Ceramic Bar verses Alnico 5 Bar

GuitarGuru88

GuitarGuru88

New member
Ok guys,

I have yet another question. What is the difference between the sound of a Ceramic Bar Pickup and a Alnico 5 Bar pickup? :question:

Are there any major differences?

What is better for Metal/Punk Rock?

Tonal Qualities?

Thanks again guys!

Any good pickup combos? either ceramic or Alnico or both?

:headbang:
 
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Re: Ceramic Bar verses Alnico 5 Bar

Ceramic bar is brighter, more emphasis on upper midrange

Alnico 5 has a lot of bass on bottom and glass on top, less in the way of mids. Both are stronger magnets and will provide plenty of output, though the ceramic does have more.

Invaders have ceramic mags, and I hear about them being used in punk all the time. Some of those guys use the Duncan Custom too.
 
Re: Ceramic Bar verses Alnico 5 Bar

GuitarGuru88 said:
Ah so not so good for Rhythem guitarist huh. Oh well Alnico it is.
Click to expand...

Why not? I play plenty of rhythm with my Custom.

Ceramics are brighter, but they do have lots of midrange and can go chugga chugga.

They don't necesarily have LESS bass mind you, just more mids.
 
Re: Ceramic Bar verses Alnico 5 Bar

both ceramics and A5s are bright but i prefer ceramics. i never had an A5 pickup that i like. they sound a bit hard to me at high gain and gives me headaches :smack:. i think A5s emphasize the upper mids. for me ceramics sound smoother.
 
Re: Ceramic Bar verses Alnico 5 Bar

really? why?

Better harmonics?

clearer?

so what two pickups should I pair up? 2 invaders, 2 customs, 2 distourtions?
 
Re: Ceramic Bar verses Alnico 5 Bar

More compressed, so I suppose better harms too. Ceramics are plenty clear, as are A5.

Try a Distortion set. It comes with a calibrated neck pickup so you won't have to worry about volume differences. The bridge is about 16k and the neck about 12.7k.
 
Re: Ceramic Bar verses Alnico 5 Bar

The Distortion, Custom, Invader & Dimebucker are ceramic. JB, '59, Custom 5, Screamin Demon, Full Shred are Alnico 5, if that gives you some idea of tonal differences.

My advice would be don't worry about the type of magnet. It's interesting to note the differences, but don't get hung up on little details, or develp prejudices based on stuff like that. Lots of people on here go, "Oh, that's ceramic" or "that's not mahogany" and totally ignore stuff that could totally rule.
 
Re: Ceramic Bar verses Alnico 5 Bar

JB_From_Hell said:
The Distortion, Custom, Invader & Dimebucker are ceramic. JB, '59, Custom 5, Screamin Demon, Full Shred are Alnico 5, if that gives you some idea of tonal differences.

My advice would be don't worry about the type of magnet. It's interesting to note the differences, but don't get hung up on little details, or develp prejudices based on stuff like that. Lots of people on here go, "Oh, that's ceramic" or "that's not mahogany" and totally ignore stuff that could totally rule.
Click to expand...
A super distortion, evolution, and other "hot" pickups are ceramic. Most PAF pickups (that I've encountered) are Alnico V. Alnico V is a nice compromise between Alnico II and ceramic, I think. Oh yeah, JB, I prefer a mahogany/maple top body.
 
Re: Ceramic Bar verses Alnico 5 Bar

Distortion/'59 would do ya pretty well. It's pretty hard to go wrong with Seymour's favorite combo (JB/Jazz) as well.
 
Re: Ceramic Bar verses Alnico 5 Bar

GuitarGuru88 said:
what about a 59 (neck) JB (bridge) combo?
Click to expand...
I tried JB, DD, Custom in the bridge / 59, Jazz, and DD in the neck.
(different n/b combos) All of them worked fine for metal,
but since I palm mute and down tune I was getting muddy sounds playing rhythm whith some combos. What I ended up with was a SH-5b/SH-6n in my Jackson and a SH-6b/SH-2n in my Schecter. I don't down tune the Schecter as much as the Jackson. IMO the JB and 59 didn't work as well as the others.
 
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