The World's Loudest Pickup: Invader vs. Dirty Fingers vs. Hot Rails

Let's compare three high gain pickups (Invader, Dirty Fingers, & Hot Rails)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Support the channel 📹 / anndynegative
Buy some merch 👕 anndynegative.com
Follow me on Spotify 🎧 spoti.fi/2UsHx3f
----------------------------------------------------------------
❗BUY THESE PICKUPS❗
Seymour Duncan Invader: amzn.to/3Yp70aX
Seymour Duncan Hot Rails STRAT: amzn.to/3ZEfCLM
Seymour Duncan Hot Rails TELE: amzn.to/3EZLX7U
----------------------------------------------------------------
Want to start releasing music? Sign up here to get your art out into the world and get 7% off your first year 🎙 distrokid.com/vip/anndynegative
----------------------------------------------------------------
TikTok: vm.tiktok.com/bQ2qXw/
Weirdo Discord Server: / discord
Bandcamp: anndynegative.bandcamp.com
Instagram: / anndynegative
Twitter: / anndynegative
----------------------------------------------------------------
My Gear
Camera & Lens 📸 amzn.to/3Zc2e1L
Lights 💡 amzn.to/3y5zuMi
Recording Software 🎛 amzn.to/3ELGsJO
Interface 📻 amzn.to/3KJ26lX
Speakers 🔊 amzn.to/3Zxfkq8
Vocal Mic 🎤 amzn.to/41Fyj3M
Boom Arm 💥 amzn.to/3ZhHN3p
MIDI Keyboard 🎹 amzn.to/3Y8Fka5
all links are affiliate links and any purchases made through them support this channel!
----------------------------------------------------------------
In this guitar pickup review video, we'll compare the Seymour Duncan Invader, Gibson Dirty Fingers, and Seymour Duncan Hot Rails - three of the world's loudest pickups - against one low gain pickup to see if there's really a difference between high gain and low gain pickups. If you're a punk or metal musician looking to get a heavier tone, this comparison will help you choose the best pickup for your guitar. Tune in to find out which pickup reigns supreme in the world of high gain!
----------------------------------------------------------------

[@Reviewing_Playing_and_More_RPM]

Great to see your channel growing you make incredible content. Keep up the great work.

[@anndynegative]

Thank you so much! Comments like this really help me to keep pushing 💚

[@anthonydavella8350]

as a boomer it makes me glad to see so many young people taking their tone seriously

[@TheGhostGuitars]

Hot Rails is NOT stacked singles. It's a single-coil sized humbuckers.

[@purrpocalypse]

I like the Hot Rails

[@anndynegative]

It's great if you only have a single coil slot 🤙

[@TLDT]

Thanks for the video Anndy! Was wondering if I should put and invader or hot rail in my mustang! Really pumped for you to see your channel growing. Keep having fun!

[@anndynegative]

Honestly, it's totally your preference. They won't sound exactly the same as in this video, but it should give you a rough idea. Whichever one you think sounds better, go with that one. No wrong answers!

[@DadRockAndGuitars]

The differences are pretty subtle even with them in different guitars. I liked the Invader best. There is a much bigger difference between a lower output and higher output pickup, but still there are other things that affect the tone much more (speaker choice for example). Great video. I know these take a lot of work to put together. 👍

[@anndynegative]

Thanks! Yea, definitely not a big difference, you can achieve a similar thing to a high output pickup through other means that I plan on covering soon!

[@justinTime077]

I've been rocking the Dirty PooPoo Fingers for like 10 years now, but I have come to find I just LOVE Duncan invaders the most.

[@anndynegative]

Hahaha PooPoo fingers is my new favorite name for this pickup

[@majinmatt9775]

Informative. Thanks man! Liked and subbed!

[@Ron4president09]

Invader for strat Dirty fingers for LP Hot rails for tele Throwing that epiphone pickup off a bridge…… Priceless! (lol) Thanks for the content bro! Awesome stuff

[@anndynegative]

Thanks for watching!!!

[@scruffyyyjin]

Great video! Maybe do a bass pickup video too, seymour duncan quarter pound pickups are amazing imo.

[@anndynegative]

Great idea!

[@NicolaIIILombardi]

Ssl4 is the best!!

[@KahnuevsKrake]

All my guitars have high output pickups. The Gibson Dirty Fingers, PRS Tremonti Treble and Bare Knuckle Nailbomb (Alnico) are my favourite pickups of all time. What I like about them is that they push the overdrive harder on your amp, and you can get away with setting your gain lower and still get a high gain tone, but less hum and more note definition.

[@homerzkillet6345]

thank you man! very helpful!

[@anndynegative]

Glad to help!

