Alnico is dead

[Exo-metal]

This ends the debate. I have never liked alnico in speakers or pups. Hotter ceramics always win...

 

[Mike Oxhuge]

I thought Bill Lawrence was ceramic vs Bill and Becky Lawrence was alnico? Or maybe I'm wrong? I like both in this shootout.

 

[Laputan Machine]

alnico is good for low gain hipster amps

 

[RaceU4her]

I have no clue what kind of magnets are in any of my pickups, dark grey ones I assume lol

 

[DanTravis62]

They all have the correct use cases

I have ceramics in guitars that I need that sound for, I prefer alnicos for most high gain stuff though

 

[thegame]

lol no

 

[scottosan]

ceramic get a bad reputation because it’s the cheapest magnet and uses in cheap pickups. Ceramic is well designed pickups sounds great. Some of my favorites are the Tom Anderson H2+ and H3. It not think they sound good in any application for low output pickups though

 

[soundchaser]

What's with the title, dude? I thought Sam Altman bought all of it.

 

[Laputan Machine]

ceramic get a bad reputation because it’s the cheapest magnet and uses in cheap pickups. Ceramic is well designed pickups sounds great. Some of my favorites are the Tom Anderson H2+ and H3. It not think they sound good in any application for low output pickups though

there is almost no difference in cost, maybe 20 cents to a big manufacturer like Seymour Duncan per pickup
its all marketing

 

[Exo-metal]

ceramic get a bad reputation because it’s the cheapest magnet and uses in cheap pickups. Ceramic is well designed pickups sounds great. Some of my favorites are the Tom Anderson H2+ and H3. It not think they sound good in any application for low output pickups though

Exactly, for high gain alnico doesn't deliver what its counterpart does to my ear.

 

[mnemonic]

Crazy how much the differences between pickups kinda disappear in a recording. Those don’t sound too different there but I have both and they sound feel so very different when you’re the one playing the guitar.

I also prefer the B&B over the Bill Lawrence USA model.

 

[Exo-metal]

The whole BB vs BL story is confusing to me personally.

 

[Floyd Eye]

Everything ain't for everybody.

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

I like ceramic, but i like alnico way more for pickups.

 

[marvcus]

This is still my reference for pickups. Even if you’re not seeking the EVH thing, you can really tell the subtle differences in each pickup.
Some are more stringy, some are woofy, etc.



There’s another dude on YT that just does pickup vs pickup and those are good too

 

[ChurchHill]

This is still my reference for pickups. Even if you’re not seeking the EVH thing, you can really tell the subtle differences in each pickup.
Some are more stringy, some are woofy, etc.



There’s another dude on YT that just does pickup vs pickup and those are good too

Yeah, that is a really informative video. Some are subtle, some not so much, but all are different and, to me at least, surprisingly so in some cases.

For the record, there are some ceramic pickups that I really like that I believe were designed with the magnet in mind. Other ceramics can be really harsh, but I think those are poorly designed no matter what magnet they use. Same thing goes for Alnico, except instead of harsh, they are usually mushy if not well designed.

I have favorites that are A2, A4, A5, and ceramic (C8, IIRC). For PAFs, the A3 Custombuckers are actually really good, too, but I think they're better after swapping for A4 or A2. I tend to prefer Alnico.

For speakers, I'm the opposite and usually prefer ceramic. There are some great Alnico speakers, though. Blues, D120s, 417-8Hs, SROs, P12Ns, among others, but my favorite is the G12-65 or EVM.

Nothing works for everything.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

Showed up for the pickups, stayed for the jams.

 

[D-Rock]

Alnico V and VIII magnet pickups are great for metal.
Alnico speaker magnets are usually used in low power settings lawyer & hipster stuff.
Hard to beat a high powered ceramic magnet speaker for guitar.

 

[ChurchHill]

Alnico V and VIII magnet pickups are great for metal.
Alnico speaker magnets are usually used in low power settings lawyer & hipster stuff.
Hard to beat a high powered ceramic magnet speaker for guitar.

If you believe the rumors, EVH used D120s at some point. Randy Rhoads used 417-8Hs and Mesa used those as an option for the Mark series. SROs aren't that different from the EVM they evolved into. All handle more watts than a Greenback. I happen to like P12Ns under heavy gain, they're bright which makes for great attack and they cut well.

I agree, though, A5 works great for metal. I haven't tried A8 so far.

 

[Exo-metal]

Fact, ceramics have higher resonant peaks compared to higher output ALNICO. You just cannot get the same performance from alnico not to say you can't use it in your rig somewhere but they are far apart in terms of performance.