Ceramic or Alnico Pickups - What sounds better to you?
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
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You're young, you have good ears. No? Ok don't worry about it. Just play along. Let's see if you can hear the difference between Alnico and Ceramic single coil pickups in this completely un-scientific blind tone challenge.
Also stick around because I'm announcing the winner of the Donner DST-100r giveaway featured in this video: • A New Guitar For You! ...
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I had ceramics in my 90 MIM Strat. I pulled them and replaced them with SCN noiseless. I realized I actually liked the ceramic sound so much that I didn’t throw them away. I kept them in a box, for 10 years. I ended up putting them in a 73 Mustang where they still are. They are much more usable than the original weak alnico pickups that were in it originally. Nice bite and more bass.
Yeah I could tell the difference. Ceramic is the superior magnet so the output is much higher. I used to prefer ceramics when I first started playing guitar, but now I've grown to prefer alnicos. The output on ceramic pickups was just too scratchy for me. It's definitely my playing's fault, but I found that alnico pickups are a lot more forgiving in that aspect. Plus I get a lot more granular control with soft and hard notes since the output isn't so high.
And having less output isn't a problem because you've got a volume knob on your amp for that. I gotta say I'm pretty happy with my decision to switch to alnico pickups a few years ago. They're not as good magnets as ceramics, but I think they're perfect for guitar pickups. A lot easier to dial in classic rock tones with them too. ;)
Some ceramics are awesome. I built a SD Everything Axe which consists of a Lil 59 neck, a DuckBucker Middle, and a JB Jr Bridge but I put a Pearly Gates for Strat in the Bridge. That guitar sounds so great, just tons of tone!
Alnico's "X" had more treble and bite while Ceramic "Y" were duller and more "blah" - "yeah I work, but not as responsive or colorfull". I will stick to Alnico's on preferences. Your video reverified what I picked in past. Alnico II, III, IV pickups Classics
I’m probably a bit wonky but I actually preferred the Donner ceramics on my TV speakers - wow !!! Congratulations Sarah 👏👏👏
Gotta say, guitar x sounded better. Full and less harsh. I just like those alnicos man! Nice video. Thanks.
I got so distracted by the video playing upside down that I almost forgot to listen for the sound demos!!! hahahahaha!!!
I got it wrong because X was much louder than Y. Because it was louder, I expected that to be the ceramic guitar. I thought the cleans were nicer on X, but it sounded like the drive was clipping on X, and the overall gain tone was just nicer on Y.
Ceramic has a harsh tone, especially in the treble, for certain type of sounds it can be great, mostly in distorision. Alnicos are sweeter and more musical to my ear, and the choice between II, III, IV and V are noticable. Alnico II are my favourites.
This one was a bit "too obvious" but i still believe we all need a strat with Ceramic for some stuff (less high /less harsh high on drive/ less definition) to record the 3rd layer of guitars or something... AlNico's are very "in your face" for 2nd rhythm guitar for example.
i guess...
guitar x is alnico
guitar y is ceramic
if i described both pickups, it'll be like this :
ceramic : modern sounding (smoother), warmer, bassier, sometimes it'll sound muddy if the pickup is too close to the strings
alnico 5 : vintage sounding (sharper), brighter, twangier, treblier, rich of clarity, less bass, bell like tone
cool thanks for the sharing!
4:41 is that Street spirit
Edit: I recognize so many those Radiohead songs
Alnico pickups do give that vintage vibe
Ceramic was louder and more muddy to my ears of that makes sense. The Alnicos were bright and crisp to my ears. My favorite is Martin. 👍🏽
Strange that in this video they are not louder and not reall muddy... I have ceramic pickups from a 2009 Squier Bullet (branded SEM) and they are great compared to my wilkinson WVS 60 pickups.
@@dawoud8013 He’s trolling, He said his favorite was Martin.
Y WAS BEST FOR ME. IT WAS WARMER AND HAD A VERY SLIGHT REVERB VIBE. X WAS A LOT CLEARER BUT SOUNDED CHEAP TO MY EAR.
I LIKE A MORE BALLSY SOUND. NO SHADOWS FOR ME THANKS.
It is really hard to hide the humbucker on Y. Alnico seems to be a bit hotter, but not necessarily better. Congratulations, Sarah!!
