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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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 :)
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 🤘
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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...
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.
@@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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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 😉
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...
The 4's had the best pitch balance and clarity on what we are hearing from RUclips. 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.
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.
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.
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.
It's actually crazy how a little magnet can affect tone, I've now found my 3 favorites, Alnico 8, 5, and 3. It astonished me the subtle but also very apparant differences each had, I felt the Alnico 8 had more gain and just a more distorted tone which I adore, but I love the balance of the Alnico 5 and the Alnico 3 was a nice inbetween of the Alice 5 and 2 for me
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.
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
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.
I love Alnico V and on the last test was the best so far (my taste). Thank you so much for the best comparation I've ever seen, the most accurate it on RUclips as you always do.
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.
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!
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.
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 ;-)
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).
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.
Also take into account that RUclips heavily compresses the audio, so you really aren't getting the full story (even with really neutral and clean high end headphones).
Clean = AlNiCo 3 (It sounds full and warm) Dirty = Torn between A2, A4, and A8 (All are bright but not tinny) High Gain = A3 or A8 I would go A3 in the neck and A4 in the bridge. If middle is an option, I would probably go for. Now, if I could afford eight guitars, each with a different set of magnets, I totally would! Also, great video. The difference between magnets was never really clear to me. I’ve seen videos similar to this, but they never did it with the same pickup(s). This has really helped me in choosing pickup magnets. P.S. I am going to have to watch this video again when I get flat response headphones/speakers.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@@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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@@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.
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.
Ever since playing a SD Alternative 8 I’ve been a huge fan of Alnico 8 magnets. This isn’t the best video to highlight them imo, but still well done. I mainly play metal, and have played many A5 and Ceramic pups over the years, from bad to great. I love the warmth from the A5 and the attack from Ceramic, but never found a perfect combo. Until I played an A8 pickup. They actually resemble an A2 in frequency curve more than an A5 to my ears. Nice vocal and sweet midrange. But you get the tightness and attack of a ceramic mag, I just love A8 magnets.
Couple of things. 1) Love this dude's accent. 2) My experience has told me A3 for singles and A2 for 'buckers are the sounds that work best for me. Thanks for the vid!
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.
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.
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!!!
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!
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.
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.
You are nor crazy you are just smart and have good ears, Ceramic is better and it doesn't change during the time period also it have constant sound no matter were you play, with alnico in a sunny hot day VS cold day sound will be different. People listen pickups gurus who have interest in selling things, but ceramic rules. There are other options but IMHO go with ceramic you will be just fine, better clen sound and for sure better OD and DS.
@@simonj.1812 those are great pickups, unfortunately people throw them out due to BS and nonsense served by profit hungry producers. One of the problems why ceramic pickups are so hatted is due to in 70's and 80's in japan some superior ceramic versions of single coils and humbuckers appeared, of course you can guess who didn't like that.Since then hunt against ceramic is on. Another reason is that ceramic is cheaper but it wasn't' like that always. My favorite uber stupid reason is ''alinico is more natural'' ☺ LOL alnico is aloy while for ceramic you could say it is made out of natural iron oxide. So keep those mexicans and enjoy that is my honest opinion as person who deal with pickups almost 30 years.
That's truly THE comparison video I dreamed about all my guitarist life !
I have alinco V pickups on my squier SSS configuration like the one in my PF you see
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.
Exactly! That was really interesting 😃
Would love to see this in the bridge position too!
Well, we all want you to get ahead.
Clean:
Alnico 2 - 2:58
Alnico 3 - 3:07
Alnico 4 - 3:15
Alnico 5 - 3:24
Alnico 8 - 3:31
Ceramic 8 - 3:39
Medium gain:
Alnico 2 - 5:26
Alnico 3 - 5:38
Alnico 4 - 5:50
Alnico 5 - 6:01
Alnico 8 - 6:12
Ceramic 8 - 6:24
High gain:
Alnico 2 -
7:50
Alnico 3 -
8:06
Alnico 4 -
8:22
Alnico 5 -
8:39
Alnico 8 -
8:56
Ceramic 8 - 9:13
you deserve a beer!
Wouldn't call it high gain
Geez thanks man
You da man. Thank you.
Thank you
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.
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
Me too
Seymour Duncan Custom 4C Antiquities are Alnico IIs
Donald Parker I’m with you. Extra hot winds suffer tonally. I love the Duncan 5 twos in a Tele
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.
Busted out my monitoring headphones. Huge difference once you have headphones on. 3's are my fav
Same here!
Don't forget to add &fmt=18 to the URL for better audio (sometimes)
@@MrZachalewel That is interesting, but I don´t know what you mean?? What is &fmt?
@@kimhansen6384it is a url parameter for uncompressed audio. You paste it on the end of the URL, hit enter.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Personally I feel that Alnico 5 gives you the best of all worlds across the board. Most versatile tone capability for all genres.
Alnico 2 or 5 for sound like slash?
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 :)
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 🤘
I'm really liking the A3!
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.
I'm with you, toss up between 2 and 3 for me...
