Ceramic Vs Alnico Pickups Tone

A lot of people automatically say that alnico is superior to ceramic in pickups.

Ceramic vs alnico pickups tone.

These magnet types differ and this difference affects a speaker s overall tone. Magnetically speaking ceramic magnets produce a stronger field than alnico. 4 is a little weaker and has a little less gain and more of an old school tone and overdrive. You will note the significant differences in the tone that is related to the different pickup ceramic vs.

Alnico vs ceramic magnets how do they affect guitar pickup tone. Whereas ceramic is used in metal as it sounds tight loud and cool. Ceramic is quite strong and gives a very bright tone. If you forced me to really break it down for you.

A brief history of stingray 5. You will find many extreme metal players using low output alnico pickups as well as blues guys using ceramic. So we often hear. Alnico 5 gives that open airy top end sparkle that we re so used to.

The size and type of magnet also affects a speaker s sound. There are two major types of magnets used in loudspeakers. 5 is fairly similar to ceramic. Alnico and pre amp types 3 band vs.

It retains articulation and clarity even with heavy distortion which makes it suited for heavy distorted styles. Alnico is nice and warm and great for blues. With the proper match of components you can get more sensitivity wider frequency response and more power handling ability. Are alnico speakers really worth the extra cost.

If you enjoyed this video be sure to like and subscribe https nextgeng. You often hear that the sound of a pickup is dominated by the choice of magnet used in its construction. Alnico 3 is weaker than alnico 4 which is weaker than 5. When choosing a new pickup for your guitar consider the magnet one of the essential yet complicating elements involved in the sound creation process.

Alnico viii is generally between ceramic and alnico v with quite a bit of magnetic pull punchy with upper mids but a little more warmth than ceramic. Look at alnico pickups if you want the most organic tone possible and consider ceramic pickups if you want a very straight laced and precise tone. Now alnico 3 will give you a lot less gain and you will get a very vintage eric johnson style tone on clean and kind of a zz top or acdc overdrive. We use alnico 5 in all of our strat tele and bass pickups.

This is by far our most widely used guitar pickup magnet. In fender style pickups it has the best balance of extended lows mids and highs. In it s rod form alnico 5 gives the traditional fender tone. The result is a slightly hotter sounding pickup with more treble response.

Ceramic magnets are made from ferrites often iron oxides.