That's truly THE comparison video I dreamed about all my guitarist life !
@trashpanda13505 жыл бұрын
I have alinco V pickups on my squier SSS configuration like the one in my PF you see
@joeysgear14195 жыл бұрын
You should REALLY do a comparison video between alnico 2, 3 and 5 but where it matters: STRATS ;) Most strat pups are alnico 5, but the recently started doing some with alnico and they are amazing. The first strats were also alnico 3. I have boutique hand wound strat pups which are alnico 2 and they just have such a natural sound...more than alnico 5 and with more overtones. Teles also started with 3, in 52...then 5 took over there as well.
@Pim32115 жыл бұрын
Exactly! That was really interesting 😃
@PeteKaster4 жыл бұрын
Would love to see this in the bridge position too!
Personally I feel that Alnico 5 gives you the best of all worlds across the board. Most versatile tone capability for all genres.
@donald-parker5 жыл бұрын
I like the 2's. You can do tons of things to add grit, gain, and distortion. But not so much to clean up a dirty pickup.
@yonikup28655 жыл бұрын
That's the pickups slash uses and I have them on my Les Paul and I can totally back that statement. always easier to add dirt than remove it in my opinion
@YesuAiNimen5 жыл бұрын
Me too
@drewbarries5 жыл бұрын
Seymour Duncan Custom 4C Antiquities are Alnico IIs
@bluenosemassmedia29965 жыл бұрын
Donald Parker I’m with you. Extra hot winds suffer tonally. I love the Duncan 5 twos in a Tele
@highanglelarry5 жыл бұрын
I run a 2 in the neck and a 5 in the bridge on my main dc lp. Wish he would have ran the bridge instead.
@RobertBakerGuitar5 жыл бұрын
Busted out my monitoring headphones. Huge difference once you have headphones on. 3's are my fav
@Nghilifa5 жыл бұрын
Same here!
@MrZachalewel5 жыл бұрын
Don't forget to add &fmt=18 to the URL for better audio (sometimes)
@kimhansen63845 жыл бұрын
@@MrZachalewel That is interesting, but I don´t know what you mean?? What is &fmt?
@MrZachalewel5 жыл бұрын
@@kimhansen6384it is a url parameter for uncompressed audio. You paste it on the end of the URL, hit enter.
@PrizmSeeR5 жыл бұрын
Yes. It had a great sound. Wonder if he just tuned them better or they just are great. I love a clean but driven tone. When you add lots of distortion it still sounds great.
@priyonjoni5 жыл бұрын
I’m going to name my first son Al Nico
@ansol685 жыл бұрын
Yeah, I'm going to have my son name my grandson, Alnico II
@Supperconductor5 жыл бұрын
Your child will rebel and call himself Ceramic.
@shenjingbing22935 жыл бұрын
@@ansol68 lmao
@obicross5 жыл бұрын
@@Supperconductor sir amic 😁
@Supperconductor5 жыл бұрын
@SQUIRE LOVA LOL!
@niclastname5 жыл бұрын
I can say one thing for sure: Changing the magnet in the same pickup of the same guitar makes a _much_ bigger tone difference than _any_ tone difference anyone has ever shown from wood in an electric guitar!
@whichgodofthousandsmeansno53063 жыл бұрын
Would make sense as a solid body electric relies so heavily on the electronics once it's plugged in. But tests have shown the wood can make a difference in tone and sustain. Does that justify spending thousands more? Only someone really picky and with money to burn would think so. Or someone who wants to justify why they had to have an old expensive guitar when a properly set up newer inexpensive one can sound great too.
@georgefromgreece41193 жыл бұрын
I kind of disagree.
@whiskerandojoe2 жыл бұрын
i hear notible difference in clarity of korina would guitars. I don't mean treble, but a lack of muddiness so you can distinctly hear all the tones singing instead of ringing.
@benink56902 жыл бұрын
Wood makes a noticeable difference e to anyone with a decent ear. Might wanna work on that ;)
@niclastname2 жыл бұрын
@@benink5690 Should be really easy to prove by removing all variables and using waveforms then. I wonder why nobody ever does...
@Fatherflot645 жыл бұрын
Alnico II rules. I hate hot pickups. You can always add dirt. You can't add clean.
@carlodevivomusicontent21385 жыл бұрын
too mid-rangie for my taste
@skillracoonful5 жыл бұрын
Yeah alnico II was a clear winner for cleans imho
@vizzo75 жыл бұрын
I prefer a balanced alnico V. and keep the guitar for long and then I will have sooner or later alnico II. But if you start with alnico II you will end up with Allshito . By the way all the pickup thing is quite voodoo thingy
@dabman96885 жыл бұрын
If only we had some way to turn the volume down....like a knob or something
@TheGearaxyz954 жыл бұрын
My Duncans don´t have that problem, actually.
