Don't like ceramics

[juka]

In general, I don't like PUs with ceramic magnets. I can't tell exactly why, but all humbuckers I have tried so far (be it active or passive) that I didn't like were ceramics.

Strange as it may seem there is only one exception to this rule: the Gibson 500T (or PRS Tremonti Treble, which is said to be at least heavily influenced by the 500T)!:nervous:

What makes me wonder: If I could find a PU that sounds close to a 500T but has alnico magnets in it, I should be in absolute PU heaven.

So my question to all you PU gurus is: Which alnico powered humbucker sounds closest to a 500T?:scratchch

:thanks:

 

[Erlend_G]

Re: Don't like ceramics

Why not get a 500T then?

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Don't like ceramics

Maybe a Custom 5?

 

[bigheadood]

Re: Don't like ceramics

The C5 does not sound like the 500t.

To me, the 500t sounds closest to the Duncan Custom, but hotter and harsher, like the Distortion.--But those are both ceramic.

I would wait for some good reviews of the new "Alternative 8" sh15 pickup.
The few descriptions I've read, seem to put in the ballpark of what you are looking for.

 

[lemonman]

Re: Don't like ceramics

Yeah , the only ceramic bucker I've ever liked is the 500T, too. You may well like A8 magnets; if you can find one over there, give it a try. Super powerful like a ceramic but without the gritty, grainy treble.

 

[Reload in 5]

Re: Don't like ceramics

Ceramics ?
Custom FTW !

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Don't like ceramics

The C5 does not sound like the 500t.

To me, the 500t sounds closest to the Duncan Custom, but hotter and harsher, like the Distortion.--But those are both ceramic.

I would wait for some good reviews of the new "Alternative 8" sh15 pickup.
The few descriptions I've read, seem to put in the ballpark of what you are looking for.

I said C5 because it's the closest Alnico bucker I can think of. The Custom is as you said ceramic so it doesn't count.

 

[bigheadood]

Re: Don't like ceramics

I think you are correct, that the C5 is closest to the 500t, in an alnico bucker, but its still not even close.

I would imagine that the sh15 does count, though not I, nor very many other people have any experience with that one.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Don't like ceramics

If you have a 500T, you should be able to find an A5 magnet in some old PU.

I agree about the 500T, it sounds better than the other ceramics I've tried. Not bad, but I did end up putting an A8 in it.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Don't like ceramics

The other thing to consider is that the 500T (like the Invader) has THREE magnets in it, not just one. The main one in the middle and two thin ones on the outside.

It's been a while since I opened one up, but if I recall right, the ceramics are slightly thicker than the standard 1/8" Alnico so if you swap in an Alnico mag, you may have to deal with minor vertical spacing issues.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Don't like ceramics

Ceramic doesn't equal bad. Alnico II doesn't equal good.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Don't like ceramics

Ceramic works very well in certain contexts but is a bit more limited than Alnico. It sounds terrible in a vintage range wind but is great with the right high output wind. Alnico works well in both vintage and hot winds.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Don't like ceramics

The 500T has SD custom-class coils (not DD class coils), although I can't tell whether it uses awg43 or 44.

In any case, it has three magnets, a large ceramic in the middle and two small ones outside screws and slugs.

The Custom 5 sounds nowhere remotely close to the 500T. I love the Custom 5 in my LP style guitar and when I put it into my Explorer (500T stock) it sounded like a guitar that couldn't make up it's mind about what it's gonna sound like. Horrible. The aggressive nature of the Explorer picked a fight with the uncontrolled dynamics of the C5, something like that.

Keep in mind that the basic questions of EQ and similar flat sound parameters are almost meaningless here. A C5 sounds very similar to a DC at low intensity playing such as fingerpicking. But when you start hitting it harder the differences come out. And at what intensity exactly that happens depends on guitar, string gauge, kind of strings and probably the phase of the moon.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Don't like ceramics

The 500T is 43 gauge.

 

[bryvincent]

Re: Don't like ceramics

What about the Gibson Tony Iommi Sig HB ? it both has ceramic and Alnico 2 magnets. and it got rave reviews too. never tried both (500T & Iommi) though.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Don't like ceramics

What about the Gibson Tony Iommi Sig HB ? it both has ceramic and Alnico 2 magnets. and it got rave reviews too. never tried both (500T & Iommi) though.

How are these magnets arranged? Like in the 500T with a big c in the middle and two undersize magnets on the outside of screws and coils?

 

[Sludgenutz]

Re: Don't like ceramics

In the Iommi, it looks like they are stacked? The wide magnet between the monting tabs look like a metal bar. Alnico?

 

[juka]

Re: Don't like ceramics

What about the Gibson Tony Iommi Sig HB ? it both has ceramic and Alnico 2 magnets. and it got rave reviews too. never tried both (500T & Iommi) though.

I don't know the Gibson version, but I once had a SHTI-1B, which alledgedly was developed as his sig PU just before he got this deal with Gibson and which is still offered through the SD custom shop, and I didn't like it at all. Soundwise it seemed much closer to the Dimebucker than to the 500T.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Don't like ceramics

In the Iommi, it looks like they are stacked? The wide magnet between the monting tabs look like a metal bar. Alnico?

Well, that brings me back to the question I asked some weeks back: if you put two magnets on top of each other aligned so that they repulse, wouldn't the ceramic demagnetize the Alnico in no time?

Maybe the purpose of the Alnico here is more that of a dummy passive piece?

 

[tc]

Re: Don't like ceramics

Just because all pickups you have tried and don't like are ceramic doesn't mean that:

a) You'll like all alnico pickups

b) You'll hate EVERY ceramic pup

If you like it, why not get a 500T? or swap in some alnico and see how it sounds?