P or Invader Dime ( as in Invader Zim reference :P).
I agree! I have a Dimebucker in one of my guitars and it sounds great throughout the range but my guitar is also made with excellent hardwoods that give a balanced tone. On this test I agree- the Dimebucker comes off a bit shrill whereas the Invader sounds veiled at times. A hybrid of the two would be awesome!
Dimebucker is tighter in the lows and brighter in the highs with more presence. The output is similar between them but I always found the Invader a darker, looser pickup with a woofy kind of low end and boxy lower mids. In my experience, the Invader is one of my least favorite pickups, but it is one of Duncan's oldest designs and was its highest output passive model for many years. Dialed in correctly through something like a Dual Rec the Invader can sound huge, but in my hands through my rig I prefer something more articulate and slightly lower output with the amp/pedal boost making up the gain/distortion difference.
I'm getting a strat with an invader in the bridge. Though i'm a fan of alnico 2 humbuckers, p90s and single coils more, My bet is the invader and them other pickups (HSS) through some 1MEG pots. That would make up for clarity and the option to tame the invader s darkness much more to My liking.
@@nathaninostroza7655 I wouldn't expect much out of a 1 meg pot. I've tried them and you get some additional very, very slight top end brightness. I tried them with a JB when I had my first one and it never made that pickup any tighter. As a result, I prefer the JB as a neck pickup. It does hot solo tones from the neck well and parallel/split tones. The Distortion was more my thing, but even more than that are the Full Shred and especially the Parallel Axis variants. Can I work with a JB or Invader in the bridge? Yes. But I'm doing a lot of tweaking in post, especially with a low shelf/high pass filter.
@@nathaninostroza7655 Also I'd say an Alnico 2 pickup and an Invader are complete opposites. A low to mid output Alnico 2 in the bridge is great for things like Albert Lee style chicken picking and country. The bottom end is very springy and spongy, if that makes sense. The Invader is just this dense brick of sound. I might suggest a Screamin' Demon as well but while it was tight in lows the mids and highs were lacking. If it were crossed with a Full Shred I think I would be pretty happy with it. The Parallel Axis Original gets me close to that--like a Distortion but smoother--and it looks cool in a Jackson Rhoades V with all the points and angles and the unique pole pieces on the PATB line. You can also try a Duncan Distortion neck pickup in the bridge. In the 70s a prototype of it was called the Seymourizer. If I need a bridge pickup dialed back, I'll use the neck version. More commonly, if I have a hot bridge pickup and I need a match, I'll use a bridge from a lower output set. My Custom 5/Alnico II Pro Bridge LTD EC256 Les Paul comes to mind. The regular neck A2P wasn't quite matching up, but once I went to the bridge the change in volume between pickups was much more even. They fit together well.
@@AAAA-lt9hq first off, thanks for replying this fast. Second, and this is theory of mine, the way i ve always worked pots, i always tend to use them in odd measures, not full. So thats My alibi when i said i could tame an invader, because, i know 1MEG pots make humbuckers really bright, especially alnico V, and, oddly enough, cheap and ceramic single coils come to life with them pots. I see this as a leverage and not to use on full, therefore, when it's too bright, i can always dial it down from the guitar instead of using pedals, eq, or post production, etc. But nevertheless, your word is taken My friend. When it comes to H H set up, i like alnico 2 on the bridge, and some hot bridge pickup for the neck. I'm such a sucker for attack and edgy trebles. Bill Lawrence is the best for the neck if allowed.
@@AAAA-lt9hq wow man. Thats some serious data ovahere. Just stumbled yesterday on a screaming demon, for HSS, with really nice set up on the pots. It was good. Thing is, i'm a sucker for alnico 2 humbuckers nowadays, because they're a tad more singing for the note choices on the fretting fingers, and also got this more grounded response to your pick up attack. Maybe i'm entirely full of it, but it makes me enjoy bridge position better and gives me a less flat response in comparison to many humbuckers. Wich always drive me back to single coils and p90s due to their rich dynamics. I could add much more, but theres bits of insight as much as conjecture, so i'll spare u the details. I'm a guitar maniac, though i'm not so bright at playing. Stay well, mate.
SH13 is a brighter and sharper sounding pickup. the SH8 seem much warmer and fuller sound while also sounding somewhat muted and flat. might be cool to have the SH13 for a neck pickup and the SH8 for the bridge.