@kaeleppcohen32105 жыл бұрын
Here are timestamps for each individual magnet test. Enjoy! CLEAN A2: 2:59 A3: 3:07 A4: 3:15 A5: 3:23 A8: 3:31 C8: 3:38 BLUES A2: 5:26 A3: 5:38 A4: 5:49 A5: 6:01 A8: 6:12 C8: 6:24 ROCK A2: 7:50 A3: 8:06 A4: 8:22 A5: 8:39 A8: 8:56 C8: 9:13 I personally don't hear a difference other than output volume.
@mestresplinter24672 жыл бұрын
Thanks a lot. Well, I'm hearing a lot of "sand" in the higher grade ones. Try to swap from 2 to 8 and back. If you listen in the order, maybe the gradient doesn't sound that different.
@MartinBuzon2 жыл бұрын
Amazing thanks for the TimeStamps, for me A2 and C8 are the cleanest and brightest. Pay attention to multiple strings sounding together you can clearly hear the difference. 5 and 8 sound wider than the rest but still to dirty, frequencies mix up too much.
@johnhmaloney5 жыл бұрын
AlNiCo-III was my favorite in all three tests. It just sounds warmer than the others to me.
@SDPickups4 жыл бұрын
Before even watching this, you need to know one thing. There is NO standard recipe for any of the alnico grades. EACH manufacturer uses their OWN recipe. Now, as a pickup designer, this is a GOOD thing. It gives you a huge palette to play with. Example, I have A3 magnets that are super dark sounding, real warm and of course real WEAK, because A3 has no cobalt in it. I have A2 that is super super bright, and some that is really warm as well. So generalizations kinda don't work. A5 is usually quite strong and bright, but there are magnets like A5L which aren't super strong, nor bright. So, all we are hearing in this demo is magnets from ONE company in China. All magnets used in guitar pickups are Chinese, ALL of them. This is not a bad thing, it makes no difference. Back 20 years ago Korea made all pickup alnico, Chinese undercut the Koreans and sold for cost and killed the Korean market. We do have Arnold Magnetics in the USA, but in my experience, they are rather lifeless and bland sounding, back in the 90's, Arnold magnets gave Fender pickups a bad reputation for being just BAD. They hired someone to figure out why the pickups were so disliked, I don't know that they figured out Arnold mags were just nothing like what anyone was making or even vintage magnets, but I had those in my Strat and the sound was lifeless and bland. Vintage magnets are usually really very bright but can have a tiny bit soft top end. My company brought back rough cast alnico back in 2007 working thru Allstar Magnetics and Magnetic Hold. Rough cast has no magic, they just look cool, beware any hype being used there. Allstar went through Sensmag in China, Magnetic Hold wouldn't tell me who they used, and their 2nd attempt to make them completely failed as the magnets all came out extremely thick, we had to grind them down to thickness and the rough texture was ground away. Sensmag still sells my magnets and they are very good. Vintage magnets were all pretty much quite WEAK too. I've worked on tons of vintage PAF's and typically the magnets all measure about 400-450 gauss. By '61 the magnets were getting stronger as alnico technology improved, and some could reach 600 gauss in a hot recharge measurement. By '65 they were A5 magnets, very tiny and thin, but strong.
@ipuya4 жыл бұрын
So do you have any experience with pickup magnets?
@FiveOnTheSide3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the information. Very interesting.
@orde_plongo.3.03 жыл бұрын
u should make vid 'bout that.. Maybe that vid will be your "one hit wonder" in Yt..
@goneflying1403 жыл бұрын
@@orde_plongo.3.0 Dave has a hugely popular video series about PAF pickups. If you are interested in true PAF tone at all, you should subscribe to his channel and watch his videos. He knows more about PAF'S than ANYBODY.
@curtrod3 жыл бұрын
@@goneflying140 I believe it, judging by how much his pickups cost!😁
@BrunoPeixotoVieira5 жыл бұрын
Please do this comparison in the bridge pickup position
@johnshannon64924 жыл бұрын
Yes!!! Thats pretty much where I live!
@svajesz3 жыл бұрын
Yes, please! 🤘🏻
@torbenlysholm12 жыл бұрын
Yeah, this comparison was nice ... but what a blunder that is. Almost everyone must now sit and "translate" this info and impression to what it could do for their bridge pickup. So, I'm off to find another comparison video with more relevans for me.
@SomeplaceWonderful5 жыл бұрын
I've never seen or heard a demo anything like this. It's genius. Well done.
