Alnico V vs Ceramic Guitar Pickup Magnets

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Alnico V vs Ceramic Guitar Pickup Magnets

Рет қаралды 43,814

Metalhead Productions

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 126

@eellox 3 жыл бұрын

There is just something about the ceramic that makes me prefer it when distorted, but I like the alnico clean.

@josephhutchins8 3 жыл бұрын

Same the ceramics sound a bit more out of control (in a good way) while the alnicos sounds a lot tamer.

@Arkoudeides. 3 жыл бұрын

Ceramic are much better.

@rodolforibas 2 жыл бұрын

Same here

@firebald2915 Жыл бұрын

Yet the tone control on every guitar plus the ones on the amp can change them to sound the same. That's what they are for.

@keithclark486 Жыл бұрын

@@firebald2915 Most people over look the tone control and pickup height.

@brian1749 3 жыл бұрын

Those Alnico V had more of the thump that I love! Great video!

@jmcsquared18 2 жыл бұрын

I tend to hear the mid range bark more with Alnico V. Whereas, the Ceramics I've played have had unpleasant highs. Even though there are good ceramics out there, I prefer Alnico V purely on tone. They are also more versatile, but that mid bark and the smoothness of highs is just so pleasant.

@jonashjalmen5232 3 жыл бұрын

This is a very good service to all of us nerds looking for the perfect gear and tone. Very helpful man, thanks. I have the Ceramic Black Heaven but now Im thinking of swapping magnets!! hahaha .. :(

@snflip Жыл бұрын

I could hear more articulation with the ceramic at 2:48 (distortion), a bit more mush in the alnico. Thanks for putting this up.

@RetroPlus 2 жыл бұрын

The biggest difference i can perceive is that the Alnico V has a little more bottom end clarity, sounds nice when chugging

@cleangoblin2021 Жыл бұрын

The ceramic is sludgy as heck. But i chose the alnico for "now" so i wont miss the brightness of single coils.

@crashbangpow1649 3 жыл бұрын

Looking at getting some 7 string pickups made, and this has really helped me decide on the specifications I’ll be asking for! Thank you.

@newamerikangospel 3 жыл бұрын

Ceramic just has a slicing upper mid/treble response I don’t like. I prefer alnico since they seem more controlled and rounded. Alnico 8s were the common swap because they bridge the gap in overall output while still having that rounded texture.

@Poly6Groove Ай бұрын

It’s interesting because I didn’t really hear much of a difference in the tone between the two, but I noticed the ceramic has some fizz behind the notes, while the Alnico produces the same heavy tone “cleaner” if that makes sense. Because of that, the Alnico sounded tighter to me.

@MetalHeadProductions Ай бұрын

Yeah not going to be a world of difference, especially with the same pickup just different magnets, but there are some differences between the two for sure.

@ahaua1 6 ай бұрын

Great information and demo!! Overall, I prefer the tone of the Alnico V pickup.....even for metal....sounds chunkier and not as "harsh" as the ceramic pickup. Thanks again!!

@zaprodaju1661 8 сағат бұрын

Ceramic pickup posseses more roundness, but alnico has better clarity of strings, more punch, more life overall.

@immanuel_cunt7688 3 жыл бұрын

Ceramic for bridge, Alnico for neck!

@angteakhiangte7336 3 жыл бұрын

Thats my set up,really nice...

@chandraaldika Жыл бұрын

Info yang bagus bruhhh, dan saya mau mencoba itu

@aapantruderaisss Жыл бұрын

Es el video que necesitaba !! Excelente comparacion no hay nada mejor para los que tocamos metal !

@jaredt3985 3 жыл бұрын

I’ve had many Alnico and ceramic pickups over the years, and I have to say I prefer Alnico overall. They are just simply more versatile, at least for my style of playing, which borders the hard rock/metal line. Better cleans, and a smoother top end. If you’re purely focused on hella tight high gain, ceramics are great, but they don’t clean up very well, not as much dynamic range. They do have that razor like cut though, which is perfect for more extreme styles of metal.

@Duskydog419 3 жыл бұрын

Thx ima go alnico as well i was looking for a thumpy hardrock jazz pickup to replace this single coil 👍🏾

@graygunter698 2 жыл бұрын

Ive had my Duncan trembucker wich they re labeled the patb1 parallel axis since 1989 its had a A5 magnet in it just swapped a ceramic into it and the output with distortion is insane . btw its installed in my 1988 peavey vandenburg

@yo.burgos Жыл бұрын

Im a ceramic Fan, specially the low gauze hotrail versions. They are ballsy on the bass and chimey on the mid n high - very bubbly on the neck, thick on the bridge you dont have to put the bass dial on max. Alnico sounds like youre using brand new strings all the time - jagged and square sounding you have to max the bass knob just to get the same low end..