[@lamontprospect9974]

Thank you for this demonstration. It is thorough, concise, and very informative. Personally, I didn't hear much of a difference either. For a while there I was worried that my hearing was shot because I could not hear any difference. 🙏🕊️❤️

[@matthewmanucci]

So where is the video where you show how to make a normal gain pickup sound like a high gain pickup?

[@jasonstarkie2775]

Best comparison video ever!!

[@anndynegative]

Thanks a bunch :)

[@AceGibson1959]

I have original Dirty Fingers PU's in an '84 Gibson Flying V that I bought new. Almost 40 years and it still kicks ass.

[@anndynegative]

I bet that's a SICK sounding guitar

[@brandovetus793]

thank you! im looking a replacement for my squire deryck whibley signiture.. its a single humbucker set up so i need a pickup that can stand out alone so i will go for dirty fingers.. again thank you!

[@anndynegative]

Glad it helped!

[@casesoutherland4175]

I bought a lefty 2002 Gibson SG Tribute that has Dirty Fingers installed in it and I love the tone!

[@anndynegative]

That sounds like a sick guitar!

[@Bloodysugar]

Finding your video looking for some pickup comparisons with the dirty fingers, as I got one and wonder if I'll use it in my next guitar or go for something else. To me it sounds a bit more articulated/punchy/bright than the Invader, less bright than the Hot Rails but beefier, and I'm like "well, I already got what I'm looking for"... ^^' Plus it makes me think how much I like how DF in bridge can sound pretty vulgar/obscene. Yeah... thanks for your video you made me save some money.

[@anndynegative]

Yea, it's a cool pickup and I I've been using it for years. Definitely has a bit of a beefier sound than the Invader. Glad this video helped!

[@e.w.3989]

love the animation on this vid.

[@Dimefan91]

People forget that the classic Metal/Punk albums yall listened to and love were recorded at a time when Amp's didn't have dedicated Gain. Most distortion you hear was when the amp (schematically designed to be as clean as possible) was overloaded creating clipping (what you hear as distortion). In the 60s-early 70s the sound was made by cranking the volume to 10, and resulted in lots of guitarists sustaining permanent hearing damage in the process. By mid 70s overdrive/distortion pedals were becoming a thing, literally overloading the front end of these amps (Ibanez Tube Screamer, MXR Distortion+, Boss OD1, Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster for example. Not really known as dirt boxes, but designed to push an amp already at 10 or to refine what frequencies are boosted/cut). By late 70s-early 80s Pickups were following this same principle (Dimarzio Super Distortion, Invaders, Dirty Fingers, Seymour Duncan). Nowadays distortion and volume are way more divorced than they used to be (High volume/low distortion, low volume/high distortion, and every sound in between), and you can compensate for volume/gain pretty much anywhere in the signal path. Sometimes a high output pickup into a gain monster isn't ideal since the feedback is uncontrollable and the sensitivity is too much. Unless you're regularly playing at 100 Watt venues where a full stack is necessary (say an outdoor gig with now sound system) it's not necessary to ALWAYS be playing with high output pickups

[@anndynegative]

Couldn't have said it better myself

[@motorbikeTim1]

I was hearing massive difference at first. Then the back to back made me think I was hearing less and less difference. Then the pickups in the mix sealed it for me. Couldn’t tell the difference between the first 3 and only the epi pickup sounded a little flat in the high picking part at the end of the riff.

[@matthewjohnston5167]

Hot pickups are great. To my ears they sound thicker with more low end, but lack in the clean department. Unless you only have a one pup guitar this isn’t an issue. You can always just use your pup selector switch to the lower output neck pickup. Leaving your bridge for the hotter distortion/lead sounds. Combined with a channel selecting amp or an A/B setup this is a great way to get clean and dirty sounds live without compromise. Turning the gain up at amp or OD to compensate for lower output Gibson style buckers never sounds as good to my ears as more output right off the strings.

[@JohnDoe-fz7hz]

Is it only about the Pickup? what about the amp the speakers and other effects in the row? No matter what kind of Music you play but I would start look at the other components first before changing pickups

[@anndynegative]

Agreed. There are a ton of factors that go into tone. Pick-ups are just a small part

[@angusorvid8840]

Good video. I've played hard rock and metal for most of my playing career since the mid 80s. I've owned a lot of high output pickups and high gain amps. Rather than focus on just the output focus on the tone you are going for. If you have a pickup like a standard PAF it will work fine for rock and punk with a high gain amp. If you have a more moderate amp a high output pickup like a Duncan Invader, Hot Rail, or Gibson Dirty Fingers will help you get a more aggressive tone. Of all these pickups the Invader is the best if you want to taper off the high end. It's the most monstrous of all these pickups. Some other good options are the DiMarzio X2N and the Bill Lawrence 500XL.