@droogii11425 жыл бұрын
Through my headphones the Alnico II just had a clarity I liked. Great video.
@ranchmanager91262 жыл бұрын
I was surprised, especially on the blues bit how warm and still chimey the Ceramic was. I like the saturated breakup of the Ceramic. Probably very dynamic using the volume control.
@electrofuzz73964 жыл бұрын
ALNICO IV for me, clear note separation and warm at the same time.
@shaggaroony3 жыл бұрын
Nice one, I thought exactly the same thing. They sounded really good.
@zanshelby033 ай бұрын
And you get drive and fullness without the harsh fuzzy overdrive tone
@nathanbrewer60322 ай бұрын
Came Standard in G&L's ALNICO "S" (for Session) ASAT, and why I bought it.
@IntoTheForest5 жыл бұрын
Personally alnico 4 was my favorite. They all sound great, just different sounds for different contexts. This was a great comparison for anyone looking into new pickups/ pickup magnets.
@jimaubrey4985 жыл бұрын
Like 4 best also
@stroopwafel61415 жыл бұрын
I have Bare Knuckles Mules AIV. Best PAF 59-copies I ever played. Very balanced, dynamic and crisp but not shrill in the topend. AIII is too soft in the bass for me. Too bad we don't hear the bridgepickups with distortion.
@anthonydavella83505 жыл бұрын
@@stroopwafel6141 I agree. That riff was too close to the nut for a high gain neck Pup IMO
@5150sux4 жыл бұрын
Same here A4 passed each test in my eyes.
@deftonedigga4 жыл бұрын
I think that dynamics need to be taken into consideration also. That's where Alnico IV can step up.
@MarcCoteMusic5 жыл бұрын
For me, it was A3, then A2... same as you. Finally, for the heavy test... that was harder to pick a preference. I'd probably go for A8. The surprise, for me, was the ceramic pickup... I actually liked it in all the tests, though it wasn't my favourite in any one test. Most of the stuff I play is either clean-ish or crunchy, so after listening to these tests I checked what magnets are in my Pearly Gates and discovered they use Alnico 2. No surprise, then, that it was the A2 magnet I preferred for test #2. It's nice to know my ears haven't deceived me.
@MangaJosh4 жыл бұрын
I wish the last test would have been in the bridge position. There was just too much bass from the neck position.
@jasong5465 жыл бұрын
Excellent job! I liked the 4. I complained to you about my 498/490 stock pups, but I decided not to change because of your pup comparisons. I found that I simply have to use all the controls on the guitar and amp and I spent a little more time adjusting and listening to the height. I got them sounding the way I like them to. If you don’t have the money to buy new ones, work on altering your settings and adjustments and you might find they are just fine. Thanks again Darrell!
@j11smith5 жыл бұрын
this is great thanks for sharing your thoughts. I have been really too concerned with the possible difference and as I live in remote Canada I want to order the right parts the first time. Thanks again, i know its painstaking work to do a true comparison like this
@jeffwyatt22565 жыл бұрын
Incredible! I’ve always wanted a proper test between the different pickup magnet types, you nailed it here! The alnico III was perfection through your clean signal. Alnico II won out on both pushed tests to my ears. Awesome stuff, keep up the fantastic work! Pretty new here but, absolutely loving the channel!
My favorites were 3 for clean, 4/3 for blues rock, and 8/ceramic for high gain. Nice test. This stuff is invaluable
@EXATTIC5 жыл бұрын
One of the most informative gear videos I’ve come across. Definitely in the top 5. Way to go!
@DarrellBraunGuitar5 жыл бұрын
Thanks!
@pops19815 жыл бұрын
this has to be one of the best comparison video's ever. Thanks Darrell for all the effort you put in your work. I'm leaning towards #2
@dyamariv36285 жыл бұрын
Awesome video idea Darrell, thanks for that! You're a heck of a guitarist too brother!
@misinformationwithrandy5 жыл бұрын
This made me want to buy 3 guitars with 3 pickup configurations. 3, 5 and 8. And I appreciated that you shared your thoughts.
@SaxJockey5 жыл бұрын
I have a Strat with stock A5 and a second Strat (bargain) that I am going to fit A2 (Tonerider AII Blues).
@DarrellBraunGuitar5 жыл бұрын
This one was on my "to do" list for a LONG time! What were your favorite tones? I keep oscillating between A2 and A3. On some clips I like the warmth of A3, and on others the clarity and bite of A2 :)
@cleberdossantosviotto71645 жыл бұрын
I had the same opinion, a2 a3 and a5 are the best sounding pick-up settings at clean, on overdrive a2 a3 are awesome and a8/c8 got too much treeble imo. On High gain a3 and a5 kills it. C8 looks to be apropriated to metal 🤘
@ToddsGuitarShop5 жыл бұрын
I'm really liking the A3!
