Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Alnico v's Ceramic


Guest MoJo
 Share

Recommended Posts

After a slight mishap with the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickup in my Peavey Zodiac DE, rendering one of the two P-type pickups dead, I made the decision to swap out the pickups for some of Trevor Wilkinson's finest. I like the pickups in my Vintage V4 so I went for the WPB Alnico pickups, but after installing them I found them lacking in top end compared to my V4. Looking at the spec of the V4, it appears that it is fitted with MWPB, the ceramic version of that pickup.

I was quite surprised to find that I prefer the tone of the cheaper 'ceramic' pickup over the more expensive alnico

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whilst Ceramic and Alnico can make a different to the tone (as does Neodymium) don't discount the coil material, thickness and type of winding used too as this will have a greater affect on the resulting tone. Often 'over winding' can lead to a hotter output (which to the human ear can sometimes translate to 'better sounding', but can also mean subdued bass and treble frequencies due to the 'bump' in the mid range. I have three types of pickup here made with super high quality components that I've been A/Bing and they are all totally different, yet the same 'configuration' (Split coils in a soap bar).

It's part of the fun of making an instrument sound the way you want - there's no wrong way. I had a cheap £100 guitar a while back that had the most amazing neck pickup. It was so nice, Gilmour would have been proud!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was wondering what the difference was, too. Very interesting. The Wilkinson single-coil that was fitted as stock to the HB PB-50 was really great, but obviously not an expensive component. The current Roswell pickup isn't as good (in my opinion).

It amazes me how great the price difference is between budget and premium pickups. As dood says, it's really all about the coil material and the windings, but regardless, how can one justify hundreds of pounds for a P pickup...?

I was once of the opinion that higher-output pickups must be 'better' in some way, but latterly I've found that a lower output (though ostensibly needing more amplification) provides a much more balanced, natural and 'authentic' tone overall.

Edited by discreet
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I suspect that the "dead" pickup is actually a dead pot. The soldering iron has lingered too long and killed the pot, the pickup should be fine. If you have a multimeter, you can check the impedance on it.

Back on topic, I must admit that for guitars, alnico magnet pickups haves a certain "warmth" over ceramic magnet pickups. I tried a load of different guitar pickups a few years back, and always kept coming back to alnico magnet pickups.

TBH, I've never really noticed that much difference on bass pickups, though I'm pretty sure that the "warmth" of alnico pickups will come across on bass as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1506694031' post='3380484']
I suspect that the "dead" pickup is actually a dead pot. The soldering iron has lingered too long and killed the pot, the pickup should be fine. If you have a multimeter, you can check the impedance on it.
[/quote]

One half of the pickup is around 5.8k the other half, open circuit

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1506789528' post='3381161']
What should the output be?
[/quote]

11.5k for the two halves in series. Strange thing is that I can't see any damage to the windings on the dead pickup or any breaks in the wires to the output. Weird

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1506925428' post='3381952']
Sounds like a visit to your local guitar tech/luthier may be in order.
[/quote]

For what it's going to cost to rewind one half of the SPB3, it's probably not worth it, plus I'm enjoying the sound of the ceramic Wilkinsons in this bass. They seem to work well with the guitar's naturally dark resonance

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1506893922' post='3381904']
11.5k for the two halves in series. Strange thing is that I can't see any damage to the windings on the dead pickup or any breaks in the wires to the output. Weird
[/quote]


Not sure if you have tried this, but recently I repaired a USA Precision bass with no sound. It was actually the wire between the two pickup halves that had become snagged/kinked which had the break in it, not the pickup coils. Maybe run a meter over the cable lengths up to where they solder to the pickup first! It could be something as simple as that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...