@justgowtheflow101 11 ай бұрын

you already said what I wanted to say 🤣

@Astaroth_Belial 7 ай бұрын

I’ve got a ceramic black heaven bridge/alnico neck in my Gibson LP and it gets tight, responsive distortion and chimey clean sounds. These are currently my favorite passive pickups.

@s.e.n3264 3 жыл бұрын

Actually the ceramic is warmer. The Ceramic is so much hotter that it pushes harder, and compresses more. Resulting in more distortion which gives the illusion of it being harsher. A quick easy way to a warmer and tighter tone is to simply roll off a little distortion on your amp. Not alot though, like say if your distortion is at 4 o'clock, roll it back to 3 o'clock.

@nihiabstracto 3 жыл бұрын

You deserve more subscribers !

@marvinnerio5894 2 жыл бұрын

It will help me alote ...I am just about to get a new guitar with ceramic pickups...tahnk you.

@BenjAmin-vy8oi 3 жыл бұрын

Exactly the video I needed! I'm so hyped for my ceramic Black Heavens in my Aristides H/07r

@rickardmoller7824 Жыл бұрын

Hmm. I usually prefer ceramics but in this test I think the note definition is better on the alnico. A little less fizzy and more clear.

@bearwhocares9539 2 жыл бұрын

Alnico sounded a bit tighter when distorted in my opinion. A bit thinner on the acoustic stuff but nothing an eq couldn't fix. Ceramic sounded louder and more vibrant overall in a way. In all the alnico sounded more organic. Just depends on what sound you're looking for.

@tabodee 9 ай бұрын

I like the ceramics on my Tele, going into a Marshall. I like Burstbuckers (with alnico 5 magnets) on my Les Paul, and 57 Humbuckers (alnico 2 magnets) on my SG. I don’t know why but it just seems to work 🤷🏻‍♂️

@jonw3462 Жыл бұрын

Intresting. I don't like warm and fuzzy tones and would defo like to try an alnico 5. My schecter coming tomorrow has a apocalypse 6, pickup that's alnico 5, I think it's blended with ceramic too though. The unique tri-field design of our Apocalypse pickups merge Alnico-V magnets with dual flanking Ceramic-8s, producing a balanced yet aggressive and combative tone.

@jasoncurry207 7 ай бұрын

The apocalypse series pickups are great imo. Been a schecter fan for a long time

@viberge 2 жыл бұрын

I hear ceramic more soft sound gives reach harmony, alnico 5 is more hard because of more separated clean frequencies.

@charlesray2331 Жыл бұрын

Came across this video while researching about the SD Nazgul pickup. Just picked up a Sterling JP sig 7 string from a local shop used and it's definitely been modded. I noticed the pickup covers said "Seymour Duncan" so I pulled them and turns out, it's the Sentient/Nazgul set (I've used the Sentient/Pegasus combo before and absolutely love them) with covers. But there's a push/push pot in the volume position (I assumed for coil splitting). Also a battery box on the rear, which I was just like ugh. So after having plugged it in, I pulled the battery and the signal went out. But the S/N set are passive... So evidently the former owner wired some kind of active/passive switch into this thing? I'm not sure what's going on here. So I'm gonna rip all that out and replace with a plain old 500k push/pull for splitting, 500k tone and wire it 50s Gibson style and call it a day. I'll leave the pickups in there because they seem to sound great!

@MetalHeadProductions Жыл бұрын

That's super weird, idk what that dude did to that guitar. Those pickups are solid so yeah, a good rewire should do the trick. Although, now that I think of it, since it's a JP, that could be a boost that was wired in.

