Ceramic tone?

G

GuitarDoc

Bacteriaolgoist
All else being equal, what difference would I hear changing from a standard ceramic magnet to a double thick ceramic?

And how would each compare to an A8?
 
Shift the EQ down a little bit and make it louder. A8 is like if A2 and ceramic had a kid, sounds like a louder, stiffer A2 with more bass. It's like high bass though
 
Chistopher said:
Shift the EQ down a little bit and make it louder. A8 is like if A2 and ceramic had a kid, sounds like a louder, stiffer A2 with more bass. It's like high bass though
Click to expand...

Yeah, but would that be a boy or a girl kid? (Boys are louder and a little emphatic. Girls are quieter and softer).
 
Now I'm wondering how a pickup would sound that has a ceramic magnet, but swapped for an Alnico V. Like, the Evo-set. I love that set and now I'm curious.
 
My experience with double thick ceramic was different than alnico. Double thick ceramic does make it louder and shift the eq down a bit like usual. But it doesn't have near as much of the deepening and mellowing effect like alnico. So you can kind of feel that the double thick ceramic isn't quite as clanky as regular thickness, but it still sounds like ceramic and aggressive. I wouldn't compare it to A8 as ceramic and alnico sound totally different to me.
 
The last time I've tried double thick ceramic magnets in a pickup (a Tar Back clone that I've built), they all exhibited different Gauss/milliTesla readings on our lab meter and the sound varied consequently with each of them.

So, IMHO, it's not possible to generalize.

I'd only bet for a stronger magnetic field, since thicker magnets are most often more charged than thinner ones.

But the effect of a stronger magnetism might have noticeably different consequences according to the coils involved...
With high inductance coils like in a X2N, the power of thick ceramic overloads the whole EQing range (flat response from bass to knee frequency / resonant frequency).
With twice less inductance like in my TB clone, the sound becomes only more treble/bass heavy and therefore apparently mid scooped, the depth of the mid scoop depending on the magnetic strenght involved. With a thinner ceramic bar, magnetism is weaker and the tone seems... thinner.


A double thick A8 should be a tad weaker magnetically than ceramic but should also increase the inductance compared to a Ceramic mag or to a normal A8, since more AlNi(Co) = more ferrous content, which is the inductive component in such mags. Now, there's less iron in A8 than in any other AlNi(Co) so the inductive change shouldn't be so pronounced.

Sorry for the long answer. FWIW. YMMV. :-)
 
for my simpler mind, does it means a double ceramic with weaker coil is more scooped than the same in a stronger coil?
 
marcello252 said:
for my simpler mind, does it means a double ceramic with weaker coil is more scooped than the same in a stronger coil?
Click to expand...

IF the "weaker coil" has a Q factor high enough and if the magnetic field is not altered by Foucault currents, it should be the case, in my own mind...
 
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