The Invader actually sounds very bright in its own right, you just think it's "muted and flat" compared to the Dimebucker. - Listen to it compared to say the D Activator X, then the roles are reversed, with the Invader being the bright one and the DAX being the darker one.
@@michaelangeloh.5383 True, but by that logic, we could compare the Invader to the sound of a frying pan hitting a cymbal and call it warm and mellow. Let's keep it relevant to the pickups actually in this video, yeah?
I think the dimebucker sounds fuller less abrasive than the invader then again i could be tone deaf However wanting to put an invader in the bridge posistion of my v anyone recommend a neckbpick up that complements it?
I'd put a bridge dimebucker on the neck. Or a Bill Lawrence, thing is: if it's a humbucker for neck position, a bridge high output humbucker beast is better, thank me later.
These videos are so valuable, thank you
No doubt, I installed a DiMarzio Super 3 in my Charvel this weekend because of this channel (Replaced the stock Duncan Distortion which was too harsh for me), best pickup demo/comparisons out there.
@CJReaper666 How does the Super 3 compare to the Distortion? Is it muddy? Does it handle high gain well? What type of music/tuning are you playing? Sorry for all of the questions haha.
@@nickharper8145 No worries, it's much warmer than the Distortion but not muddy at all. The highs are smoother but there is still plenty of definition under high gain. It was made for high gain so it excels in that area, I play Metal ranging from Sabbath and Maiden to Morbid Angel & Goatwhore, etc. (I tune to Eb for the guitar it's installed in) and it does all of those really well. It's kind of like getting Slayer's late 80s tone without having to use an EQ to boost the mids. It's very full and aggressive sounding, a bit less output than the Distortion to my ears but that gives it more clarity too, it's certainly isn't lacking for output.
@@NeurodivergentMetalThanks for the input! How does it compare to the super2 if you have one?
@@ec29w Unfortunately I don't have a Super 2.
A Dimebucker in the bridge and an Invader in the neck would result not in a guitar, but in a war machine.
Your the man! Thanks for this comparison!
Great comparison!
they both have qualities that are better than the other, i sorta like the "wholeness" of the invader, and the clarity of the dimebucker, but what i dont like is the shrill or sharp edge of the dimebucker, and the periodically blanket over the sound of the invader.... i would love to see a hybrid of the two... maybe that would be awesome! ... so its like ... rich and fat but also clearer than the regular invader. the Dimevader ? :P or Invader Dime ( as in Invader Zim reference :P).
I agree! I have a Dimebucker in one of my guitars and it sounds great throughout the range but my guitar is also made with excellent hardwoods that give a balanced tone. On this test I agree- the Dimebucker comes off a bit shrill whereas the Invader sounds veiled at times. A hybrid of the two would be awesome!
Dimebucker seems a bit fuller and tighter imo...less fizz
They're a lot more similar than I would have thought.
Yea, but one is a lot brighter and sharper.
@@michaelangeloh.5383
which one?
Nice video on the two ❤
Killer channel man
Thank you for the videos 👍🙏
I like both sets nice demo👍
You'll never go wrong with Duncan
Dimebucker is tighter in the lows and brighter in the highs with more presence.
The output is similar between them but I always found the Invader a darker, looser pickup with a woofy kind of low end and boxy lower mids.
In my experience, the Invader is one of my least favorite pickups, but it is one of Duncan's oldest designs and was its highest output passive model for many years.
Dialed in correctly through something like a Dual Rec the Invader can sound huge, but in my hands through my rig I prefer something more articulate and slightly lower output with the amp/pedal boost making up the gain/distortion difference.
I'm getting a strat with an invader in the bridge. Though i'm a fan of alnico 2 humbuckers, p90s and single coils more, My bet is the invader and them other pickups (HSS) through some 1MEG pots. That would make up for clarity and the option to tame the invader s darkness much more to My liking.
@@nathaninostroza7655 I wouldn't expect much out of a 1 meg pot. I've tried them and you get some additional very, very slight top end brightness. I tried them with a JB when I had my first one and it never made that pickup any tighter. As a result, I prefer the JB as a neck pickup. It does hot solo tones from the neck well and parallel/split tones.
The Distortion was more my thing, but even more than that are the Full Shred and especially the Parallel Axis variants.
Can I work with a JB or Invader in the bridge? Yes. But I'm doing a lot of tweaking in post, especially with a low shelf/high pass filter.