@rockereivanivan Жыл бұрын

In my band we decided to put alnico on guitars and ceramic on bass to balance the mix lml

@richardschumacher6014 Жыл бұрын

In the clean section you can clearly hear the ceramic having less highs and kids and more bass than the alnico v. The added highs in the distortion section might be because of the higher output (= more distortion = more high frequencies)

@thomasll840 6 ай бұрын

Totally agree, which is exactly the opposite of what he said right? And in metal we tend to filter the treble to get rid of string noise and mess (ie overdrive or EQ) before attacking a gain stage which is counterintuitive with what he said... That's stupid to compare pickups sounds after a gain stage instead of DI with normalized volume, but that's what everybody does... (even manufacturer) this is way too sensitive to the output level which can be completley modified by the first volume/boost knob in the chain anyway, even for pickups having the exact same frequency response but different level... (though not the case here alnico clearly has more treble in clean)

@richardschumacher6014 6 ай бұрын

@@thomasll840 can't trust no one with guitar stuff lol. Also I found out that ceramics compress the most.

@thomasll840 6 ай бұрын

@@richardschumacher6014 same here: no reason for a passive pickup to compress at all, but with higher output level it reduces the headroom on the next active device... I often had with high output pickups the problem of clipping some non "saturating" devices like multi-effect input or buffers but people tend not to check all that properly...sometimes too high output is not so great when pedals are only supplied by 9V or batteries...

@5150forevermore 3 жыл бұрын

One of the top gear review channels on KZfaq.

@Dokustrat 3 жыл бұрын

Ceramic for distortion, alnico v for clean and crunch

@blittlej Жыл бұрын

Ceramic all day long for me, just sounds more alive to my ears.

@MrNadav1995 2 жыл бұрын

Ceramic sustains a bit better and has a more defined sound on the lower notes. Alinco sounds better on higher notes and for everything non metal... pretty much use ceramic for heavy metal riffs and alinco for everything else

@daveleblanc3558 Жыл бұрын

The palm muted parts definitely sound heavier with ceramic.

@gorgon352 3 жыл бұрын

Alnico is better for cleans but honestly with distortion cranked up there’s probably not gonna be a huge difference, al 5s are almost made for nice crispy clean tones ceramic just doesn’t pull those off as well

@brCharlieNagy 10 ай бұрын

thank you sir. Yeah, u r right, I have Invaders (copy , ceramic) and sound too hars for me.

@xttocx 2 жыл бұрын

If absolutely nothing else, you can definitely hear that gain step down from ceramic to alnico.

@martinsantalopez3363 2 жыл бұрын

This is seriously great , could you please do a comparative video of the Black heaven against the M6 , I'm really in the doubt between those two

@MetalHeadProductions 2 жыл бұрын

I don't have either atm unfortunately, but I can tell you the black heaven is extremely aggressive and cutting, whereas the m6 is very smooth, lot of overall midrange.

@joschelei262 3 жыл бұрын

The ceramic are tight and more detailed when distorted.

@junito1957 6 ай бұрын

MOST OF THE TIME NOT ALL THE TIME CERAMIC ARE CRAP BUT THE ONE LIKE DIMARZIO EVO IS A CERAMIC AND ONE OF THE BEST PICKUPS OUT THERE

@springbloom5940 3 жыл бұрын

The A number, technically refers to the specific alloy.

@brgl61 Жыл бұрын

I don't think there was actually any difference other than output level. Alnico is lower gain and thus "tighter".

@MetalHeadProductions Жыл бұрын

Could be, although I've had pickups hotter than this that were also tighter in the lowend, it can depend on the frequencies being pushed, but of course the output is important.

@aliengrey6052 6 күн бұрын

Like the ceramics

@robzilla_2549 3 жыл бұрын

Great vid as always. Ceramic sounded best to my ears.

@jaychen2000metal 3 жыл бұрын

I still love my Dimarzio D Activators but i would like to hear why others are better

@LA80sMike 3 жыл бұрын

I love my DiMarzio Super Distortion

@leonstar839 2 жыл бұрын

Alnico V!

@angusorvid8840 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent vid. As a personal preference, I have no hard and fast rule about ceramic and Alnico. I let me my ears guide me. But yes, Alnico is generally warmer, and ceramic is sharper on the high end, colder, etc. There are other variables that go into a pickup that can negate these tendencies. But as a rule, yes, Alnico will be warmer and sweeter and ceramic colder, drier, and more to the point with a faster attack. I've been playing guitar since the mid 80s and have owned many brands and have mostly been a DiMarzio guy. What I've kind of settled on is that I like Alnico for neck pups because they're a lot smoother, but generally like ceramics for the bridge. But I use both ceramic and Alnico in the bridge. I use the DiMarzio Norton and Steve's Special and Air Zone, Super 3 and X2N in the bridge depending on the characteristics I want to bring out of a guitar. I've been wanting to try Lundgrens and your tone samples sound great. I'm leaning towards their ceramic. Lots of clarity.

