Author Topic: Ceramic and Alnico magnets... (Read 3799 times)

mia · « **on:** April 23, 2006, 03:50:05 PM »

What are the differences?

Jonesy · « **Reply #1 on:** April 24, 2006, 09:49:22 PM »

Notice youc ebeen waiting here for a while wthout a reply, so i thought id chip in. Unfortunately, I havent a clue about the differences though...sum1 should be along soon 4 u...

indysmith · « **Reply #2 on:** April 24, 2006, 09:55:31 PM »

well ceramic magnets seem to be better for modern styles, with a good crunch to them, and high output. Alnico is more classic organic, with better clean, but perhaps not the power.
Thats all i know, sorry

dave_mc · « **Reply #3 on:** April 24, 2006, 11:20:31 PM »

^yep, and alnico II is smoother/more vintage sounding (think slash) but can "mush" up a little with too much gain, alnico V has more bite (think hard rock) and doesn't mush up. And from what i hear, alnico IV is in between the two.

Ceramics cleans tend to be a bit more sterile too, but the distortion is more powerful.

fps_dean · « **Reply #4 on:** May 18, 2006, 02:21:05 AM »

Ceramic is a stronger magnet simply speaking. Stronger magnets will be louder and tend to have more lows but at the same time can get muddy very easily making them only good for high gain applications.

Alnico V i find very versitile. Some Alnico V pickup can sound very clean and warm just like Alnico II magnet pickups like a PAF (original Les Paul humbucker), and some can sound mean (and muddy) like a Ceramic. Then there are some that give you a great balance of both worlds too ;)

One of my favorite pickups is the Dimarzio Evolutions. They are much more dynamic and smoother than most ceramic magnet pickups. Other than that I'm not much of a ceramic magnet fan at all - I find them to only good for one thing - screaming pinch harmonics.

Hope that helps ;)