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Post by rdr on Feb 17, 2020 11:48:10 GMT -5
Hi. I have an earlier mim Strat which is really nice, but as I have a tendency to fiddle around with stuff, I was wondering if anyone has experience with the Player alnico p/u vs. the stock ceramics on mine? I see you can get a new loaded Player pickguard for about $100.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Feb 21, 2020 19:06:55 GMT -5
The alnico 5 pickups in the Player series sound fantastic. I have a set in a Strat and I like 'em. They sound like a Strat is supposed to sound, and their 2 & 4 positions have a great quack/cluck tone. Whether they sound better than the ceramics you currently have is a matter of taste and opinion.
If it's any help...to my ear the tone and power of these Player pickups fall somewhere between stock Fender USA Strat pickups and Texas Specials. They're a bit punchier than standard Strat pups but not as punchy as the TS units.
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Post by rdr on Feb 24, 2020 14:15:16 GMT -5
Thanks muchly for the reply! I was amazed that a new loaded pickup could be so cheap!
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Post by LM on Feb 25, 2020 18:31:42 GMT -5
Without any direct experience with these pickups, I can offer that ceramic pickups tend to sound harsher compared to AlNiCo and they're better-suited for OD tones versus clean.
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Post by rdr on Feb 26, 2020 14:48:47 GMT -5
I went ahead and bought a loaded pickguard for $106 (plus $20 for shipping). Pretty cheap mod. Too simple for me to screw up (as Dad would say, "famous last words").
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Feb 26, 2020 15:43:21 GMT -5
Without any direct experience with these pickups, I can offer that ceramic pickups tend to sound harsher compared to AlNiCo and they're better-suited for OD tones versus clean. I used to think that was true, based on info from books/the Web/etc. But I took a few courses in electronic engineering and learned a few things. While that might be true for some pickups, most modern ceramic pickups sound really good--some of which are known and loved for their pristine cleans--for example, EMG passives and Bardens. Leo & Co. used alnico and cunife mags not because of tone considerations, but because that's what was available at the time. Ceramic magnets were introduced to the market in the late 50s/early 60s; they are a cheaper alternative to alnico for permanent magnet applications. If ceramics had been available in the late 1940s, you can bet Leo would've used 'em. He was cheap! In a passive circuit like a guitar pickup, they type of magnet matters little as long as the gauss (magnetic strength) and field shape are sufficient. In powered circuits, however, like a speaker voice coil, a permanent alnico magnet is reactive to the electromagnetic field generated by the voice coil. Alnico demagnetizes and remagnetizes based on the current flowing through the coil. That's why alnico speakers generally sound 'smoother' than ceramics--because they compress the sound a little when hit with big signal (the gauss drops and comes back up). Ceramic magnets don't react like this. They are faster and punchier in a speaker, and I think this may be the origin of the "alnico is smoother" argument for guitar pickups.
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Post by LTB on Mar 2, 2020 0:41:30 GMT -5
Without any direct experience with these pickups, I can offer that ceramic pickups tend to sound harsher compared to AlNiCo and they're better-suited for OD tones versus clean. And my reason for using AlNiCo pickups as I play mostly clean. While I have found a set of Reverend Ceramics that were pretty smooth most other ceramics do not do it for me.
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