@franciscodanconia35515 жыл бұрын
Through my headphones, the 4s were the greatest amongst a field of awesome in every test. 3 was my second favorite clean, 5 my second favorite for the middle test and 2 overdriven.
@jw_au5 жыл бұрын
I'm with you, toss up between 2 and 3 for me...
@thestratman95 жыл бұрын
I liked them all for different reasons, and I personally use pickups with alnico 2, 5 and ceramic 8 magnets, but I really liked what I was hearing with alnico 4. I might have to try some pickups with that magnet.
@stevejamieson16133 жыл бұрын
Just bought a loaded pickgaurd with 250k pots and these truly amazing vintage 60’s style pickups with Alnico 5’s for my Strat. Made locally here in Australia by this old guy. Blown away by them!! Amazing the difference between magnets! pretty impressed by the ceramics in this comparison btw. You seem to be a champion for ceramic pickups 😉
@sccloser5 жыл бұрын
Alnico II has always been a favorite of mine. They tend to make the pickups sound more open. Like you said, they do not drive the amp as hard. V's are also pretty sweet. Hard to go wrong with either of those. All that said, one of my favorite humbucker pickups is the old Dimarzio Super Distortions from the 70s and 80s. Those have ceramic magnets and were pretty hot for the times, yet they cleaned up pretty well with the volume. They seemed to add some bottom end and really shine on solos.
@bryantwalley4 жыл бұрын
The 4's had the best pitch balance and clarity on what we are hearing from KZfaq. Both from my ear and the frequency analysis. I could easily see people preferring the 2's and 3's to get more accentuation on the high end and keeping the clarity. You can always add in some low end and dirt if you want too. The 5's are what they are. The 8's would need a lot of post work unless you just looking for crunch and dirt.
@mendBOT3 жыл бұрын
The 8's are useless for clean tones, I have them on my guitar and it's almost impossible to get that "edge of breakup" tone, it's always too hot. I'll be changing them soon because it's really difficult to deal with that.
@bryantwalley3 жыл бұрын
@@mendBOT yes sir. only good for crunch and dirt.
@AlexusDelphi5 жыл бұрын
I really liked: Clean: A4, C8 OD: A2 Saturated: A3, A5, A8, and C8
@VintageRadius5 жыл бұрын
Super helpful! This explains a lot to me about what I like about Gibson Classic 57s. It’s the lower output and clarity of the A2 that for me I preferred in every instance!
@martinvanniele142 Жыл бұрын
Thanks Darrel, very enlightening. The differences are very subtle. But what amazed me most is how slight the differences are. Obviously the stronger magnets create a louder signal, but not very much. Ceramic is not twice as loud as alnico II.
@RC32Smiths015 жыл бұрын
Dang, this is indeed a very in depth comparison and analysis man! Now I want them all haha!
@jefdamen29775 жыл бұрын
Lol yeah great info but still hard choices
@jeffreyeagen48965 жыл бұрын
Great video! I always wondered the difference between the alnicos. Thanks for doing this comparison, and your other comparisons. They are very informative and helpful! I found myself liking the 2 and 4, and sometimes 3. Interesting how it depended on the style. 5s are very good for all around, I think.
@spkay315 жыл бұрын
Really well done Darrell. I think this provides a very good reference for guitarists who want to get a basic familiarity with the tone differences of these different magnet alloys. You did a great job of performing the test riffs very consistently which helps make the tone comparison more objective. It's not that easy to repeat the riffs with that amount of precision ;-)
@jamesk16195 жыл бұрын
I think they all sounded pretty good with subtle differences. I'd have to pick Anico V's for the best in all 3 tests. Alnico III's sounded very jazzy which I also liked. Kinda of an odd timing for this vid.. I've been thinking of picking up a Fender Player Strat that has the V's.. I may have to blame it on this vid when the wife sees the guitar...
@Furtheronmusic5 жыл бұрын
Really brilliant test. Not sure whether it'll influence future purchases but get way to test kudos to Darkmoon
@Wayneextremity5 жыл бұрын
Amazing Effort, Darrel. Thanks for feeding our Gear obsession
Clean: A5 Medium Gain: A2 High Gain: C8 Best Overall: A4 A3 seemed to me like it had a mid-range honk. Which might sound very good through mid-scooped amps like black-face Fenders... A4 seemed to me like the most versatile of the batch. Given the tone pots are subtracting, you might tame the top-end of A5/8 with the tone knob...
