Ceramic Magnet Vs Alnico 5

So we often hear.

Ceramic magnet vs alnico 5.

But it all depends on the pickup. Alnico 5 has more magnetic material and less ferric material resulting in slightly lower inductance. Ceramic magnets have a lower inductance since they are not metallic. Magnetically speaking ceramic magnets produce a stronger field than alnico.

By some players the ceramic magnets are given a bad reputation when compared to. Alnico tends to produce a very musical pickup in most. Ceramic magnets are made from ferrites often iron oxides. This immediately suggests that alnico 8 will have a larger magnetic field compared to alnico 5 when magnets are short compared to their pole area.

Alnico has a higher inductance due to the iron content technically ferrite magnets are made from iron oxide so to generalize alnico will increase the inductance a bit and sound a bit warmer than a ceramic in the same pickup. Alnico 2 is a little weaker resulting in a slightly warmer tone. Alnico is nice and warm and great for blues. That lower inductance means a little less in the way of lower midrange tone and again more brightness.

The alnico 2 tends to sound just a little more organic woody and. However when the magnet geometry is ideal or the magnet is used with iron steel elements in a magnetic circuit then the. Whereas ceramic is used in metal as it sounds tight loud and cool. Some folks might liken the difference between alnico and ceramic speakers to the difference between tube and solid state amplifiers where one compresses smoothly and the other gives all it has and then clips hard.

A lot of people automatically say that alnico is superior to ceramic in pickups. These magnets are softer than ceramic magnets and provide a weaker magnetic field. Alnico 8 has a lower residual induction but a higher coercive force. Because the ceramic magnet isn t introducing compression the result is a cleaner sound in comparison to alnico.

The weaker magnetic field created by alnico magnets is said to give them a warmer smoother quality than a ceramic magnet but at the cost of reduced gain. The result is a slightly hotter sounding pickup with more treble response. Due to the strong magnetic pull the alnico viii is a nice middle ground between the punch and clarity from a ceramic pickup and the sweet organic sound of an alnico which brings us to ceramic.