I did see the results, so, my pick is x=alnico. Much more defined sound and broader frequency response. I prefer alnicos on my guitars, but also have ceramic for lots of genre defined recordings. Nice review and cheers to the guitar winner! Thanks Landon!
I had a MIM Strat with ceramic pickups and I LOVED them. I also had ceramic humbuckers in a G&L and I hated them.
Blind comparisons make me uncomfortable, but that's kind of your channel in a nutshell, so, good job.
I got it right, but the humbucker gave it away. I wasn’t sure which was the Alnico or the Ceramic but I could hear a difference.
I got both an Affinity with ceramics & a Classic Vibe with Alnico pups.
They both sound good, but different. "Horses for Courses". I wouldn't be without either.
Is Y the Donner? With the bridge pickup being a humbucker, it sounds deeper than x.
I think it's really a push, the differences I heard was probably more due to the specific setup, could be pickup height, action height differences, pot differences, basically just a cumulative difference of the entire guitar build & setup. I preferred Alnico on some of the settings, ceramics on others. This is one reason I don't swap parts out on a guitar unless they're broken really. If a pickup is mocrophonic & I've rarely ever had that happen. Really get that with a sub $ 100, but even with those it's rare to get that pickup that is poorly potted or defectively wound.
I recently bought a Tele that had a looser & rattly neck pickup cover & the bridge bobbin top flatwear piece wasn't flat for that pickup. Both easily fixable with gentle & minor surgery to take them apart and fix the issue. Whether it was a curled/warped bobbin, flatware part or it needed a little more or less wax for the potting on the top of the pickup. That Tele plays about as good as any other Tele on the planet, even one's priced hundreds & thousands more. The more I adjust & noodle around, with a guitar setup, it would have to really be poorly constructed & aligned for them to sound awful. If the alignment is correct, the setup is the difference maker. Even perceived cheaper strings that many whine about, seem to matter less when the guitar is properly aligned from the tuners to bridge, also setup & played in.
I was right because i know the fender very well..
But now i knew more what is facifica all bout...
Thanks bro..thats helps alot
Alnico, it's just better.
It was easy for me, I play my player series strat way too much to not notice.
Do magnets really have tone? Will it matter especially when the magnet is a bar type and the magnetic pull on the strings is conveyed through steel pole pieces? For similar components, a stronger magnet (ceramic) will give a higher pickup output. Similarly, raising the pickup height will increase output as well. Real tone is affected by other factors.
Why is it every time I see an X and Y comparison video...I think of Algebra and get nervous about failing at math? If train X carrying 450 Fender guitars is heading west at 80 MPH directly towards another train heading east going 450 MPH that is carrying 80 Donner guitars, how many Michael Bolt-ons hits does it take to win a Grammy? Well, DUH! The answer of course is just 1 upside-down Landon doing a blurry unboxing video. Also, those alnico pickups sounded pretty good in my opinion. You know you wanted my opinion. You asked for it. Also, congratulations to Sarah Conor for winning the guitar. I hope it helps you to defeat the Terminator and stop judgement day from coming.
It was Sarah Gardiner
@@davidkastin4240 my bad. Sarah Gardiner, good luck with the T-1000's. 🤣
Michael definitely has a set-neck.
@@michaelrendon6808 This is the tale...of Captain Jack Sparrow - pirate so brave on the seven seas....
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I often get fooled on these blind tests, but I got this one right. The ceramics are slightly more "harsh". Not a huge difference, but enough.
Ahhh "Doesn't Remind Me" by Audioslave. Very nice!
Ok Landon I’ll subscribe, you seem to be entertaining enough I’ll watch for a while. You should make 50,000 in no time. Oh I was wondering if you ever tried the Slick brand guitars? I here they play well over there price point.
Yes you can hear a difference definitely
Hey, well done Sarah!! Enjoy!
Hey, I got it right... probably because of my Squier CV 70s with Alnicos. Sounded familiar
Shawicked vid I could use a classic vibe for sure. Cheers ! Just subbed, Have you tried the Greg Bennett Samick's out ?
cheers! I haven't heard of that
@@landonbailey A good cheap guit for sure.
I had no idea, what was what, BUT thought X (the alnico apparently), was the best sounding one on almost every sound! It was the clearest, most defined and also the loudest for the most part. Louder is not always equal BETTER, of course but it definetely helps in a comparison like this, when trying to determine the texture and definition of a sound. The loudest one tend to stand out. But then you say that ceramic PU's tend to be louder? So yeah, its a funny little comparison, and now i cant help wonder if you switched them around somehow? :-D Thanks for the effort, nonetheless! :-)
cool vibes,great guy, im subcribed.