@michealjoseph9943 2 жыл бұрын

I just recently bought a guitar with two Ferrite core humbucker pups, gold foil, and I really like the bright clean sound I get out of the neck pup. But I'm thinking about changing either the magnet or the pup in the bridge position to Alnico. The current Ferrite core pup in the bridge position is just way to thin, though it doesn't sound to bad at all in the middle switch position. But since I want to use the bridge position as well, I will be changing it to Alnico. These are GFS pup's by the way, on an Xaviere Pro845 Tele thinline.

@angusorvid8840 2 жыл бұрын

@@michealjoseph9943 I'm not familiar with ferrite core pickups, although I'd assume it refers to some sort of iron derivative. But I like gold foil, certainly in the neck. I've never owned one though. Lots of interesting innovation going on in the world of pickups. That's for sure. One of my favorite neck pickups is a P90. A lot of companies, from Duncan, DiMarzio and Fishman are making them. It's a very different kind of sound, but awesome. I love how P90 necks balanced with a bridge humbucker like a Duncan Custom.

@damienbevan9732 Жыл бұрын

The bottom ends not so mushy with the alnico and better definition

@DennisFeinsteinCEO 3 жыл бұрын

The Black Heaven Alnico 7 just arrived. I'm hoping for a "cleaner" and more versatile tone compared to my SD Nazgul. I play metal/prog type stuff Great vid 👍

@chipcarter5971 Жыл бұрын

When you take ceramic and alnico pups and compare them with the same amount of gain and volume by adjusting your amp/pedals, there's no question that ceramic pickups are warmer and less harsh/piercing. Ceramic pups are said to be brighter, but they're just not. They have more gain and are louder. When you adjust the gain and volume to match the pickups to get more of an apple's to apples comparison, you get a better idea of their tones. The thing is, volume and drive are much easier to adjust than a pickups natural tone. If you're using a modern high gain amp or effects, you're going to adjust the gain and volume on either pickup to your preference anyways, so it's sorta irrelevant when comparing their tones. The myth of creamic being more crisp or brighter stems from classic amps before modern distortion. Yeah, if you take those pickups and run them through a vintage fender champ or Vox AC-15, the ceramic pups are going to seem brighter because they're actually going to achieve some decent gain when pushed. On something like a dual rectifier or JCM 2,000 with an overdrive pedal in front of it, where you can have as almost as much or little gain and volume as you want, you can really tell the difference in actual pickup tone. Ceramic pups are both warmer and less punchy.

@MetalHeadProductions Жыл бұрын

I actually didn't adjust my gain or anything here and it still wasn't harsh, or massively different in output to the alnico V. I think where the reputation comes from of ceramic being harsh is the first pickups made with ceramic magnets were cheaply and poorly made, and so a lot of people thought the reason those pickups sounded bad was because of the magnet and not just that they were garbage pickups.

@ionnera6235 2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic vid.

@peteytwofinger 5 ай бұрын

excellent video !

@davetighe 3 жыл бұрын

I don't know what pickup I've got fitted, how can I tell AlNiCo from ceramic by looking at them? Great vid btw.

@dryproblem7988 3 жыл бұрын

Alnico has a metal/silver like color, ceramic has a black color to it

@GameArtsCafe 3 ай бұрын

So with Ceramics, would you say they are more crisp bell/chime like tone on an open note/harmonic? I play mostly clean but layer tracks/melodies in different ways making it thicker but overall, the more ring the better and players have the flexibility to eq the levels if needed.

@MetalHeadProductions 3 ай бұрын

Depends honestly, there tends to be more top end and bike with ceramic pickups, but if it has enough winds of copper that's going to dull the top end.

@AhmetOmerOzgen 2 жыл бұрын

Ceramic when played clean (SSS especially) sounds like cheap plastic. Lacks mids naturally. But on high gain they sound rounded and well. Especially on a strat where single coils aren't preferred for high gains

@lordpardus7348 9 ай бұрын

I like Alnico 5 better. Sound a bit more... organic and fuller. Ceramics are "electronicy" sound, they sound like keyboard set to "distortion guitar" setting"

@edgardbrulh6187 3 жыл бұрын

How do you like your mad hatter solderless system ?

@KyLesCaster 3 жыл бұрын

Actually suprised when I listened more closely, the AlNiCo humbuckers were more boomy and thumpy when doing chugs.