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.
Please do this comparison in the bridge pickup position
Yes!!! Thats pretty much where I live!
Yes, please! 🤘🏻
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.
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.
Like 4 best also
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.
@@stroopwafel6141 I agree. That riff was too close to the nut for a high gain neck Pup IMO
Same here A4 passed each test in my eyes.
I think that dynamics need to be taken into consideration also. That's where Alnico IV can step up.
AlNiCo-III was my favorite in all three tests. It just sounds warmer than the others to me.
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.
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.
I’m going to name my first son Al Nico
Yeah, I'm going to have my son name my grandson, Alnico II
Your child will rebel and call himself Ceramic.
@@ansol68 lmao
@@Supperconductor sir amic 😁
@SQUIRE LOVA LOL!
I've never seen or heard a demo anything like this. It's genius. Well done.
Alnico II rules. I hate hot pickups. You can always add dirt. You can't add clean.
too mid-rangie for my taste
Yeah alnico II was a clear winner for cleans imho
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
If only we had some way to turn the volume down....like a knob or something
My Duncans don´t have that problem, actually.
ALNICO IV for me, clear note separation and warm at the same time.
Nice one, I thought exactly the same thing. They sounded really good.
And you get drive and fullness without the harsh fuzzy overdrive tone
Came Standard in G&L's ALNICO "S" (for Session) ASAT, and why I bought it.
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...
My favorites were 3 for clean, 4/3 for blues rock, and 8/ceramic for high gain. Nice test. This stuff is invaluable
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.
So do you have any experience with pickup magnets?
Thanks for the information. Very interesting.
u should make vid 'bout that..
Maybe that vid will be your "one hit wonder" in Yt..
@@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.
@@goneflying140 I believe it, judging by how much his pickups cost!😁
I wish the last test would have been in the bridge position. There was just too much bass from the neck position.
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!
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!
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.
I kind of disagree.
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.
Wood makes a noticeable difference e to anyone with a decent ear. Might wanna work on that ;)
@@benink5690 Should be really easy to prove by removing all variables and using waveforms then. I wonder why nobody ever does...
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!
Thanks Jeff!
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.
One of the most informative gear videos I’ve come across. Definitely in the top 5. Way to go!
Thanks!
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 😉
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...
The 4's had the best pitch balance and clarity on what we are hearing from RUclips. 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.
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.
@@mendBOT yes sir. only good for crunch and dirt.
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
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.
Awesome video idea Darrell, thanks for that! You're a heck of a guitarist too brother!
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.
It's actually crazy how a little magnet can affect tone, I've now found my 3 favorites, Alnico 8, 5, and 3. It astonished me the subtle but also very apparant differences each had, I felt the Alnico 8 had more gain and just a more distorted tone which I adore, but I love the balance of the Alnico 5 and the Alnico 3 was a nice inbetween of the Alice 5 and 2 for me
I really liked:
Clean: A4, C8
OD: A2
Saturated: A3, A5, A8, and C8
This made me want to buy 3 guitars with 3 pickup configurations. 3, 5 and 8. And I appreciated that you shared your thoughts.
I have a Strat with stock A5 and a second Strat (bargain) that I am going to fit A2 (Tonerider AII Blues).
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.
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
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.
Through my headphones the Alnico II just had a clarity I liked. Great video.
I love Alnico V and on the last test was the best so far (my taste). Thank you so much for the best comparation I've ever seen, the most accurate it on RUclips as you always do.
Dang, this is indeed a very in depth comparison and analysis man! Now I want them all haha!
Lol yeah great info but still hard choices
Amazing Effort, Darrel. Thanks for feeding our Gear obsession
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.
Really brilliant test. Not sure whether it'll influence future purchases but get way to test kudos to Darkmoon
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!
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.
2) 3:00
3) 3:07
4) 3:15
5) 3:23
8) 3:31
C) 3:38
2) 5:27
3) 5:38
4) 5:50
5) 6:01
8) 6:13
C) 6:25
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 ;-)
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).
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.
Also take into account that RUclips heavily compresses the audio, so you really aren't getting the full story (even with really neutral and clean high end headphones).
Also depends on the wind, some manufacturers wind them hotter so you could get 2 dif A3s one higher and one lower output
Clean = AlNiCo 3 (It sounds full and warm)
Dirty = Torn between A2, A4, and A8 (All are bright but not tinny)
High Gain = A3 or A8
I would go A3 in the neck and A4 in the bridge. If middle is an option, I would probably go for.
Now, if I could afford eight guitars, each with a different set of magnets, I totally would!
Also, great video. The difference between magnets was never really clear to me. I’ve seen videos similar to this, but they never did it with the same pickup(s). This has really helped me in choosing pickup magnets.
P.S.
I am going to have to watch this video again when I get flat response headphones/speakers.
It seems that they get progressively hotter. Would be interesting to see this done with single coils, if that were possible. Great video!
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.
@@simonr7097 but could you do the same thing and have the magnet on the bottom? That's how ceramic single coils are.