Thanks for the sub!
X sounds awesome! Thanks for the comparison. Now I know that a Classic Vibe is what I want.
I like X, will find out which one is it
I definitely preferred X.
G'Day Landon... Enjoyed this "Session" comparison... 'X' did it for me and guess that means the Squier Alnico Pickups ??? Would not have known my preference before this Sound Test... Fave Guitar ? My "joined-at-the-hip" Vintage ESTON acoustic / electric played through a 1984 VOX Busker 10 Watt AMP... Most cheerful Guitar ? Fender Player Redondo (Spruce Top & Jade green)... and best Guitar for Quality and Tone ? CRAFTER Auditorium with Cedar Top... both played through a Fender Acoustasonic 40 Watt AMP ... Huge diff between Spruce and Cedar Tops... and... Yes... Most frustrating and exciting Guitar ? Squier BulletStrat HSS played through a Fender Blues Junior Ltd 15 Watt and Valves... (Just won't stay in tune and so have disabled the tremolo and made it a hardtail ... Still a work in progress !)... A possible Dual Humbucker is floating around in my mind ?? Suggest a "Blind" Humbucker vs P90 Test "Session" and help me decide ! 🤔Cheers ! Keep on... keeping ON ! Christie......
cheers!
X ceramic. Question: do lower output pickups allow the amp to, 'breakup', at a lower volume?
Wouldn't lower output pickups be less likely to breakup the amp at lower volume?
congrats to the lucky winner. You are really lucky to get this guitar from
Landon Bailey.
I couldn't tell the difference with youtube compression lol
Tone deaf....
Congrats to the winner👍
Can’t wait for the 50k giveaway 🤞
Awesome video by the way.
i love your humour
I thought you already did the giveaway on the Donner Strat last week. It's al nee co. I couldn't tell which was which on the tone test this time and usually I can. I love ceramic and alnico single coils and experiment with different K output pots with them with great results. I mentioned if I win the giveaway I'd give it to my son.
Al Ni Co = Aluminium , Nickel and Cobalt. Why Al Knee Coe ? 😂
Dimarzio steve morse...ceramic
Seymour Duncan jb......alnico5
Both are great.
Made sense the way R.Baker said that the guitar he gave away was part of the channel and that's why he used it in a few vids. I think you should do the same!
As for the difference in tone, I honestly think that it wouldn't make a difference if I was playing a $200 guitar and a $5000 guitar.. They all sound like garbage in my hands (working hard to change that).
Love Robert’s stuff! I did use this guitar in 3 videos total
I'm watching this after I ordered my first guitar ❤, its gonna be a strat type with alnico pickups. I honestly thought guitar X was the ceramic because of how bright it sounded. Thank you Landon
X sounded much clearer and louder. Wondering about difference in pickup height? Either way X wins. Waiting ti find out what X is....
You are amazing bro. All the best for 50k Sub.
I guessed guitar X and Y correctly only because guitar X sounded really similar to my Squier Affinity. Those ceramics sound better with dirt on than the alnicos to my ears.
👍👍👍👍👍!!! Hi Landon , nice to see you and thanks for making this video. I hope You are fine. you seem a little bit exhausted.
Ceramic is significantly harder and thinner than an Alnico pickup. if you know exactly what you want to play and how it should or must sound. You must choose the pickups accordingly. For example. I think ceramics are good for hard and aggressive sounds. modern sounds and nothing for 50s sounds ,for example. maybe for 60s sound with the right amp attitude. if i want to play 50s sound i use alnico vintage pickups. I think ceramic pickups are a little bit bad for good Strat sound. for example.
cheers! this was a while ago
Got my decision at first comparison. Had my decision final at bridge pickups. Humbuckers rlly sound different with single coils. Got it right thou
Its about the wind in relation to the material...there is good and bad in both camps.
I was wrong. Thought Y was alnico.
The Alnico pickups are distinct and bright. The highs are noticeably high and the lows are noticeably low. Gives a good vintage sound. I'd prefer it in the neck, playing something slow and clean.
The ceramic pickups are what some people would consider thin and flat, but I consider very round and smooth. The lows and highs blend very well together for a thick tone. I'd probably use it in the bridge with distortion, allowing me to get a heavy tone across all strings.
