Duncan Invader

Tonedeaf

Power User
Got a guitar coming that the bridge pickup has been replaced with a Duncan Invader. My research shows this to be a real love it or hate it pickup. Any thoughts from you guys? The guitar is a Washburn BT-10. A Wolfgang wannabe.
 

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Doesn't sound promising. Good thing I got the guitar for almost half of what others have sold for, and I've played one before and was impressed. Also liked that it has a 24.75 neck scale.
 
I got it several years ago for my Jackson and it has very high ouput - close to active PU.
But at some points it was too much - reducing output with vol-knob to get less gain in the sound for dedicated passages in song hardly worked.

I sold it and got a cheap PU for 10€ that do it's job better and sounds good.
 
Doesn't sound promising. Good thing I got the guitar for almost half of what others have sold for, and I've played one before and was impressed. Also liked that it has a 24.75 neck scale.
You're writing it off without playing it? That's putting a lot of weight on other people's opinions without knowing what they base their opinion on. My comment is a generalization of how I feel about their pickups. I'm sure others feel the same about the brands I prefer.

There are a lot of players who like and use Seymour Duncan pickups with great success, including several renowned artists (Hetfield, DeLonge, Synyster Gates among others) using the Invader. I have preferences when it comes to pickups and found other brands that I like. Andy seems to like certain SD pickups. So much boils down to what you want from the guitar, how you're going to use it.

My personal experience; a Duncan Invader was in the bridge position of an Ibanez Prestige I bought and although I swapped it out, did work for heavy styles of music, not really what I played or wanted the guitar for. I tried it with my "metal" tone at the time and thought it had more clarity than my other guitars. My knocks on it were 1. It was too bright and 'generic' on clean tones, 2. It was hard to clean up using the guitar's volume control. If you're planning to use it for high gain tones, you may like it but give it a try and decide for yourself.

https://www.guitarworld.com/gear/seymour-duncan-invader-review-bridge-and-neck-pickup-set
 
What about pretty much most Dire Straits, all the early Van Halen. Pink Floyd .There is a massive amount of amazing music came out of Seymour Duncan pickups.
There's been massive amounts of great music that came out of stock Fender and Gibson guitars. Does that mean they're good pickups too? I have my preferences and you have yours.

I'm pleased with the tones I get from the pickups I've chosen to use, none of them are SD pickups. Other players feel the same about their guitars with SD pickups. Neither is right or wrong, as with most gear it's completely subjective.
 
Don’t let people tell you what sounds good.

Listen to it.

If it sounds good, you are set. If it doesn’t you’ll know specifically why, and in your setting. And, no offense intended, if you can’t tell the difference listening to it, then it doesn’t matter.

There is nothing made that you can’t find someone slagging on the internet. People think it makes them sound discerning or refined. Often, I find they are completely off base compared to my personal experience.

I’ve used a ton of SD pickups over the decades. Some I’ve absolutely loved, others were fine but not spectacular, some were ok, and a few weren’t my cup of tea. But some folks love the ones I didn’t! You have to try them for yourself.

Edit: By the way, this is for any pickup from any maker.
 
There's been massive amounts of great music that came out of stock Fender and Gibson guitars. Does that mean they're good pickups too? I have my preferences and you have yours.

I'm pleased with the tones I get from the pickups I've chosen to use, none of them are SD pickups. Other players feel the same about their guitars with SD pickups. Neither is right or wrong, as with most gear it's completely subjective.
A great many Fender and Gibson pickups are amazing but many are also not you have to judge the pickup you are playing through. The thing I like about SD is consistency . If you buy a JB it is not a lottery, you know what you'r getting. And of course you don't have to like it but at least it will sound like the one you already tried.
 
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You're writing it off without playing it? That's putting a lot of weight on other people's opinions without knowing what they base their opinion on. My comment is a generalization of how I feel about their pickups. I'm sure others feel the same about the brands I prefer.

There are a lot of players who like and use Seymour Duncan pickups with great success, including several renowned artists (Hetfield, DeLonge, Synyster Gates among others) using the Invader. I have preferences when it comes to pickups and found other brands that I like. Andy seems to like certain SD pickups. So much boils down to what you want from the guitar, how you're going to use it.

My personal experience; a Duncan Invader was in the bridge position of an Ibanez Prestige I bought and although I swapped it out, did work for heavy styles of music, not really what I played or wanted the guitar for. I tried it with my "metal" tone at the time and thought it had more clarity than my other guitars. My knocks on it were 1. It was too bright and 'generic' on clean tones, 2. It was hard to clean up using the guitar's volume control. If you're planning to use it for high gain tones, you may like it but give it a try and decide for yourself.

https://www.guitarworld.com/gear/seymour-duncan-invader-review-bridge-and-neck-pickup-set
I didn't say I was writing it off at all. Just that the odds are looking that I won't like it, but I've been pleasantly surprised before. I should get it by the weekend. I'll be sure to let you guys what I think. I am planning for this to me be my high gain guitar. I got other guitars to cover all the other bases.
 
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I didn't say I was writing it off at all. Just that the odds are looking that I won't like it, but I've been pleasantly surprised before. I should get it by the weekend. I'll be sure to let you guys what I think. I am planning for this to me be my high gain guitar. I got other guitars to cover all the other bases.

The pre-conceived notion you wont like it makes it way likelier that you'll just have confirmation bias versus trying it open-mindedly. Thats my take, anyway.

Try expecting it to sound incredible and see how that goes.
 
I didn't say I was writing it off at all. Just that the odds are looking that I won't like it, but I've been pleasantly surprised before. I should get it by the weekend. I'll be sure to let you guys what I think. I am planning for this to me be my high gain guitar. I got other guitars to cover all the other bases.

The biggest obstacle are those massive polepieces. ;)
 
The pre-conceived notion you wont like it makes it way likelier that you'll just have confirmation bias versus trying it open-mindedly. Thats my take, anyway.

Try expecting it to sound incredible and see how that goes.
If I had a pre conceived notion I would not like it I would not have bought the guitar.
 
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