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March 1st, 2009, 03:40 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Strat-O-Master
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: England
Age: 40
Posts: 747
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Alnico vs Ceramic
What's the real difference? everyone seems to prefer alnico pickups, i have alnicos in all my guitars, but i do own a nice sounding set of 3.5k ceramics.
What makes the alnicos the prefered choice?
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March 1st, 2009, 04:35 PM
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#2 (permalink)
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Strat-Talker
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Calgary, Canada
Posts: 120
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My personal opinion is that it would be hard to pick in a blind test, assuming the same model guitar, and the same output.
Alnicos are the preferred choice for those who like vintage guitars.
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March 1st, 2009, 04:45 PM
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#3 (permalink)
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Strat-O-Master
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Scottish Borders, UK
Age: 51
Posts: 531
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Some interesting opinions from someone who should know here ...
Bill Lawrence Website |
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March 1st, 2009, 05:06 PM
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#4 (permalink)
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Strat-Talker
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Oregon
Age: 35
Posts: 344
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Like Alnico pickups over ceramic pickups because Alnico is more warmer sound the ceramic.
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March 1st, 2009, 06:17 PM
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#5 (permalink)
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Strat-O-Master
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Kitchener, Ont - Canada.
Posts: 942
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BOD2
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Interesting read but insistently noticed this...
"Though ceramic magnets cost less than alnico magnets of equal size, a well-designed magnetic circuit using ceramic magnets costs much more than the six Alnico 5 magnets of a traditional single coil pickup!"
And that is the very reason why people think ceramic magnet pickups sound harsh and suck! Most are made on the cheap vs good ones costing so much more money to make. |
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March 1st, 2009, 07:50 PM
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#6 (permalink)
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Strat-O-Master
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Canada
Age: 27
Posts: 778
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I've only ever played the MIM Standard ceramics, and FAR prefer the alnico's in my strat... But then again, they could be a "cheap" ceramic.
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March 1st, 2009, 08:36 PM
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#7 (permalink)
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Newark, DE
Posts: 5,807
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BOD2
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I like Bill Lawrence's thinking. Thanks for the link... |
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March 1st, 2009, 08:41 PM
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#8 (permalink)
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Senior Stratmaster
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: South Carolina
Age: 26
Posts: 4,052
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It just depends on your preference. I have found that alnico V magnets have more bite and harmonic properties than do ceramics, but ceramics are MUCH more warm and smooth. I have compared the MIM and USA strats and I think that while the USA does sound better, it cannot compare to the smoothness of the MIM.
Ceramic pickups also take better to high gain situations than some alnico magnets IMHO
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March 1st, 2009, 08:44 PM
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#9 (permalink)
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Senior Stratmaster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Central Ohio
Age: 19
Posts: 1,275
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ceramic magnet pups that actually sound decent cost ALOT more than alnico magnet pups. If you can get a quality ceramic, them you have an amazing pickup
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