@@donovanowen3089 that's basically what a P90 is
Thank you for taking the time to do this. My ears still gravitate to Alnico IIs for best/most versatile overall PUP.
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
I agree! Really need quick switching so the ears don't forget the last tone.
Dude, phenomenally well done. Like others have already said, this is what we all needed when we searched this topic!
Alnico III for me. When it comes to overdrive and distortion I believe the bridge pickups would have been a better choice to model.
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.
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
I'm getting ready to do that to my Pearly Gates pups as soon as the magnets arrive.
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.
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.
Great video ,!!! thank you Darrel , without a doubt THE best youtube video about guitar pickups magnets xD
Absolutely the best comparison video I've ever seen. This will really help me focus my pup choices in the future.
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.
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.
Thanks NK!
DARKMOON IS REALLY AWESOME! I NEVER SEE THINGS LIKE THAT!
Alnico II and Ceramic VIII for me - very polarised but these two were (used in different scenarios) my favourite out and out tone.
That. Was. AWESOME!
Today I like the A3. Tomorrow maybe the A2.😅
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.
Neck position on a LP can be mushy, loved the A2. Bridge is where A5 rules. Thanks, great test!
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.
@@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.
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.
Alnico 2 - clean: 02:59 overdrive: 05:26 distortion: 07:50
Alnico 5 - clean: 03:23 overdrive: 06:01 distortion: 08:39
Bruh.. this video just had me realize i like A3 way more than the popular A5
Me too
Yeah. Me too.
Try A4 !
I put A3's into Burstbucker pros last night. Huge difference in frequency response and feel. Keeper!
I've been looking for a video comparison like this for YEARS. Thank you so much!
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.
agree
Great video.... you are dispelling myths with every video you come out with thanks for for all the effort!!
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.
Very true.
I also agree. EQ tweaking can get you similar if not the same results.
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.
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.
@@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.
Tests like this once again prove why Darrell is the top RUclips guitar video guy hands down.
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.
Alnico 2 all the way, what a revelation!! 😀😀 thank you Darrel!
As always, just a great video. I really wonder what the 4 guys that didn't like it had in mind.
Overall, have to say the A2s were my favs. Just liked their soulful sound.
Another excellent presentation, Darrell.
Great video. My ear prefers the A2.
Ever since playing a SD Alternative 8 I’ve been a huge fan of Alnico 8 magnets.
This isn’t the best video to highlight them imo, but still well done.
I mainly play metal, and have played many A5 and Ceramic pups over the years, from bad to great.
I love the warmth from the A5 and the attack from Ceramic, but never found a perfect combo. Until I played an A8 pickup.
They actually resemble an A2 in frequency curve more than an A5 to my ears. Nice vocal and sweet midrange.
But you get the tightness and attack of a ceramic mag, I just love A8 magnets.
Be awesome if you could do the same with a bridge pickup :)
What's stopping you?
Couple of things. 1) Love this dude's accent. 2) My experience has told me A3 for singles and A2 for 'buckers are the sounds that work best for me. Thanks for the vid!
the Paul Harrell of the guitar world lol. For those of you who know, you know. Keep up the great work!
Paul and Darrell for when you really want to know.
This is the answer I’d been waiting for, for months! Thank you sir for this full rundown👍
Alnico 5s for me. Alnico 2s sound really good too.
This is one of the best, most scientific guitar videos I've seen. Great work Darrell.
Thanks!
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.
Agree and its super easy to gauss and degauss.
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.
Great video, but what about A5 unoriented❓
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!!!
Neck pickups should never be hot. Even when playing fairly heavy music. I would be way more interested in the effect on bridge position
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!
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.
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.
Those tones are TASTY to my Ears.That ceramic will surprise you, pending on the guitar.mmmm
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.
A2 2:58
A3 3:07
A4 3:15
A5 3:23
A8 3:30
C8 3:38
Excellent comparison Darrell. Thank you for posting this. This is great insight as how the pickups behave. Great job.
call me crazy but I liked the Ceramic
I love the ceramics in my Made in Mexico Strat, like them better than the American Strats
You are nor crazy you are just smart and have good ears, Ceramic is better and it doesn't change during the time period also it have constant sound no matter were you play, with alnico in a sunny hot day VS cold day sound will be different. People listen pickups gurus who have interest in selling things, but ceramic rules. There are other options but IMHO go with ceramic you will be just fine, better clen sound and for sure better OD and DS.
@@simonj.1812 those are great pickups, unfortunately people throw them out due to BS and nonsense served by profit hungry producers. One of the problems why ceramic pickups are so hatted is due to in 70's and 80's in japan some superior ceramic versions of single coils and humbuckers appeared, of course you can guess who didn't like that.Since then hunt against ceramic is on. Another reason is that ceramic is cheaper but it wasn't' like that always. My favorite uber stupid reason is ''alinico is more natural'' ☺ LOL alnico is aloy while for ceramic you could say it is made out of natural iron oxide. So keep those mexicans and enjoy that is my honest opinion as person who deal with pickups almost 30 years.