Members GrantsV5 Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 Alnico or Ceramic pickups? Which is best and why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tele The Truth Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 It depends on a lot of different factors. More info would be needed to make a better decision of what would be best for you. But, there are a couple basic observations I have made between the two: #1) Alnico's usually clean up better than ceramics.#2) Ceramice usually have more bite than alnicos. These are just generalizations, and not the rule in every single case. Hope that helps somewhat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members walfordr Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 They're both fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burn Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 In addition to Tele The Truth's post, I also find that the Ceramics have better note-for-note articulation while Alnicos are chunkier/chuggier At least that was the case with Seymour Duncan JB vs. SH-5 and EMG 85 vs. 81 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FlyingBloodyFrogBiscuit Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 Of course it varies from magnet to magnet, but as a general rule, Alnico magnets are more expensive and have potentially higher energy (up to 5.5 MGOe) than a ceramic magnet (up to 3.5 MGOe). That doesn't mean that a cheap Alnico is hotter than a cheap ceramic, it just means that an Alnico can be made hotter than a ceramic. There is also the factor that an Alnico can be more easily demagnetized. Pickups aren't all magnets either, the number of windings and overall impedence have a lot to do with it.I do know that Gibson stopped putting ceramics in their P90's somewhere around 1954. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brunog Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 Think ceramics as being brighter and more articulate. Alnicos are warmer and less spikey I think that Alnicos sound better for modern metal where there's a lot of deep sounding guitar. Ceramics sound good for classic rock and 80s metal. Personally I perfer the Alnico sound but the type of guitar matters too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FlyingBloodyFrogBiscuit Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 Originally posted by brunog Personally I perfer the Alnico sound but the type of guitar matters too. +1 There's so much that goes into the sound of a guitar that asking which type of magnet in a pickup is best is kind of silly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darkburst Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 There's no best. It's whatever sounds good to you or fits your style of music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GrantsV5 Posted February 8, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 Hi, Thanks for your replies. Just curious how much of an impact the material of magnet itself has on the sound and sustain? Any more information? Thanks,GrantsV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Trader Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 I get a lot more grawl from my ceramics (they are in a LP Black Beauty) and the Alnico's are in a Strat -- no surprises there. Most Alnico's are better at that high end sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DonP Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 Originally posted by walfordr They're both fine. Correct answer. The question is, what type of tone are you after? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Glyder Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 Ceramics are usualy in a higher output pickup also such as Gibsons 500T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flyguitar Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 Originally posted by brunog Think ceramics as being brighter and more articulate. Alnicos are warmer and less spikey I have a tottaly different experience with Kent Armstongs:freak: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dinrodef Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 ceramic = coldalnico = warm ceramic = crunchyalnico = chunky ceramic = thin alnico = round When I think of ceramic I think of Dimebag... that bacon frying in a frying pan type of sizzle...Personally, I've grown to not like ceramic and prefer alnico 5... I can never get rid of that harsh treble spike in any ceramic magnet pickup I've ever tried....but sometimes that treble spike can be good... if it's used with a really dark sounding amp...like a 6l6 powered high gainer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members walfordr Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 I would not say that one or another type of magnet has a particular sound. The sound of the pickup is determined by the strength, shape and positioning of the magnets; the thickness, number and shape of the windings; the positioning of the pickup wrt the strings, bridge etc ..... The choice of magnet material was originally simply a matter of cost and availability. It is now a matter of pseudo scientific bull{censored} marketing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sixthscale Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 Check out what this guy sez about Alnico Do magnets shape the tone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members walfordr Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 Originally posted by sixthscale Check out what this guy sez about AlnicoDo magnets shape the tone? Mmm. He has a point, but Most pickups do not use magnetic material in the core of the coil at all. The magnet is on the base plate and the pole pieces "conduct" the magnetic field through the coil. Those with magnetic polepieces are indeed almost always Alnico. The inductance of the pickup is also very much determined by the windings. You can make a good sounding pickup with any magnet, you can also make crap pickups with any magnet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sixthscale Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 walfordr: I was pointing out the inherent properties of the two materials, here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jerry_picker Posted February 8, 2006 Members Share Posted February 8, 2006 Originally posted by walfordr They're both fine. There are examples of each that are spectacular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members walfordr Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Originally posted by sixthscale walfordr: I was pointing out the inherent properties of the two materials, here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zen Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Originally posted by jerry_picker There are examples of each that are spectacular. There are examples of each that are crap as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sixthscale Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Good point, couldn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jerry_picker Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Originally posted by Zen There are examples of each that are crap as well. The Zen master spoke to his pupils: "There are bee people and fly people. Bee people find flowers and make honey. Fly people find garbage and make {censored}." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members walfordr Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Originally posted by jerry_picker The Zen master spoke to his pupils: "There are bee people and fly people. Bee people find flowers and make honey. Fly people find garbage and make {censored}." Don't bees {censored}? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tele The Truth Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Originally posted by walfordr Don't bees {censored}? They {censored} honey.......... have you eatten bee {censored}? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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