They're both great pickups, my experience with both is that sometimes with Alnico the highs are almost ear piercing through a loud amp or with headphones, you need to roll the tone and volume down a bit. And the ceramics can't quite survive on their own, I feel they're a blank canvas for tone control and effects.
I like X, guessing alnico for X. Fly by Night! I knew when I heard the bridge clean.
I have an old Epiphone Custom shop GT Les Paul. It's got ceramic pickups, trem bar and a killswitch. The whole guitar is more geared towards metal, especially the pickups. I prefer the Alnico, but I can see why people like the ceramics. They give a really bright, or really deep sound.
Hmm 🤔 All my guitars have Alnico pickups except my '96 Squier Strat that has ceramic pickups, the awful cheap ones with fake poles and an underlying bar magnet. I guess it might sound nicer with properly made alnico pickups, a new bridge , a new nut ,a body that's not made out of 16 tons of agathis(?) and tuners that work. Maybe.
The sounds were pretty clear. I liked the Donner sound better.
hii.... i have subbed your channel... and my favorite brand is fender... preferablly a vintage stratocaster
:-)
cheers!
@@landonbailey 😊😊😊😊
Y was the ceramic pickups. Ceramic is pretty distinct; not bad, but distinct. I've had cheap Squier ceramic pickups (particularly the ones that were in my Bullet Tele) that were pretty cool.
I know what you mean
I can tell which is which. The distinct difference to my ear is the mids with ceramic sound scouped. Like if you're chasing a dime bag tone turn up the bass and treble all the way upand the mids all the way down. That's what ceramic sounds like to me like someone turned the mid nob on the amp all the way down
And I don't think either sounds bad just depends on what you are looking for. Alnico is great for blues and classic rock but heavy metal ceramic is better for chugging and screaming leads
🎸👍
if u are using a good ceramic picks u can equalize the tone of ur amp and guitar increasing the bass and u get a similar sound to alnico. Alnico gives u more round sound that´s is true but when u are in a band this produces por interferences with the bass for example. So we must be careful and think about many variables that influence: the amp equalization , the context, the type of guitar u are using etc. Different colour for different tastes as we say in Spain.
I prefer ceramic to alnico in strats. They just sound more "stratty." Idk how else to put it. That bright clarity is missing from alnicos. The 2 and 4 positions sound restrained in comparison. My only problem is I have not found a quality set of ceramic strat pickups, only the generic type that come stock in lower priced strats and Strat-style guitars. If Fender sold a set of ceramics with a modern voicing, I'd be all over it in a heartbeat.
The alnicos on the Squier stood out. Donner still sounds pretty good though.
X is the Donner, so I thought. Reverend Guitars is my favorite guitar brand.
are you blind?
I picked it easy enough . The Red Guitar sounds like there is an Issue with its Set-up too , BTW .
it was shipped away for a giveaway quite a while ago!
@@landonbailey Yeah , I know . Noticed the Date Stamp after posting . Surprised to get a reply actually .
I'm surprised to see that the majority prefers Alnicos. To me Alnicos just sounded like any other guitar... Whilst the ceramics really had their own thing going on. And I think they sounded prettier clean.
Yes they do always ..... you have good ears !!!
@@berniebelsham6151 I have some old ones and they sound really good
The very simple reason why Alnico sounds like "any other guitar" because 98% of the guitar videos are recorded with Alnico vs... if you check the price range where the guitars with ceramic are it speaks for itself too..... I meant single coils, humbuckers are a different ball game
I got it right this time !!>> one tip off is the ceramics are a slightly louder, but to me the tones on both are good. Cheap ceramics sound muddy though, while even cheap ALNICO sound cleaner but have weak output. Good quality of either are more a matter of taste in my opinion.
"I will only it on somebody on Earth, its pretty standard these days"
Lol
Say again!?
🤔
I will only it on somebody on Earth, SAY WHAT NOW?
@@ZitherBeast
That's what I'm talkin' bout!
I will only ship it TO somebody on Earth. its even in the closed caption. :)
Well im not anglophone, have mercy😂
Have Fender ceramics in a mim strat and DD alnicos in a VM strat. Like them both.
Good stuff man
I called x as vintage vibe, great sounding for the price
Thanks for the giveaway, Good stuff!