[@rezaanarda6823]

can i get similiar tone for playing blink 182 (toypaj album) with Sd HotRail? what your opinion likes it too .... and .... .etc if i play with hotrail than using invader.

[@anndynegative]

Absolutely! Tom only really used the Invader live, not for recording. I have a video where I try and recreate the tone on my channel that should put you in the right direction!

[@rezaanarda6823]

@@anndynegative so i guess, when i using 'hot rail' pickups on bridge & tube screamer 808 pedal. they will punky like's tom? maybe not exactly but closer yeah i hope.. because really hard to find original invader pickups on my country.. china mostly

[@anndynegative]

@@rezaanarda6823 yea, that's going to be a lot of signal going into your amp so you should be able to get a nice dirty punk guitar tone!

[@rockmandrums343]

The 3rd one I put in my telecaster fkn awesome 👌

[@anndynegative]

Absolutely changes what a telecaster can do, no doubt!

[@TheClawHc]

Hi everybody, recentely i bought a guitar with an Invader Sh8 on. It's really noise (white noise while no playing). Low gain on preamp, to test....am i the only having this problem?

[@scottdavidson6066]

13k is not a “standard output”pickup-that would be more like 8k.

[@jasujokelainen5073]

Was about To say this.

[@anndynegative]

Fair point. It's a stock les Paul pickup so I figured it would be a good balance test

[@juliocesarvalt]

Dirty fingers good sound

[@GC-ji3ye]

I got a green sonic mustang for a project and I'm totally going a hot rail type on it.

[@anndynegative]

I'm insanely jealous of that guitar

[@Popskull_666]

Why is he playing the neck pickup of the "dirty fingers" guitar?

[@anndynegative]

I flipped the direction of the switch

[@v1rusyoutube927]

they got like humbucker hotrails now btw

[@raygonzalez1281]

It depends of preferences but for me a humbucker is not the best pickup for punk ... A p90 is definitely the most appropriate one for that rocky sound of punk ... I know there are and were bands which used humbuckers for punk.... So, preferences...

[@infinidominion]

*Oversized, not oxidized

[@paj1015]

The Hot Rails is NOT a stacked humbucker. It's a single-coil sized humbucker, with side by side coils, like a regular humbucker.

[@michaelgrahamwongacutemadness]

I’m surprised it’s that hot maybe if it was both stacked and side by side it would be

[@erikferguson71]

The invader sounds the best, but I think a graphic eq can compensate for the minor differences.

[@jeremyabel1992]

Am i the only one noticing that on the second guitar he has the neck pickup selected instead of the bridge pickup?

[@anndynegative]

I turned the switch upside down

[@fongsungjaupseio5542]

Here's the thing about guitars, the more you pay for guitars and sound, the less value you get out of it. Great guitar players will make a 200 dollar guitar sound better than me playing a million dollar guitar. I know that might break some people's hearts but, it's pretty much facts

[@margaretburniston3075]

Very subtle differences. They second might be very so slightly dirty. I guess it’s a personal and maybe budgetary choice. 🎸 Malarkey - ha ha ha! 😁

[@anndynegative]

Good ear, yea the DF has a bit more of a lower mid sound and that's what you're hearing

[@emilholmgrenmusic]

Are you SURE we were hearing the Dirty Fingers? Your pickup selector was in the upward position, which is usually the neck pickup.

[@anndynegative]

Yes, I turned the switch upside down

[@timswanson9893]

DCR, Direct Current Resistance is measured in Ohms not Hertz. Hertz is a measurement of alternating current cycles. A higher DC resistance generally means the pickup has a very very long length of very very thin wire ( lots of turns which generally corrolates to high gain). Spec sheets for guitar pickups are pretty lame or non-existant. Your supposted to select a pickup on flowery renderings of english superlatives vs scientific data like Inductance, resonate frequecy, Q, capacitance, properties of the magnet, etc, etc. And of course whatever is in the guitar must be replaced because it does not good for it - LOL! Try DiMarzio Super Distortion at the bridge and DP-101 at the neck. They are loud and has a modern cruncy vintage... I said what...?

[@moegoggles]

Dirty fingers sounds the best. Thanks!

[@anndynegative]

It's a cool pickup

[@studioruangsvara]

Need to tune your guitar. And it’s called Pro Bucker pickup as it says on the sticker

[@maddisonjunctionband8080]

Dirty fingers are definitely my favorite

[@anndynegative]

Nice! It's got a good lower midrange thing that makes it nice and beefy

[@MarkSmith-vy3tq]

And there was a difference because...???

