Alnico 5 vs Alnico 8

[pittbull]

How they differ sound wise

[Chistopher]

It largely depends on the specific pickup, but in general A8 and A5 both have a good amount of bass, A5 has a broad scoop to the mids, A8 has a more narrow boost to the upper mids (ie "clang"), A5 has a lot of high treble, A8 has a moderate amount of high treble. These descriptions are based upon my experience with mostly moderate output pickups.

[pittbull]

So the alnico 5 will have more treble/ brightness

[Clint 55]

A5 is viable, A8 sux.

[Rex_Rocker]

IMO, Alnico 8 sounds fatter, but not necessarily darker. It has high-end, it's just that it has more lows and low mids to counter it.

IMO, Alnico 5 sounds more Alnico-like, if that makes any sense.

[Clint 55]

A8 is just aggressive in a kind of sterile and not that pleasing of a way, like ceramic. It's grittier tho. It has a bunch of lows, low mids, mids, and some highs. It's if you purposely want some raw **** rather than a nice tone.

[nienturi]

My first impression about A8 was "overpowered A2"

[GuitarDoc]

I've used a lot of A8 mags over the past 10-15 years and I think you've all mentioned some of the same characteristics that I've noticed...except Clint. It doesn't sound in the LEAST bit like a ceramic and it certainly doesn't sound "sterile" AT ALL!!

A8 sounds fatter, more powerful, less of a scoop than A5. It has some of the A2 quality in it (meaning that it sounds soft as compared to "gritty"). Soft, but it still has a good bright high end, just not as piercing as an A5.

I pretty much agree with the statement that it sounds "like an A5 on steroids". Like the difference between a Custom 5 and a Custom 8 pup.

An A8 has a lot of character...not sterile or brittle sounding and the highs are not that saw-blade-sharp-piercing and painful ready-to-go-out-of-control-at-any-moment attack of a ceramic.

If I have an A5 pup that sounds pretty good but just needs a bit more output and body to it, an A8 is the answer.