Warpig vs SD Invader vs Aftermath vs SD Distortion *VIDEO*

[MistaSnowman]

For pure heavy tones...

1. Invader (just sick)
1a. Warpig
3. Distortion
4. Aftermath (even though it has the most note clarity to my ears)

 

[Ryan Duke]

Thanks for posting this. I usually see his videos when posted on Facebook, but somehow I missed this. My next purchase will be pick-ups, so this gives me more to think about.

 

[7 Strings of Hate]

I don't know dude. Sorry you got your feelings hurt about your favorite pickups. I wasn't meaning they weren't good pickups. Only thing I was saying that Bareknuckles aren'† worth the extra cost for me and Seymour Duncan have pickups that compete on the same level imo. I could care less what they charge, or if it's to do with exchange rates or importation. It still works out being more expensive.

I replaced a JB on one of my guitars with a Holy Diver. It's a nice pickup but I wouldn't say necessarily any better than the JB, just.a little different.

My feelings arnt hurt at all. I have a duncan loaded guitar too. I just wanted to point out that they arnt more expensive. The are more expensive for YOU, and americans, but to a brit, bkps are just as cheap. If it doesnt make sense to you, thats cool, but its not some conspericy to overcharge you as you sort of acted like. Theres a completely logical reason as to why they are more expensive to americans.

 

[Pikka Bird]

^Really? Does that mean that in the UK you get a massive markup on SDs and DiMarzios for some reason? Because I'm in Denmark, and BKPs are two or three times as expensive as other well-known brands, and we're just across a small body of water, so shipping is low to here and there's no tax rape so I can't figure out why you're paying the same for Duncans as you do for Bare Knuckles.

 

[chopeth85]

I have a dean razorback explosion and in the first place, i have stock pickup neck plus sd dimuckler...i love the dimebucker but i wanted to taste the blackouts...It was a wrong decision; I prefer the sharp feeling of the sd. I installed a sh 2 in the neck to change a dimarzio evolution neck ( it was excesively nasal ) and the sh 2 was fine but i missed something... I discovered bk and put in the dean a miracle man bridge and a holy diver neck and it was the best purchase i've ever made for my guitar!

I have a 7 string that it had emg 707 and i changed them for a warpig bridge and cold sweat neck and the warpig is the best pickup I've ever played...It aggressive, precise, with the best tone that you can find in a ceramic humbucker , and the clean sound is amazing ! in fact i just ordered a mayones regius 7 custom and i've choose a calibrated bk warpig set. In the video i don¡t like at all invader, extremely muddy. My favourite in the video is the warpig and in the second place i think the distortion . I have aftermath in a maoghany body and it sounds better that the video shows.

 

[sevenstringj]

Yeah I saw this yesterday. Pretty much convinced me Bareknuckle pickups are not worth the extreme markup and hype they get. They sound good but I don't know if they sound 3 or 4 times more good.

And the Kemper sounds awesome!

seriously???

For me, Duncans have a certain smoothness to them that BKPs don't, while BKPs have a certain punch/bite to them that Duncans don't. And that's based on my own experience, nut just this vid. I took the BKP plunge based on the hype, and went back to Duncan. (I had 1 BKP rewound by Wolfetone.)

They're different. Not better.

 

[velvetkevorkian]

^Really? Does that mean that in the UK you get a massive markup on SDs and DiMarzios for some reason? Because I'm in Denmark, and BKPs are two or three times as expensive as other well-known brands, and we're just across a small body of water, so shipping is low to here and there's no tax rape so I can't figure out why you're paying the same for Duncans as you do for Bare Knuckles.

A 7 string Aftermath open bridge direct from BKP: £114 + £5.95 postage
A 7 string Invader from Thomann: £71.76 +£10 postage

That's a ~£40 price difference in the UK, depending on how the €/£ conversion at Thomann does. The BKPs are certainly premium priced here- round about 50% more expensive.

 

[Forbidden Engravings]

I vote for the Aftermath's but that's do to my playing style.

 

[kostein]

This is a very cool video. I liked the Distortion the best. Thinking of picking up one of these in the near future

 

[xeonblade]

Can you please STFU about prices? It's about tone so comment about that.
It's like comparing rosewood against ebony for fingerboard. Ebony is double the price of rosewood but people still use ebony because they like it better.

 

[TRENCHLORD]

To my ears the Warpig and Distortion were close enough in character and frequency to be tweaked into relative equals during boosting and amping.

I just didn't dig the others as much on vid, but with higher amp or boost gain the aftermath would shine. Seemed to have the strongest fundamental tone of all, maybe because less gain, maybe not.

 

[xeonblade]

To my ears the Warpig and Distortion were close enough in character and frequency to be tweaked into relative equals during boosting and amping.

I just didn't dig the others as much on vid, but with higher amp or boost gain the aftermath would shine. Seemed to have the strongest fundamental tone of all, maybe because less gain, maybe not.

I agreee. Keith should really boost (or pull the pickup a bit closer to the strings) that aftermath a bit because it sounded weak compared to others. Yeah I know, it's all same settings to make it as objective as possible, but different pickups require different settings anyways...

 

[TRENCHLORD]

I agreee. Keith should really boost (or pull the pickup a bit closer to the strings) that aftermath a bit because it sounded weak compared to others. Yeah I know, it's all same settings to make it as objective as possible, but different pickups require different settings anyways...

Yeah there's a big difference between doing comparisons with identical settings, and comparisons with optimized settings.

edit; definetly appreciate the video though, it gives much needed point of reference for buyers.

 

[teamSKDM]

The invaders chords made me want to vomit..

 

[asilayamazing]

Can you please STFU about prices? It's about tone so comment about that.

the tone isnt worth the price(per vid setup). id go for SD's in the guitar in the vid all day. if i got a SCREAMING(unlikely from hype) deal on a warpig id throw it in, but go distortion then invader.(if that was my setup in the vid)


EDIT: found this on the comments FWIW

"If anyone is interested in the different Eq's from the humbuckers (just rough analyzed):
Invader +1,7db ;160hz, less attention in general for lower frequencies (like you have a guitar for normal and down tunings), -1,8db up to 0db ;660hz - 850hz, then 1 up to 0,4db ;850hz - 1450hz in comparison to the warpig.
XxXxpaulxXxX91 2 months ago
Sh6 has less bass then the aftermath, especially by 260hz (-2,6db), something like +1,5db from 550hz - 900hz, more articulation at 1600hz, +2,5db and in general more treble than the aftermath beginning at 2300hz. This values/data are exemplary."

 

[Mega-Mads]

My opinion:
Duncan Distortion
Warpig
Invader
Aftermath

 

[Carl Kolchak]

Thought all four sounded sub par on the "chugs and chord" section. Otherwise thought the Invader sounded better for everything else.

 

[grunge782]

I really think the Aftermath is an overrated pickup...

Warpig still wins. Can't beat that kind of fullness.

 

[Jason_Clement]

Warpig and Distortion wrecked imo. Distortion might be my next 7 string pick up...

 

[travis bickle]

great video!! this thread proves that tone is subjective. here are my choices based on this clip

1. bk warpig - perfect balance of high end bite, low end bloom, and punch. super clear and articulate as well. my favorite metal pickup, in the right guitar or course.
2. sd distortion - been really curious about this pickup and was really pleasantly surprised by how well it held against the warpig.
3. bk aftermath - felt that this tone was a bit on the thin side.
4. sd invader - what a muddy mess. didnt like the tone whatsoever.