@knowplay325810 ай бұрын
As you go up in magnet strength(A3 being the weakest vs C8 having the strongest), a listener could definitely hear the loss of midrange with a boost to lows/highs. A5 is usually considered the most balanced across the audible frequencies which can be heard in the video. A5 is usually where the slight overdriven/distorted sound becomes apparent compared to the weaker magnetic fields of A2, A3, and A4. A8 and C8 have a similar sound only slightly moreso than A5 vs A8. It all comes down to the intended style/use of the pickup as well as other factors of the pickup construction. Magnet type is considered "one third" of what gives a pickup a certain tone. The pole pieces being "one third" along with number of windings/wire gauge being the last "one third". The video definitely shows the differences in magnet type tones, but ultimately tone in any aspect I subjective. Personally, I go for the Hard Rock-80s Shred-Heavy Metal tones, especially for my bridge pickup. I prefer my neck pickup to be slightly less "gritty" sounding for lead clarity. For me, in my HH setups, I go for C8 in the bridge and A5/A8 for the neck. This video is really well made and shows the fun you can have experimenting with different configurations for what will be the ultimate tone to you. Just keep having fun...and most of all...just keep playing!!! Thanks for a great video, DBG!!!
@zanshelby033 ай бұрын
I like how the IV has a full sounding drive without getting too fuzzy or harsh. I used to love A 5 pickups but IV seem to have a similar tone without being too crispy or harsh.
@jeffreyradick64865 жыл бұрын
I don't know if it's my 60 year old hearing or my headphones (beats studio, maybe 5 years old), or maybe just not knowing what to listen for, but aside from a gradual progression from "slightly cleaner" to "slightly grittier" I have a very difficult time perceiving much difference between these. Still, it's really interesting to see such a direct comparison and to have that in mind when viewing or reading all the inflated claims about this or that type of pickup. I have about 10 electric guitars, some humbuckers and some single-coil, and they all sound different (even listening to their acoustic sound not plugged in) but I remain fairly puzzled about how to account for the differences adequately.
@TheTyphoon37375 жыл бұрын
Also take into account that KZfaq heavily compresses the audio, so you really aren't getting the full story (even with really neutral and clean high end headphones).
@mindfall823 жыл бұрын
Also depends on the wind, some manufacturers wind them hotter so you could get 2 dif A3s one higher and one lower output
@FluidRat3 жыл бұрын
I think I'd personally pair a set with Alnico III in the neck with Alnico IV in bridge, the distortion on the IV sounded really clear for me, not too saturated, hit in a nice way, but the III was very warm yet clear and could see that being thrown into a neck pup
@qua77719 ай бұрын
I'm getting ready to do that to my Pearly Gates pups as soon as the magnets arrive.
@IllyaKonakov4 жыл бұрын
Wow! That was a super test! Listened to it three times. And it has confirmed my inclination to A4 magnets in pickups. My favorites for clean were (from most favorable to less) A4, C8 and A2; for crunch A3, A4 and A2; and for gain I would choose A4, C8 and A3.
@HighlineGuitars5 жыл бұрын
This comparo mirrors my own personal tests, which helped me to decide on alnico II for my vintage pups, alnico V for my mid output pups and alnico VIII for my high output pups. I may use this video when asking clients to describe the tone they want. Brilliant.
@MrDomPolito3 жыл бұрын
Alnico III for me. When it comes to overdrive and distortion I believe the bridge pickups would have been a better choice to model.
@joshuatreat81065 жыл бұрын
That. Was. AWESOME! Today I like the A3. Tomorrow maybe the A2.😅
@SkyscraperGuitars5 жыл бұрын
I would agree, 4 and 8 are similar... Totally not my cup of tea, but interesting to hear back to back. This backs up my preferences with 2 and 5 as the mags I like to use.
@wessoncolt18444 жыл бұрын
Ok I need to make a point about Alnico VIII magnets. THEY ARE NOT ALWAYS TOO HOT FOR CLEAN TONES!!! A good example for this is the 70s and 80s MIJ pickups with Alnico VIII magnets. The early U-3000 pickups (the ones that were not marked on the back as U-3000) are some of the best sounding pickups ever and unless the magnet changed in 1976 (my Greco EG-900 is from that year) the pickups were recorded from 7.6 -7.8, making them amazing PAF style humbuckers suitable for any playing style!!
@launder05 жыл бұрын
Tha'ts a pro-level comparison right there! There's just one thing I think you could improve, and it's not hard at all: do quickier A-B's between a pair of magnets, instead of whole chunks of music. This way we can have a better feeling for the difference in the spot
@lukegoffkat Жыл бұрын
I agree! Really need quick switching so the ears don't forget the last tone.
