I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

[blueman335]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

Since when does a magnet have a sound??

Because their magnetic field changes with the metal composition, that makes them 'read' string vibrations differently, which changes EQ and output. Windings have no sound either, without a magnet to generate a current they're useless. A magnet is as important to tone as the windings are. You can't point at one and say it doesn't 'have a sound' and that the other does. And it's much more than the 'wire size' in the windings, it's also variations in pattern and tension, and where they occur, along with the bobbin size.

 

[jake_xms3_punk]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

A5 is my favourite magnet! A2 is to chewy & smooth, A3 is too weak and chimey, A4 is too flat & boring, ceramic is too hot & compressed. A5 has plenty of life, balls & crunch. its all subjective at the end of the day.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

Originally, they probably had the biggest bang for the buck. Now, they are also seen as "normal" and "traditional" by a lot of people. Personally, I don't think you can generalize like that. I think that the tone differences between magnets come largely from differences in power, not from differences in alloy. I also think that there is probably significant variation in the exact properties of what we call the different Alnico grades. I doubt they are the same batch to batch, let alone the same as what was around 50+ years ago. I also think that someone who knows what they are doing can do a lot with the wind to get a wide variety of tones, regardless of the magnet alloy. That's why to me, speaking of the tonal differences between magnet types is only relevant when other factors are fixed; for example, when speaking of magnet swaps, with a pre-existing wind...not when speaking of selecting a new pickup or designing/building a new pickup from scratch.

 

[VHTJay]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

Man, it just goes to show how we all like and hear things very differently. It also explains how doing something like a forum pickup, or even worse, a forum guitar can be such a struggle.
King Izzo and CTN, what guitars did you boys try the Custom5 in? Just curious because I love that pickup as is and have never had any trouble getting a guitar loaded with one to sit well in a live band mix.

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

^^^That. My personal evaluation of the C5 is that it's one of the worst pickups ever.

I like plenty of A5 Dimarzios and Bareknuckles, but Duncans with A5 magnets usually seem off to me. There's a few exceptions, but most are just too no mids for my tastes.

The C5 is the ONLY time that I have ever taken an SD pup out of a guitar and returned it. I love 95% of the pickups I have heard and played from SD but.. that C5 was just a buzzy, midless, sizzling mess in my Epiphone Les Paul. The lack of mids really take a lot of the musical 'push' out of the pickup, meaning that the output is just all flooding into the highs and lows making them sharper and boomier (respectively) as you turn the gain up. Even clips I hear of it don't impress me all that much, ESPECIALLY if it's an A-B styled clip with another pickup, you immediately hear how hollow and how little cut that pickup has.

In it's defense, if you were a pure rhythm player or looking for slightly hotter cleans, it could be pretty good.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

I remember trying it in my Eclipse, an LTD mahogany neck thru super strat thing, and an SG. To me, C5 = ewww. I know people like it in SGs, but not for me.

I even play a Mark III Boogie, and apparently people can get by with scoopy pickups with that amp, but not me. I like a ton of mids though, and I don't mean just high mids. I like to have some grunt.

 

[CTN]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

I had the C5 in a hardtail alder/maple strat and also in a mahogany body/set maple neck w/ a two-point trem. Tonally they were at opposite ends of the spectrum, and the C5 sucked the large one in both guitars.

this was while I still had my ol' Jet City JCA100 (think Soldano Hot Rod100)

 

[VHTJay]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

I remember trying it in my Eclipse, an LTD mahogany neck thru super strat thing, and an SG. To me, C5 = ewww. I know people like it in SGs, but not for me.

I even play a Mark III Boogie, and apparently people can get by with scoopy pickups with that amp, but not me. I like a ton of mids though, and I don't mean just high mids. I like to have some grunt.

Haha! Well, you completely threw my theory for a loop. I was thinking, "I bet they haven't tried the C5 in a Les Paul style guitar or an SG." You obviously have, plus you're playing a Boogie mark 3. I was just curious!

 

[JeffB]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

C5 sounds good with a 300k pot (c.f. the other thread about 250k pots floating about), otherwise, yeah , yuk..worst Duncan I have ever experienced, by far. . I have had it in several really good guitars too, including a USA SC250, USA Monaco Elite and a Starla.

 

[Juanhanglo]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

You know, it just goes to show how small changes make a big difference in a pickup.

If the full shred shares the custom series' wind, and has an a5 magnet, then why is it so loved while the custom 5 isn't.
The main difference being the lack of slug poles in the full shred.

I find this interesting.

 

[CTN]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

similar to the custom wind, not the same.

I actually tried the C5 with hex polepieces. It did tighten things up on the low end quite a bit, but the balanced EQ of the full shred wasn't there at all.

 

[JeffB]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

No love here for the full shred either. If I want HO from Duncan, I will stick with the tried and true SH5.

 

[Mad-Max]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

The thing that I find difficult is trying different pick-ups before I buy them. It's not like I can just walk into a store and try any Seymour Duncan pickups. That's why demo videos are my best friend sometimes, but I wish I could just try them for myself without having to buy it and put it in my guitar, to then realize I don't like it.

 

[King IzzO)))]

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.

 

[youngthrasher9]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

The '59/Custom Hybrid and the JB are the only 2 Duncans where the A5 made sense to me.

 

[voggin]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

98% of my playing is at home, low volume. So the A5 burstbucker pro that came standard in my Standard has always seemed a little harsh to me, and I have been considering a swap or a new bridge pickup.

However, a couple of weeks ago I actually went out and jammed with other musicians. In a mix, instead of sounding brittle and harsh, it sounded great, really "cut through", to use the cliche. So now I'm not so sure about getting rid of it.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

I'd guess that at least 2/3rds of the time a ceramic in that same pickup will still cut better. Just sayin'.

 

[esandes]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

A5 is the only way to go with a HB in the bridge. bite, bite and more bite.

 

[Jermo3178]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

It does get annoying that 99% of guitars are made with a5's or ceramic magnets.

This helps keep pickup makers in business..

 

[blindedbysilence]

Re: I have to ask: Why Alnico 5?

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