« Single minded metal machine »

The SH-8 Invader is a metal machine that can do nothing else. It has a unique look than other Seymour Duncans. It has 12 black oxide cap screws on the top of it. If the screws are this big that tells you how big and powerful the magnets are. With these huge magnets and screws you must look out of string pull. I noticed my sustain was was not as good as it was with a lower output pickup. String pull is when the magnetics of the pickup effect the strings. The magnets tug on the strings and stop them from vibrating freely. This lowers the sustain of the note being played on the string. Even with all the histrionics with the huge screws and what not the pickup is not noisy at all. Because the screws on this pickup are so big there is no tremolo size offered. The screws can pick up the strings equally well on both sizes. The Invader is a very hot bass heavy pickup. With these features you have to make sure you are putting it in the right type of guitar. You want to put it in a guitar that will balance out the sound. With the bass heavy voicing of the Invader you may want to put it in a slightly brighter wooded guitar to make the sound neutral. If you put this bassy pickup into an already bassy guitar the sound may become un-useable. The sound will be dark and muddy and totally undefined. With these characteristics it is un-useable in the neck position also. It is far too bassy for the neck position which already produces a bass heavy sound no matter what the pickup is. If you are looking for a pickup for the bridge position of your bright guitar and you only play metal this may be the pickup for you.