@VictorMan2895 жыл бұрын
Bruh.. this video just had me realize i like A3 way more than the popular A5
@MrRyeDaddy5 жыл бұрын
Me too
@johncrapper3664 жыл бұрын
Yeah. Me too.
@m.e.c.j.51253 жыл бұрын
Try A4 !
@larrybethune39093 жыл бұрын
I put A3's into Burstbucker pros last night. Huge difference in frequency response and feel. Keeper!
@RookCity943 жыл бұрын
Alnico 8 all the way, as much as I love pickups with a good high-end, I can't shake this love for mid-range punchiness.
@davidcudlip65872 жыл бұрын
I have a dog ear p 90 in a Les Paul Jr. with an Alnico 8. Drives the amp hard but can clean up nicely when the volume is rolled off. Very versatile pickup for a one pickup guitar.
@andrewsmith15205 жыл бұрын
Perhaps the best comparison video I have ever seen on magnet types... This has really shown me that magnet are not everything. pickup style, winding style, and overall construction will have just as much bearing, if not more so, on magnet type.
@cpamiseso5 жыл бұрын
DARKMOON IS REALLY AWESOME! I NEVER SEE THINGS LIKE THAT!
@Wesquire4 жыл бұрын
A2 and A3 were my favorites for clean and light gain. However, they lose too much definition with higher gain. A4 and A5 were best with higher gain.
@scott7521 Жыл бұрын
agree
@JonDeth8 ай бұрын
*This is almost nothing but mysticism since the traits of the pickup come down to the wire gauge selected, whether it's symmetrical or scattered wound, the potting material and the number of winds. The impedance, henries, peak resonance and response curve will not change by switching magnets, only the flux density and therefore the concentration of flux lines cut that oscillate the electrons.* The string you pluck is either cutting more or less lines of flux, so it's almost exclusively going to be the magnitude of pitch as opposed to changing the tonal structure like an obvious and bold boost in midrange, or suddenly tremendously more bass. This simply isn't going to occur at any obvious level, unless you go straight from a 2 to an 8. You will see far more variety and changes based on your passive control circuitry, let alone if you use active. Passive can still be greatly altered by switching from audio taper to linear, increasing pot resistance value, wiring caps or caps and resistors in parallel across the logs, or adding a 3dB slope passive bandpass filter to them. *This is why I always favored super high output passives and getting the production curve and response you desire in your control circuit.* It's far easier and more versatile.
@BoozyBeggar5 жыл бұрын
A2 and ceramic for the cleans. Underwind the neck with a ceramic, like 7.5k from the 9.2k or whatever it was, and it'd probably improve it. A2 and A4 for the slight drive. I wanna reiterate what I said about the ceramic earlier. I'm no expert, but it seems like just lower winds would improve the tone, or maybe just turn the volume knob down a tad, or bring the pickup down a little with the sidescrews. A2 sounds the best with the high fuzz, but they all sound passable. And thus ends my two cents.
@williamolsen205 жыл бұрын
Dark Moon is a great company. High quality pickups at a reasonable price considering what some companies charge for custom would pickups. I have a cheaper Les Paul Tribute and I dropped Dark moon pickups in it and i love them.
@DogFoodTunes5 жыл бұрын
Neck position on a LP can be mushy, loved the A2. Bridge is where A5 rules. Thanks, great test!
@pantreus76225 жыл бұрын
I have a LP Studio Deluxe with a horribly mushy neck (490r). That’s got an Alnico II. I’m considering swapping it for a V. Hopefully it’ll brighten things up a bit.
@CrankCase085 жыл бұрын
@@pantreus7622 An easy means of giving the neck humbucker pickup more clarity is to insert a 0.04 mfd capacitor in series with the 'hot' lead. It filters out the low frequencies that cause mush and boom.
@michaelmccasland5 жыл бұрын
Ted Riggs My suggestion would be an A4 instead of a 5. I have a 496, which is basically a 490 with a ceramic, that I swapped for an A4 and I'm in love. From clean, to overdriven, to high gain, it sings. Very nicely rounded tone, without too much treble or bass, while keeping single note definition during full chords.
@ParallaxRS5 жыл бұрын
Alnico II and Ceramic VIII for me - very polarised but these two were (used in different scenarios) my favourite out and out tone.
@johnmellor30484 жыл бұрын
The 'overdrive' riff sounded so good I didn't care which magnets were used. Great comparison study though!
@claudiosuarez12565 жыл бұрын
Great video ,!!! thank you Darrel , without a doubt THE best youtube video about guitar pickups magnets xD
@dannyvarga2365 жыл бұрын
After 40 years of live gigs and recording and having 40 plus guitar models, I can say that magnets or pickups mean very little! Why?...simple ...with a good compressor and EQ you can tone shape any pickup , humbucker or single coil. A small EQ cut or boost here, a little bit more compression and presto! instant tone shaping.