[@grapefruitsimmons]

Filtertrons for punk is fun

[@anndynegative]

I'll have to try them out

[@grapefruitsimmons]

@@anndynegative the psyclone by seymour duncan is good one, can get some spicy sounds outta that

[@justjoe5373]

To me the difference is so minuscule that ultimately it doesn't matter as long as you're good at playing the guitar. Like in the first 2 parts of your test I didn't hear any difference and in the other 2 parts the difference was barely there

[@anndynegative]

Totally agree with you, even after listening to the samples a bunch of times the differences are super subtle

[@BattleRiverBlues]

has 5 alnico magnets hahahaa a whole whack of magnets hahaha

[@anndynegative]

Many magnets for magnety things

[@LukeCannotSkate]

It's got one Alnico 5 magnet....

[@Rowanatzenson]

Resistance is measured in ohms. Hot Rails pickups aren't stacked. Epi pickup has an Alnico 5 magnet, not 5 magnets. powerbuckers?

[@karenc84121]

I like my SD JBs in bridge

[@herrcobra4144]

Ride The Lightning & Master Of Puppets. Dirty Fingers FTW.

[@MrArtist1971]

Invader 1000%

[@loftygingersnap1603]

tbh they all sound the same

[@anndynegative]

The differences are very subtle, yea

[@aikisato7852]

u forgot the X2N xD

[@yeyonge]

Who tf is david Kennedy???

[@Fio042]

Where JB? Bille Joe Armstrong use JB in blue strat and Kurt in skytang

[@anndynegative]

I just didn't have one, but they're great pick-ups

[@michaelwillis2198]

The dirty fingers are the winner to me.

[@dominikpohli2381]

i think the invader is clearer on the top end and in the midrnge the dirty finger has more muddy bluesi tone

[@anndynegative]

I would agree with this

[@michaelgrahamwongacutemadness]

@@anndynegativeI’ve heard people talk about how muddy it is though I’ve heard that about the invader too which I think is a little muddy but the graph shows mostly mids more bass than treble though

[@michaelgrahamwongacutemadness]

unlike what I’ve heard the invader is muddier than the dirty fingers in your video I wonder if I should get one seems like a cool pickup I already have an invader

[@anndynegative]

@@michaelgrahamwongacutemadness interesting, to my ears the invader is a lot clearer in the top end. To be fair I'm listening through mixing monitors and guitar cab speakers, it probably sounds different through headphones and phone speakers

[@chapichale1074]

Hot rails.. 🔥

[@anndynegative]

So good!

[@scotteepunk]

The answer for me is no high gain pickups because I can always add gain, but if it's built in I can't take it away and I don't want to roll the volume down to clean it up

[@anndynegative]

Yea, they're def not for everyone. I have no clue why I have three of them 🤣

[@justinTime077]

Eh. I don't find that all too accurate.

[@aybaws]

0:30 who the fuck measures resistance in hertz???

[@derusmares9508]

What aboooot the utoPIA humbuckersM

[@anndynegative]

Haven't had the opportunity to try them out

[@sigma6638]

DCR is kOhm not kHz.

[@stevevecc3835]

Invader 🤘🏻

[@anndynegative]

Agreed 🤙

[@flashy5150]

You forgot to mention that “Dirty Fingers” was used by the better guitar player of all three you mentioned “John Sykes” of Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake . That guy can kill all those poets you mentioned. 😂😂😂

[@nicolelesbirel942]

i think this is the most offensive editing i didn't know i could imagine

[@anndynegative]

What's wrong with the editing?

[@nicolelesbirel942]

@@anndynegative very intense, the subtitles are exploding, your face is very close to the screen, the zoom in for transition. these are just the first few seconds and i didn't watch past that but it is very intense and distracting from the content and like just too high energy for some people, especially people just looking for sound samples

[@obsg2650]

i'm not a fan of that epiphone pickup. it sounds dull as hell to me, my epi sg had one & i instantly put a JB in it & it sounded alot better, but right now, the guitar is torn apart

[@anndynegative]

The Hot CH is definitely a softer pickup, I like how it sounds on palm mutes tho, a bit more defined. I haven't gotten to try a JB, but they sound awesome

[@mrNobody100]

invader and hot rails sound best here. dirty fingers kinda sounds weakest.... also, the way your amp or fake amp is dialed in sounds kinda dull... but whatever, i like bright annoying shit.

[@helio1055]

Pro played them with the least amount of distortion ever... what a waste of time. L channel

[@anndynegative]

This is what a cranked JCM 800 sounds like 🤷‍♂️

[@dcharlies]

Omg you really played punk....NOT LoL