Difference Between Alnico And Ceramic Pickups

So we often hear.

Difference between alnico and ceramic pickups.

There are a lot of different components and modifications that go into shaping the sound of a pickup. Sure enough fender started making pickups with alnico magnets as early as the late 1940s. 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. You often hear that the sound of a pickup is dominated by the choice of magnet used in its construction.

Whereas ceramic is used in metal as it sounds tight loud and cool. We use alnico 5 in all of our strat tele and bass pickups. It retains articulation and clarity even with. In this week s video we compare a set of 15 pickups vs a set of 150 pickups.

Alnico magnets are made of an alloy of aluminum nickel and cobalt. This is by far our most widely used guitar pickup magnet. In it s rod form alnico 5 gives the traditional fender tone. Ceramic pickup magnets for you.

To crown a winner in our alnico vs ceramic magnets shootout we would need a way to accurately compare the two which is not an easy task. This is a tutorial video to demonstrate the difference in sound and performance between a ceramic and alnico v magnet in a bridge humbucker looking specific. These include the type and gauge of wiring how many times it s turned the material the magnet is made of and its size. Alnico 5 gives that open airy top end sparkle that we re so used to.

The result is a slightly hotter sounding pickup with more treble response. Ceramic magnets are made from ferrites often iron oxides. Alnico vii is in some pickups but this is rare. Back then alnico was the high tech material of the age and fender continued to use it through the 1950s and 1960s.

In fender style pickups it has the best balance of extended lows mids and highs. What is the difference between alnico and ceramic magnets. Alnico seems to be the popular favorite but on the other hand there is no shortage of popular recordings that feature ceramic. And that they did alnico magnet pickups were found to produce a smooth warm and highly musical tone.

Magnetically speaking ceramic magnets produce a stronger field than alnico. Ceramic is quite strong and gives a very bright tone. Alnico v has more scooped mids and tighter in the low end. Provides some bite and sparkle.

Alnico vs ceramic magnets.