Love your channel
Scientological! Always entertaining! Very fitting to play Rush-ish tunes on a Canadian channel! The classic vibe is one nice guitar, one of the best deals at that price range. 🤟
my favorite guitar company is people who made their own guitar not fabricate guitars maybe one day i can make mine. but in my country its hard to buy guitar making one is nearly imposibble :(
Much preferred X....alnico?
Thanks Landon.
2:24, for anyone interested.
Got it right!!
I determined Ceramic was Y I looked for what I seemed to have less articulation/subtleties. Having never owned a guitar with ceramic pickups before until recently the first thing I noticed was the ability to get a different sound by using more or less force was practically absent, that I do not appreciate and those pickups will be replaced sometime soon
I prefer X, which pup is that i presume Alnicos?
The ceramics in my Ibanez sound a little dead sounding, and they have unpleasant distortion after effects.
Clean they sound great, but not quite as great as my single coil Alnico.
But it is quite possible I have no idea what I'm talking about.
5:50 radiohead
X is the Alnico
I prefere alnico. I just bought a strat jv modified and they say vintage style pups but i suspect ceramic. Its hard for me to play ceramic pups. The dynamic is different and they sound cold to me. I love the strat but something is not vintage in their vintage style pickups. Dosent sound round and creamy. They sound crispy and cold and hard to play with.
The best tone I ever had was with a cheap ceramic single coil through a $29 Rogue amp. I remember heads turned. Great video again!!
smells like straight bullshit to me
@@drpelliper5818
Right , it turned heads because they were like "WTF is that noise?"
Yes!
I assume the strength of the magnet is what makes a difference, not the material it's made of. If we had a ceramic magnet and an alnico magnet with the exact same magnetic pull, and attached each to the same pickup, would there really be a difference?
i was split till you did the neck alone and then I knew which one was which.
Ceramic pickups aren't as warm to my ears but are much cleaner sounding for sure, especially when you add gain or od.
I toss back and forth over my PRS SE stock HB Bridge pup with ceramic magnet, or does it need an Alnico bar magnet or pup swap. Only way to know for sure is use the same pickup, same guitar and swap magnets and see what I like best, before blowing lots on pup swap. The Donner pups are muddy, but ceramics don't need to be, so I think your comparison says more about the Donner pups than the magnet differences. Congrats to Sarah!
I've got an older PRS se custom 22 and it sounds like ALNICO to me.
@@auntjenifer7774 Thanks. Mine's a 2008 PRSE SE SC (22 fret, 25in scale), I haven't opened the pup up to see, just read that they were, they are pretty bright sounding and loud, not warm, not thick. I also read that they're ALNICO 2 or 5, just shorter magnet 2.25in and maybe that explains the sound. PRS says the resistance is around 10K but I haven't measured it. Hard to get actual specs online for SEs so nothing definitive. What ALNICO you think they are 2 or 5?
Awesome test!
Honestly, what this has told me is that I want to use both
Ceramic in the middle with alnico either side...it'll probably sound like shit, but that's my risk to take 😂😂
I'm doing this
It depends how the pickup is wound
@@najmihakimkhairi1210 in my case, on my 1989 Korean Squier, all the original steel/ceramic pickups were wound the same way. Luckily this allowed them to be RWRP with the new Alnico5 pickups. So this guitar now has humbucking 2 4 for the first time in 32 years ;) Although it seems like the RF shielding I added (re-used some old aluminium foil) made more difference (possibly due to too much difference between pickup types)
I like both pups. Working on a project guitar soon and I'm installing an HB size Alnico 5(p90) neck and a Vintage ceramic single coil for the bridge.
@@grooveu1965 I've got a bit carried away with my RWRP success, and designed, and am now installing, a switch for serial in-phase and out of phase ;)
I can't believe I picked a ceramic (Y).over the alnico. Y sounded smoother. I'm confused. Perhaps the perceived lower volume in recorded y pickup threw me off?
Congrats man!
Obviously the Y guitar has less bass frequencies so it's the guitar with ceramic pickups. Anyway, it's the fingerboard the most affective part of the sound, so you should do the comparison with both guitars with the same fingerboard (maple or rosewood).
they would sound the same
Oh mate, what are you talking about? That's like saying the particular type of steel in the roof of a car has the biggest effect on the noise that comes out of the exhaust.
Tone wood is a myth😂