@@nathaninostroza7655 Also I'd say an Alnico 2 pickup and an Invader are complete opposites.
A low to mid output Alnico 2 in the bridge is great for things like Albert Lee style chicken picking and country. The bottom end is very springy and spongy, if that makes sense.
The Invader is just this dense brick of sound.
I might suggest a Screamin' Demon as well but while it was tight in lows the mids and highs were lacking. If it were crossed with a Full Shred I think I would be pretty happy with it.
The Parallel Axis Original gets me close to that--like a Distortion but smoother--and it looks cool in a Jackson Rhoades V with all the points and angles and the unique pole pieces on the PATB line.
You can also try a Duncan Distortion neck pickup in the bridge. In the 70s a prototype of it was called the Seymourizer.
If I need a bridge pickup dialed back, I'll use the neck version. More commonly, if I have a hot bridge pickup and I need a match, I'll use a bridge from a lower output set.
My Custom 5/Alnico II Pro Bridge LTD EC256 Les Paul comes to mind. The regular neck A2P wasn't quite matching up, but once I went to the bridge the change in volume between pickups was much more even. They fit together well.
@@AAAA-lt9hq first off, thanks for replying this fast. Second, and this is theory of mine, the way i ve always worked pots, i always tend to use them in odd measures, not full. So thats My alibi when i said i could tame an invader, because, i know 1MEG pots make humbuckers really bright, especially alnico V, and, oddly enough, cheap and ceramic single coils come to life with them pots. I see this as a leverage and not to use on full, therefore, when it's too bright, i can always dial it down from the guitar instead of using pedals, eq, or post production, etc. But nevertheless, your word is taken My friend. When it comes to H H set up, i like alnico 2 on the bridge, and some hot bridge pickup for the neck. I'm such a sucker for attack and edgy trebles. Bill Lawrence is the best for the neck if allowed.
@@AAAA-lt9hq wow man. Thats some serious data ovahere. Just stumbled yesterday on a screaming demon, for HSS, with really nice set up on the pots. It was good. Thing is, i'm a sucker for alnico 2 humbuckers nowadays, because they're a tad more singing for the note choices on the fretting fingers, and also got this more grounded response to your pick up attack. Maybe i'm entirely full of it, but it makes me enjoy bridge position better and gives me a less flat response in comparison to many humbuckers. Wich always drive me back to single coils and p90s due to their rich dynamics. I could add much more, but theres bits of insight as much as conjecture, so i'll spare u the details. I'm a guitar maniac, though i'm not so bright at playing. Stay well, mate.
SH13 is a brighter and sharper sounding pickup. the SH8 seem much warmer and fuller sound while also sounding somewhat muted and flat. might be cool to have the SH13 for a neck pickup and the SH8 for the bridge.
Agreed 100% gets you best of both of these monsters
The Invader actually sounds very bright in its own right, you just think it's "muted and flat" compared to the Dimebucker. - Listen to it compared to say the D Activator X, then the roles are reversed, with the Invader being the bright one and the DAX being the darker one.
@@michaelangeloh.5383 True, but by that logic, we could compare the Invader to the sound of a frying pan hitting a cymbal and call it warm and mellow. Let's keep it relevant to the pickups actually in this video, yeah?
Someone testing gear with actual riffs and not blues lawyer noodles? Amazing, thank you
I think the dimebucker sounds fuller less abrasive than the invader then again i could be tone deaf
However wanting to put an invader in the bridge posistion of my v anyone recommend a neckbpick up that complements it?
maybe use the dimebucker as the neck one :D
@@BlakeSpohn do they do a less hot version of the invader
Never heard of putting a dimebucker in neck. What tone do you think that would put out
honestly dont know for the dimer bucker
as for less hot invader gibsons dirty fingers seem like a good contender@@stanmil5495
The neck version is a thing
I'd put a bridge dimebucker on the neck. Or a Bill Lawrence, thing is: if it's a humbucker for neck position, a bridge high output humbucker beast is better, thank me later.
Ty
Dimebucker has more treible , the invander has more Low- End
🎸 SH-13 🎸
invader sounds more focused to me.
Seymour Duncan invader Best humbucker
Sh13
Bucker= Neck
Invader= Bridge
Sh8
the dimebucker sounds too bright to my ears...Invader has more balance
Даймбакер має більше верхів, Інвейдер більше середини і вихлопу.