software

Hey,

I may be getting a Gothic Explorer (Gibson) and I was wondering if the 500T was stronger or weaker than a Invader pickup?

The Invader sounds quot;biggerquot; as it has a lot more low end.

so is it better for metal and/or punk?

Better is a very subjective term, but I do prefer the Invader

so what I am getting from you is that the Invader is an all around better pickup because its more verstile? plus it has huge magnets

I didn't say that it was better or more versatile, but simply that I like it better.

ok, sorry

yea the invader is way better for metal .. dunno about punk tho... i think the 500t would be better for punk because they dont give as much gain as the invader and punk isnt known for having lots of gain... however im sure the invader will still sound fine for punk (plus you can always turn down the gain on your amp duh)

ive only tried the invader once and it was on a friends jackson warrior, but ive tried those 500t's many times on stock flying vs and theyre super weak

If you want to wake up your Explorer, shove an Invader into that puppy.

I would say that the magnetic field in the invader is stronger than the 500T. Personally, I really like the 500T and I think it gets a bad wrap. If it were the same pickup and it had a duncan logo on it, alot of people would swear by it.


Originally Posted by Gugniryea the invader is way better for metal .. dunno about punk tho... i think the 500t would be better for punk because they dont give as much gain as the invader and punk isnt known for having lots of gain... however im sure the invader will still sound fine for punk (plus you can always turn down the gain on your amp duh)

ive only tried the invader once and it was on a friends jackson warrior, but ive tried those 500t's many times on stock flying vs and theyre super weak

Super weak???? thats odd. The Invader better for metal, that is subjective. Personally I would disagree. If someone wants to play ONLY Rythm in a cookie monster band, the Invader is great. I find the 500T very versatile in comparision to the Invader. Hey its subjective though.


Originally Posted by theodieIf someone wants to play ONLY Rythm in a cookie monster band, the Invader is great.

I read you post a couple other posts similar to this, and I feel that you are under-rating a high quality versatile pick-up...
If you listen to lamb of God you can hear their lead guitarist (Mark Morton) using an Invader and his solos sound awesome IMO.
Although I'm sure you will have a comment on thier cookie-moster-ish vocals... They are just one example of the Invader being used not just as a rhythm pick-up (and also not tuned down so low as... Drop B, or Drop A...).
Rock On

Dont get me wrong, I have played Invaders numerous times in numerous guitars and through numerous amps and the point is, they LACK clarity for solos. I am not underating it, I am just giving my take on it. There are those who severly over rate it!!!! Face it, the Invader dosent do solo's all that well compared to other buckers in Duncans line up. Correct? Everything is all mushed together. OK, some cookie monster guy uses it. Big deal!! Cookie monster music always sounds all mushed together anyway so I guess the Invader goes hand in hand with it.

Most people that play solo's, play something like a JB, Custom, Distortion etc. If the Invader was that versatile and that great for solo's, there would be a whole lot less of Duncans other buckers being sold.

If it works for you, Thats Wonderful!!!


Originally Posted by theodieIf it works for you, Thats Wonderful!!!

Kool Kool, I'm perfectly ok with us having differing opinions on the Invader.I've owned both the 500T and the Invader, they're both good pick-ups.
Personally I would choose the over the Gibson, but there are plently of other pick-ups that may fit the bill even better than the Invader.
Rock On

Hey Kac, don't worry about theodie... he's just an Invada' hayta :afro:
I'm pretty sure I'm the only person on the forum who has am Invader in their Explorer.

I love it. I honestly don't understand how people think the Invader would be good for punk.
For punk I think more of a PAFish type pup would work better.

For metal though I dont think you can get a better pup then the Invader. Killer pinch harmonics and set your amp right and you can pull of some killer sounding leads.

I like them both and they could both be used with punk/metal just fine, just depends on personal taste. I do agree I never liked the Invader for clarity as much as the 500T. I did try an experiment with putting Dimarzio hex poles in place of the stock Invader button head poles. To me it sounded noticeably clearer with less mud even in a Les Paul which can get muddy with the wrong pickup.

i dont think the invader is bad, but i dont think its great either. too fuzzy IMO. then again, itd probably sound better if my settings were configured for it, but all my other pickups are fairly similar, and the invader is pretty damn different from everything else on the market really, and im just too damn lazy to mess with my settings everytime i wanna play one particular guitar that doesnt get as much play time as the rest anyway. the invader just always sounds unclear (cause of so much bass) and kinda gravelly (cause of the goofy mid spike). oh well, to each his own

why not try other pups for punk? i think mad caddies or bad religion have two les pauls, one with a JB and one with a custom (i forget which band, but i can picture the guitars )

you need more clarity than punch for punk IMO.. the JB has been used extensively by the fella in green day, he only switched to les paul juniors for american idiot (and still pulled out the bitsa strat to play the oldies live) hehe


Originally Posted by ex-250i dont think the invader is bad, but i dont think its great either. too fuzzy IMO. then again, itd probably sound better if my settings were configured for it, but all my other pickups are fairly similar, and the invader is pretty damn different from everything else on the market really, and im just too damn lazy to mess with my settings everytime i wanna play one particular guitar that doesnt get as much play time as the rest anyway. the invader just always sounds unclear (cause of so much bass) and kinda gravelly (cause of the goofy mid spike). oh well, to each his own

I have the bass on my amp turned to about 4 1/2, mainly because I don't like a lot of bass frequencies coming through my speakers, but if I installed an Invader in a swamp ash yamaha telecaster copy would that increase the overall bass response of the guitar actually muddying up the bass signal from the guitar/amp? I dunno if that makes sense or not, but I'm trying to get more bass from my setup w/out actually doing anything to my amp ('cuz I like the current settings, that's why). Or would I do better with a detonator?