@pallecla5 жыл бұрын
Very true.
@slpsteve26185 жыл бұрын
I also agree. EQ tweaking can get you similar if not the same results.
@somebodyelseuk5 жыл бұрын
Yep and the majority who piss about with this sort of stuff then go and undo their work with pedals that change the frequency curve anyway, usually to where they would have been without the pedal and the original magnet.
@SomeplaceWonderful5 жыл бұрын
Like a properly chosen microphone, a properly chosen guitar means less need for EQ, compression, or any other processing. Less gak between the pickups and the tape is the ideal.
@somebodyelseuk5 жыл бұрын
@@SomeplaceWonderful Agreed. They used to say the difference between a man and a woman was when a man meets a woman, he wants her to stay the same for ever. The woman wants to change him. Modern guitarists buy a guitar and then start modding it... draw your own conclusions ;) Hank Marvin wannabes are a prime example. They buy a Strat, change the pickups to something with no mid range, eq the highs and lows down, boost the midrange... they;re back where they started, £150 poorer and they increased back ground noise.
@godzilla964 Жыл бұрын
I found that the alnico III pickups were the cleanest sounding magnets.
@ryanintopeka4 жыл бұрын
Dude, phenomenally well done. Like others have already said, this is what we all needed when we searched this topic!
@theattentionwhores24065 жыл бұрын
This might be one of the best things on KZfaq, can we now put tone wood to bed and accept it’s the pickups and scale length that make up most of the tone 😊
@kimhansen63845 жыл бұрын
No - it is speakers
@MrFree-vj8qj4 жыл бұрын
sure that's why there is like a full guide on what wood you have in choosing pickups on every pickup site. luthier's are jokes in choosing woods
@frankbrancatisano47433 жыл бұрын
I did see a video last night on youtube where the guy just swapped bodies but same neck, p ups strings and electronics and there was a bit more difference than with the p up magnet comparison , there was 5 different woods he was using , I cant remember the others but the swamp ash had a bit more bottom end and treble bite , the alder had more of a bell like chime and the mahogony had more bottom end and mids .
@alanwalker16985 жыл бұрын
I've always liked a3 magnets better, especially in a neck humbucker. I like a2 and a4 in bridge pickups. I rarely like a5 pickups in any position. You should do the same comparison in P90s.
@kingnick62604 жыл бұрын
I've been looking for a video comparison like this for YEARS. Thank you so much!
@maurocoimbra96242 жыл бұрын
You've done a very important video!!!! It solves a doubt that follows me since I was a kid... and now, I'm 66! Greetings from Brazil.
@TheRosswise5 жыл бұрын
Alnico 5s for me. Alnico 2s sound really good too.
@willd51054 жыл бұрын
They all sound like legitimately good tones in their own context of desired output, but I am surprised how well the Alnico 5 stands out in comparison after hearing first the great sounding Alnico 2. The more bland/neutral A3 and A4 in between makes the A5 sound like a clear winner in the category of best of both worlds, the tone of the A2 with more output but not so high like the A8 and ceramic that the pole pieces have become over-saturated/less dynamic.While this test was executed with great skill in keeping the static conditions perfectly unchanged so that the variable could be examined in depth, there is one fault with the experiment in that the nature of side-by-side humbuckers to sum and cancel the extreme highs and lows. This is not a criticism because this question is meant to educate guitar players of what effect magnet types have in a humbucker, but to really 'hear' the effects of magnet composition, some sort of single coil made from a moulded plastic bobbin (to be able to pull out and replace rod magnets) or a P90 would display some seriously interesting audio artifacts to compare against. I'd do a video of it myself if I had the quality of video/audio recording available to me that you have; in the meantime I'll just subscribe to your channel, all sorts of interesting stuff I see. Take care and thank you.
@SaxJockey5 жыл бұрын
Very informative, really illustrates the differences. I listened 3 times, first on the phone, in ear phones, full size Pro quality headphones. It backs up my choice of A2 or A5 single coil or humbuckers. A3 and A4 were also good in places. A8 and C8 do not seem to be much use for those that want a wide range of tones (clean to distorted).
@pjmuck4 жыл бұрын
Thank you for taking the time to do this. My ears still gravitate to Alnico IIs for best/most versatile overall PUP.
@jimmiguitarz42225 жыл бұрын
Great video. My ear prefers the A2.
@donovanowen30895 жыл бұрын
It seems that they get progressively hotter. Would be interesting to see this done with single coils, if that were possible. Great video!
