Zhangliqun
Questionologist
I now know that I can really trust Wicked Lester's ear. His description of the Alnico 8 tone is eerily dead-on. It's the wonder magnet, combining all the best qualities of Alnico 2, 5, and ceramic with none of the drawbacks:
It has Alnico 2 sweetness and smoothness (without weakness), Alnico 5 upper-mid grind and bite (without the mid-scoop), and ceramic tight bottom and POWER (without harshness).
The one conceivable drawback is this particular batch of mags is pretty strong so it might not work too well in a neck pu -- string pull could be a problem in the neck position. Even in the bridge of my Les Paul I noticed an ever-so-slight loss of sustain on the high frets, but only because I was checking for it. If someone had told me it was an Alnico 5, I wouldn't have noticed. I backed the pickup off just a touch and it wasn't a problem anymore.
(One solution would be a partially de-gaussed Alnico 8, which I bet is what Ibanez was using back in the day. Presumably you'd have the same tone, just with a little less output -- and less string pull.)
But beyond that very minor issue, this really is the Wonder Mag. So you're wondering, if it's so great, why don't Seymour and others use this magnet? Answer: They're about 3 times as expensive. They were $5.99 a piece from Allstar, which sells it's Alnico 2/3/4/5 at $2.00 a piece.
It has Alnico 2 sweetness and smoothness (without weakness), Alnico 5 upper-mid grind and bite (without the mid-scoop), and ceramic tight bottom and POWER (without harshness).
The one conceivable drawback is this particular batch of mags is pretty strong so it might not work too well in a neck pu -- string pull could be a problem in the neck position. Even in the bridge of my Les Paul I noticed an ever-so-slight loss of sustain on the high frets, but only because I was checking for it. If someone had told me it was an Alnico 5, I wouldn't have noticed. I backed the pickup off just a touch and it wasn't a problem anymore.
(One solution would be a partially de-gaussed Alnico 8, which I bet is what Ibanez was using back in the day. Presumably you'd have the same tone, just with a little less output -- and less string pull.)
But beyond that very minor issue, this really is the Wonder Mag. So you're wondering, if it's so great, why don't Seymour and others use this magnet? Answer: They're about 3 times as expensive. They were $5.99 a piece from Allstar, which sells it's Alnico 2/3/4/5 at $2.00 a piece.
