I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

[blueman335]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

Isn't the Brobucker an A5? I love that pickup.

I put an UOA5 in mine. I like it better that way. More texture and character.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

I put an UOA5 in mine. I like it better that way. More texture and character.

I have one in my SG and it has been great stock..Just a perfect match in my SG.

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

Wrong. It's the magnet PU makers have gotten used to, likewise with many players. A lot can be done with other magnets, but there's a comfort level that exists with A5's. Don't forget that when it comes to magnets, PU makers are a conservative bunch, and prefer to dial in their tones thru windings instead. Many PU makers use only one kind of alnico in their whole line, a few will use two. Force of habit. When creating a new PU, they start with a few constants and change the winding rather than the magnet. Some of the less perceptive assume that that means the other alnicos have nothing to offer.

Like any magnet, it has shortcomings. It's frequently too bright and thin for the bridge slot, and often too bassy for the neck. It's popularity has more to do with it's fairly high output and firm low end than anything else. Alnico 2, 3, and 4 were also used in the original PAF's, proof that they're viable (Lindy Fralin is a huge A4 fan). As has been proven here, A8's can work out well in some bridge PU's.

This forum and others like it have a subtle influence on PU makers. We experiment with PU/magnet combinations, things that PU makers don't have the resources to do to the extent that we do. Since I've been here, Duncan has added an A8 and A3 PU to their line. Gibson has started using A3's. Little by little the other alnicos are becoming mainstream. They've sat on the back burner for decades, but are slowly being reintroduced to a new generation of players.

Now, SD custom shop started using a4's (in an original design) as well...

http://customshop.seymourduncan.com/eclair/

B

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

I am a big fan of degaussed (but shiney) a5's and a4s in bridge PAF clones that measure more than 8.75K. Alnico 2 around 8.30K-8.50K for the bridge slot is also great, but a different taste. In the neck, my favorites are degaussed a2's, a3's and a4's.

To me a5 sounds kinda too in your face you know... I love it in my PATB-3. But that bucker is "different", so it does not count.

B

 

[blueman335]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

I have one in my SG and it has been great stock..Just a perfect match in my SG.

An A5 or UOA5?

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

Alnico 5 has got to be my most hated magnet in humbuckers. I've tried a whole bunch of very different pickups that use A5 mags over the course of my guitaring life.
With the exception of the Full Shred, every other A5 humbucker I've tried has been either honky in the mids, shrill in the highs, too fat/warm/boomy in the lows or a mix of all of the above. Now I know that the wind, the wire, the polepieces, baseplate, yada yada yada all of has a huge effect on the final sound, but I just can't jive with most A5 pickups.
So I have to ask, why are they so widely used by pickup makers? Is it just the output (high but not too high)? I figure it must be, cuz IME, the EQ is probably the most unbalanced, unmusical of all the Alnicos I've tried (2, 3, 4, 5, 8)

First, where are your statistics? Second, there are guitar woods that have lots of mids, and if A5s in general tend to sound scooped, they work good in guitars with lots, or even too much, mid range. I love how my basswood Showmaster makes up for scooped mids: pickups sound "normal" in it. I think it's more your ears than anything. That's why there's variety in pickups. Me, I love the A5 sound and A2 sound. My ears aren't yours, yours aren't everyone else's, etc.

I think God loves variety. Me, I like variety, too.

 

[blueman335]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

First, where are your statistics?

There are no stats, no laboratory tests by guys in white lab coats. Tone is subjective. Either we like something or we don't.

 

[JOEBACCA]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

I don't know if the FS and C5 are actually the same wind, but double screw coils does alter a pickup quite a bit (compared to a standard slug/screw of the same type). Usually warmer in my experience, and being double short hexes would take that tubby ass out of it.

The FS still lacks the midrange that I'm looking for with the stock magnet though.

This is straight from Frank Falbo: https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?86789-custom-vs-fullshred-bridge&highlight=custom%20fullshred%20bridge

I have the FS and a C5 in two of my guitars. Both guitars are very similar in construction, my Ibanez Iceman which is a 5 piece Maple Walnut Neck Thru, Rosewood Fretboard with Mahogany Wings has the FS. My Schecter Ultra DD has a 5 piece Maple Walnut Neck Thru, Ebony Fretboard with Mahogany Wings. Both guitars are tuned to Drop C with D'Addarrio .56-.11's.

What I like about the C5 is that I can let my amp handle the midrange (Carvin V3 with JJ Tubes) and the pickup stays clear and precise. I had no problem with it cutting in a band mix. I like the C5's presence, the bass response is different in that the note blooms a little...a palm mute sounds like OOOoomm for lack of a better description. Some love it, some hate it. The cleans are easily the most pleasant and useable of any Duncan Mid to High Output Bridge Bucker IMO.

The FS is more balanced for sure and is clearer under high gain in comparison to the C5, but not by much. The FS bass response is subdued, it has more of a harder attack and is ultra tight. The FS doesn't have a ton of mids, in fact this is where I think the FS and C5 are very similar, both react well to amps that have plenty of midrange on tap to compensate. I dig both of them.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

There are no stats, no laboratory tests by guys in white lab coats. Tone is subjective. Either we like something or we don't.

No, challenging his assertion that A5 is the most hated magnet type.

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk

 

[uOpt]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

I'm with you. Not couting boutique pickups where the alnico variant doesn't count most of my stuff is now A2 or ceramic.

Probably another reason why DiMarzio is not for me.

 

[blueman335]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

No, challenging his assertion that A5 is the most hated magnet type.

Okay, I agree with that. Since A5's are by far the most used alnicos, it's hard to believe that they would be the most hated. Besides, most players have no idea what model of PU's are in their guitars, let alone what kind of magnets are in them.