@sashabagdasarow497 3 жыл бұрын

But the low end actually was more loose

@auntjenifer7774 Жыл бұрын

It was way tighter on the alnico. The ceramic has scratchy distortion and rubs together. Alnico has more note separation.

@BinFrost Жыл бұрын

Great video

@diesel4338 4 ай бұрын

I prefer alnico i sound

@bigstick5278 10 ай бұрын

The A5 sounds sort of splatty sounding with the distortion.

@rodolforibas 2 жыл бұрын

Alnico sounds more defined, ceramic gets more compressed

@godzilla964 3 ай бұрын

The ceramics were a lot hotter than the alnicos.

@kevinerickson84 3 жыл бұрын

Malenko?

@jaychen2000metal 3 жыл бұрын

Hey man, people say the Hughes and Kettner Grandmeister 36 isn't metal, i totally disagree but maybe they aren't overdriving it while the boost is on like i am (lightly). Maybe a future vid?

@Erylasia 3 жыл бұрын

alnico best for clean and low gain

@THRobinson Жыл бұрын

probably need my headphones, plus KZfaq compresses audio... but just watching the video through regular speakers, I heard no difference TBH.

@MetalHeadProductions Жыл бұрын

It's not going to be massive at all with pickups in general. Subtle things, how much low end saturation and such.

@michaelconiglio3056 3 жыл бұрын

Whoa! Ceramic!

@10bunks12 7 ай бұрын

I tend not to like ceramic because to me they always sound muddy, Poor clarity. Maybe I just never came across good ones. I don’t know. Not a fan.

@xGamingWithJasonx 2 жыл бұрын

those 2 guitars in the background the red and white one are those Bentley Series 10s?

@MetalHeadProductions 2 жыл бұрын

No, those are solars

@xGamingWithJasonx 2 жыл бұрын

@@MetalHeadProductions Solars are nice as well I've been thinking of picking one up but they're expensive for me atm but very nice guitars

@cityman1111 3 жыл бұрын

New Les Pauls are fitted with AlNiCo 3's.

@JoseJimenez-wr1cp 3 жыл бұрын

This man looks like jason from power rangers lol

@troyancheta3803 Жыл бұрын

I have an HSS config, all ceramic strat. I'm thinking of changing the two single coils into Alnico then leave the ceramic humbucker bridge as it is. Will this be a good idea?

@MetalHeadProductions Жыл бұрын

I mean if you're happy with it, keep it before trying to change our magnets

@troyancheta3803 Жыл бұрын

@MetalHeadProductions I'm happy with the ceramic bridge. But I do like the cleans of my previous guitar, it was alnico. So i might change both single coils or just change one of them. I cant decide still

@kenairockband 3 жыл бұрын

I’m a bluesy player so I’m with the alnico 5’s.

@blakepennycook8952 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks man, this video helped me make my decision

@ericvandamme6913 3 жыл бұрын

No difference when distorted and during the clean the only difference I heard was your pick gauge was different. Not sure why you would change your picks during a comparison!?! Got me dayz & confused about that.

@SamuraiBud 2 жыл бұрын

alnico is whole and ceramic is messy, but in strats 100% alnico

@rockapa4620 3 жыл бұрын

with digital effects its better to go with Ceramic.

@hbrmetal Жыл бұрын

God bless you

@bigstick5278 10 ай бұрын

Not true, Ceramic magnets are not that bright. A myth..

@MetalHeadProductions 10 ай бұрын

Well they can. It kinda comes down to the pickup. This is a common thought because early ceramic magnet pickups were brighter and even harsh.

@mueslimuncher1950 4 ай бұрын

It's ALNICO, not alinco!

@MetalHeadProductions 4 ай бұрын

Yes, yes, I know. Slip up while talking. You haven't commented on all the times I've said it right sense.

@craig6198 3 жыл бұрын

Why do americans say "aloominum" its alUminiUm

@MetalHeadProductions 2 жыл бұрын

We spell it differently, our early printers were cheap and saved money by shortening words by taking out unnecessary letters in some words. Also, I'm pretty sure america and england had a war over how it's said and we won.

@craig6198 2 жыл бұрын

@@MetalHeadProductions its just so american when you say it 😂 nobody says that here in the uk, especially not scotland haha, lucky if some scots a know can say it at all 😂 "ALYA FUCKIN MINIUM AHTS WIT IT IS!!"