Ceramic vs Alnico Pickups... Tell us your opinions

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This thread is for all of the guys who have tried alot of boutiqe makers pickups. Motor City, Bareknuckle, BG, ect... I am wondering which of the big dog pickups are better sounding for your applications and why, for instance... heavy players tend to go with something like ceramic warpigs when choosing for modern metal or hardcore, and people who choose rebel yells usually go with alnico for modern rock and less heavy styles like classic rock and hair metal. Tell us what big player pickups you guys use and if alnico or ceramic has performed better for you and why, Im always curious as to what Im missing when I make the decision to go with either and wish I was rich enough to try a set of both when I order pickups so I could hear both differences.
 
I have tried quite a few pickups. I think the best pickup for metal, I have ever played, was one of the old Bill Lawerence Xl-500's. I will hold true to that forever, those pickups are just perfect for metal.
 
What kind of metal though... thrash metal from the 80's, 90's nu-metal, or modern hardcore kind of metal?
 
pfapin05":8nz398rr said:
What kind of metal though... thrash metal from the 80's, 90's nu-metal, or modern hardcore kind of metal?
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All metal, I had it in an Ibanez S470FM,an old japanese one, foto blue flame, with the tune-o-matic. That guitar could do ANYTHING. I regret getting rid of that guitar everyday. The neck was so fucking nice, birdseye'd out maple neck.... :doh:
 
The only 'boutiques' I have are a set of Lollar Imperials... and truthfully, I don't feel they're any better than the Gibson pickups I use(d)... just different.

As for the ceramic vs alnico... I used to be die hard about using ceramics. Mostly because alnicos seemed too soft/spongy and didn't have the same edgy crunch as ceramics. Over time I slowly gravitated towards using low output alnico (PAF style pickups). I don't know how to describe the changes since the change was a long process that happened awhile ago, but I can say that I generally prefer the results of using PAFs into high gain than I did the results of using high output into high gain. It's a little more articulate, and a little more full sounding since PAFs aren't as mid heavy or top end dull as most high outputs.

That said, my favourite pickups for metal is the EMG 81/60 setup. That 81 is a very percussive pickup that maintains very good clarity, even when pouring on the gain. Plus actives are extremely quiet, which reduces/eliminates the need for noise gates. Some people find the 81 too bright... but I found running them with the tone on 7 or 8 fixed that problem...
 
bk cold sweat set in a big sounding les paul is hard to beat
and I had dozens of pickups in les pauls, including other BKPs and motor cities

the bridge pup reminds me a bit of the duncan sh-5 and the bill lawrence, but it has its own thing
the top is quite bright without sounding spikey, and the midrange is crunchy and very balanced, instead of muddy and too mid heavy like a sh-6 or 500t or too scooped like the lawrence
just the right amount of low end

for me, it's the perfect ceramic pup for a les paul, unless you want something extreme

I loved the holy diver as well, but it's completely different tone
the riff raff is also in my top 3 les paul pickups
 
I personally hate cera,ic even though I play metal. Alnico just has more character and harmonic complexity. I feel that with today's pickup choices you could tailor any alnico for metal without having to resort to ceramic.
 
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