Some of you may have seen my recent post in the pickups thread.
I was leaning towards a Juggernaut, but decided to try swapping the magnet in my Warpig myself to a ceramic. I realise that BKP wind the ceramic Warpig a bit less, but I decided it was free to try.
The ceramic magnet came from a Duncan SH5 which was originally in my Michael Schenker ESP Edwards Flying V. It was fairly easy to remove, making a note of the orientation with a little sticker. First you loosen slightly the base screws, then lift up the coils a bit, and push the magnet out - *away* from the soldered wires joining the two coils.
When it came to remove the magnet from the Warpig, the difference in quality versus the Duncan was quite apparent. I had no reason to believe the Duncan was badly made - far from it, it was pretty good compared to a few cheaper pickups I've seen. However, the tolerances and materials were a step up with the BKP - proper wooden spacers, nicer quality plastics, tighter tolerances, proper paper tape.
So - what about the tone? Well in fact, I believe Tim was correct and the Juggernaut might be more what I'm looking for ;) But anyway, the ceramic magnet is an improvement for me.
The cleans sound pretty bad with the ceramic magnet, the A5 version is much more versatile. I must tap my cap to Tim, the original A5 Warpig is a really genius design.
When driven, the output with the ceramic is a little higher, and the bass remains full but is tighter. The mids with the ceramic version are a fraction less, however they sound more aggressive - still a very middy pickup. The main difference is that the pick attack comes through much more with the ceramic magnet, giving a bit more definition under drive, the treble is also more aggressive.
To be honest, except for the above differences, the two versions of the Warpig don't sound that far apart under overdrive, and I would also say the online clips of the two versions sound very close to what I found.
I like the ceramic Warpig, maybe it is a little more sterile, but it remains warm still in my view. With the ceramic magnet you sacrifice alot of versatility (good cleans) for a little extra tightness and top end aggression.
So overall, the alnico version is without doubt the better pickup. Having said that, the ceramic model has its place. I think I will rock with the ceramic for a while. I may eventually change to the Juggernaut following Tim's advice though.