@simonr70975 жыл бұрын
In a single coil, the magnets are the pole-pieces, unlike a humbucker where the pole-pieces are just metal in contact with the larger magnet that we see in the video. This means that you can't just swap the magnets in a SC, you have to change the whole pickup.
@donovanowen30895 жыл бұрын
@@simonr7097 but could you do the same thing and have the magnet on the bottom? That's how ceramic single coils are.
@CharlesWillisBonsai2 жыл бұрын
@@donovanowen3089 that's basically what a P90 is
@nazmoking31715 жыл бұрын
This might be your coolest test yet! I have studied the magnet types and read reviews. This is the first side by side test I've ever seen. I have a Simon Neil Squier signature strat that uses 3 Alnico pole pieces on the 3 high strings and 3 Alnico 5 poles on the lower strings on each of the 3 pickups - giving it a nice organic sound.
@DarrellBraunGuitar5 жыл бұрын
Thanks NK!
@jessharris2444 жыл бұрын
Absolutely the best comparison video I've ever seen. This will really help me focus my pup choices in the future.
@vdoundakov5 жыл бұрын
As always, just a great video. I really wonder what the 4 guys that didn't like it had in mind.
@DavidBrown-it9ig5 жыл бұрын
Neck pickups should never be hot. Even when playing fairly heavy music. I would be way more interested in the effect on bridge position
@jayjay70145 жыл бұрын
Great video.... you are dispelling myths with every video you come out with thanks for for all the effort!!
@Pim32115 жыл бұрын
Alnico 2 all the way, what a revelation!! 😀😀 thank you Darrel!
@Darthhalitosis5 жыл бұрын
Be awesome if you could do the same with a bridge pickup :)
@dalybaz3 жыл бұрын
What's stopping you?
@clockwork9145 жыл бұрын
Great video, but what about A5 unoriented❓
@jeffwombold91677 ай бұрын
In all my years, I never had anyone do this comparison. Thank you.
@MrTrevorHanson5 жыл бұрын
The one thing I didn't hear discussed was about the rest of the signal chain. The overdrive experienced with the hotter pickups is best understood if we know what kind of preamp was being driven. With a robust preamp with a lot of headroom, like on a mixer, presumably the hotter pickups would mostly just be louder, though it would be interesting to see how the response curves would vary. For example the scooped mids discussed on the AL2 would be easier to compare if we could see how much scooping actually occurred. But all in all a very interesting comparison.
@Rollermanfromspace5 жыл бұрын
the Paul Harrell of the guitar world lol. For those of you who know, you know. Keep up the great work!
@leicesterblackthorne96993 жыл бұрын
Paul and Darrell for when you really want to know.
@cyb3r3vil305 жыл бұрын
A2 n a5 for my 👂 ear!
@hearpalhere3 жыл бұрын
I love the Alinco II's, especially on the clean and lower drive sounds, it's really awesome. Great comparison Darrell!
@escargotomy5 жыл бұрын
I've had a few custom wound A-4's made over the last 2-3 years that have become my all time favorites. Very transparent cleans that are balanced throughout the spectrum and the breakup is very pleasing to my ear. It seems to have the best of all worlds IMHO.
@Barncaster15 жыл бұрын
Hi Darrell, I wind pickups and I love the fact that you did this comparison. I have two suggestions however if you want to pull some variability out of this experiment as done. First, use magnets that are charged to similar gauss levels. The bars sent to you were all over the place for gauss levels. Similar gauss levels will allow you to listen to differences in the formulations unconfounded by varying gauss levels. Secondly, the pickup they sent was wound with a medium/high resistance level. Gibson PAFs from back in the “Golden Era” were right around 8k. This is pretty much the benchmark for humbuckers. Food for thought if you want to go down the rabbit hole further. I’d be happy to help.
@theAxehound Жыл бұрын
Agree and its super easy to gauss and degauss.
@noahdupont84405 жыл бұрын
Those tones are TASTY to my Ears.That ceramic will surprise you, pending on the guitar.mmmm
@stevelaferney35794 жыл бұрын
I’m really liking both A-II, A-III. I can’t see more than A-IV. Ran it back n forth several times with earphones. Thanks, Darrell for this cool, very well done test.
@UriahRoxx5 жыл бұрын
Great video, Darrell. After reading about swapping out magnets in a JB etc., on various forums, I've been waiting for a comparison video such as this. Thanks!
@DChrls5 жыл бұрын
Not as much difference in them as I was expecting.
@gingerjam21924 жыл бұрын
Ordinaryavg.guy Quite the opposite for me.
@reiniervanzwieten70925 жыл бұрын
I like how they all sounded simular but just with a little more bass or treble but the A-VIII had a specific character which was kinda nice.