The Truth About Ceramic Pickups: What You Haven't Been Told

[@sambirch6784]

I've got a Seymour Duncan Hot Stack in the middle position of my Strat, it's a stacked humbucker so it's quiet but it also uses a ceramic magnet. This pickup is not harsh at all, it's powerful but it's got a nice glassy, ringing tone that responds very well to picking. If I'd listened to the ceramic magnet naysayers I'd have missed out on a lovely pickup, it's much better to see what other people who have actually used the pickup have to say.

[@BlueberryStinkFinger62]

Actually my favorite pickups are the Epiphone Pro buckers..fender 1969 single coil

[@gringogreen4719]

@@sambirch6784 The whole poo pooing of ceramic magnets is much like tube guys pissing on solid state gear. What it falls to is basically a poorly specced piece of gear. For cheap ceramic pickups, you see a bigger magnet doing more now because the manufacturer wanted to put less winds on the bobbins. So you end up with a hit and less dynamic pickup. Now, because the guitar is cheaper it's not just the pickup that is sucking tone out of the guitar. Cheap potentiometers, capacitors, and other electric components are robbing the guitar of sound. Keep in mind with electric guitar, it's ALWAYS a subtraction game because all you can do is subtract from the pickup. So the truth really is that the electrics suck (this makes sense because this is the easiest place for manufacturers to skip on and it's out of sight) not always the pickups. So if someone wants to make an electric guitar sound better I suggest getting CTS pots, a good capacitor (I go for Orange Drops), a Switchcraft jack and a better switch. From there either the pickups will sound better or the quality parts will reveal how truly bad the pickups are. I modified several inexpensive Import guitars and here is what I found by just redoing the pickups and electrics. It adds weight. Even the GFS pickups are heavier than OEM pickups and upgrading the electrics from cheapo OEM parts to quality parts adds more weight. I'm doing this the guitar WILL sound better through an amp but that cheapo Import guitars starts to feel more like a MIM Fender with the increased heft. I also replace OEM tuners with drop in locking tuners and that adds more weight as well. Usually a guitar will gain close to a pound with better pickups, electrics and tuners over the cheap stock parts. It also sounds and plays better as well. I do have a guitar (the black one in my pic) that has a Seymour Duncan Little 59 in the Middle and it does sound great there. I can also split it too.

[@strumminronin]

I have swapped out A2 bar magnets from humbuckers and put in ceramics. The ceramics improved the clarity a lot. 🎉

[@chriscampbell9191]

All of my electric guitars have ceramic magnets. You just have to work with them. A lot of it is the set-up with the pickup. Some ceramic magnet pickups you set farther away from the strings than you probably would with Alnico. Sink the pole pieces further with some of them. Adjust the overdrives, amp settings to fit. It just takes a bit of work, but you can get good sound out of most pickups if you have the right approach.

[@donnievazquez3319]

The Duncan Custom SH-5 is the perfect example of a great sounding ceramic magnet pickup. A friend of mine used to rag on ceramic pickups all the time until he fell in love with my PRS CE24 with a Duncan Custom in the bridge. I couldn't wait to tell him it was a ceramic magnet ;-)

[@KRAZEEIZATION]

I find a Strat with Alnico pups sounds fizzy and diffuse with distortion and overdrive. I find Strats with ceramics sound better and more focused with distortion. I’ve no Strats with ceramics now because Alnicos sound better clean and that’s more suitable for my style of music.

[@hannuhanhi183]

According to Bill Lawrence, a magnet by itself has no sound. As a part of a pickup, the magnet is simply the source to provide the magnetic field for the strings.

[@StephenGangi]

Yes. It's just physics.

[@nnwelch5295]

I bought a $65 Tele off Amazon to teach myself how to do fretwork. I fully intended to gut the electronics and replace the pickups but much to my surprise the ‘cheap ceramic pickups’ sounded fantastic. They have beautiful harmonic overtones that ring and sound great. I find alnico V’s to sometimes be harsh and overly tinny or brittle. Whatever gets you to the tone your ear wants to hear!

[@olddogguitars23]

Absolutely - I try never to judge a pickup based on what someone else says about them until I hear it for myself.

[@TheJstewart2010]

I honestly really like the stock pickups in my Mexican Strat. The only improvement I made was to put in a Freeway 10-way switch to get not only the Gilmour mod, but also series combinations that are otherwise impossible. What I really like about the 10-way switch is that there are no holes or switches added to the pickguard and the guitar still looks stock.

[@kcsvantasticvoyages9729]

i use to always swap out Squire ceramic magnets, until I came across a set in a Squire Standard that sound awesome. So, there must be something true about your assessment here!

[@Bry-dt8kz]

Nice video man, straight to the point, useful information, no fancy recording or video edit..nice!!

[@eckyevans965]

I swapped out the stock humbuckers in an Epiphone Les Paul Special for Warman humbucker sized ceramic P90s, totally transformed it for the better Wired them to a blend pot with a series switch instead of a 3-way, love that wiring

[@gajapi]

G&L MFD pickups are ceramic. I like them. On the bridge pickup, I always need to dial down the tone, takes the bright edge off a little. That’s just me though.

[@robertcalvin2643]

I have 2 G&L Guitars with Ceramics and I can not complain about the tones I get.Cheers

[@lazvt8469]

I own 11 Teles...HB up to CS...all have 'boutique' pups (Fralin, Lollar, Suhr, LSL, GristleTone, McNelly, Chicago Specials, CS NoCaster)...and the MFDs on my ASAT are as good as any Alnico boutique Tele pup.

[@AVM-Music]

I had ceramic in my Ltd f-50 Big dirty 16/18k They were absolutely fantastic and yeah, had to dial the tone down a little

[@papawx3]

Only ceramic pickups I have ever liked enough to keep in a guitar body. I have a S-500 that I like allot. Still like my Legacy too though, different tone, it doesn't cut like the 500 does, but it's got a sweeter top end.

[@georgestevens1502]

Ceramic PUs and the Italian made Jensen 8" ceramic speaker bark like a junkyard dog for much less than than boutique prices.

[@gringogreen4719]

Here's the cold truth of guitar gear. Yesterday's trash tends to be tomorrow's treasure. Not always, but more often than not. I've been playing for 32 years and gear that was crapped on 20 years ago is celebrated today.

[@njt2347]

Yup. Gold foil pick ups were considered garbage. Now you pay over $100 for a faithful reproduction.

[@bagazheful]

😂 what's next treasure? Noiseless pickups? Poly finish?)

[@kennyjohnson336]

I grew up around kids whose parents bought their kids real Gibsons. I got gently teased at for having a lawsuit Greco Les Paul. They sell for quite a bit today. Same thing happened with MIJ Squiers. We didn't know how good we actually had it.

[@harrybissell3979]

@@njt2347 imho gold foil pickups were and are still trash. They are just old, not vintage…

[@njt2347]

@@harrybissell3979 I don't like them either. I like how they sound until I try to clean up my sound with my guitar volume knob. Gold foils don't do that well. However, they do produce a particular sound that many people like and they are paying a premium for both originals and reproductions. If they like the sound then good for them.

[@petedazer3381]

I’ve purchased loaded pick guards from that guy before, good stuff!

[@FeguerFineArt]

I just found your channel and I'm so glad I did. Thanks for sharing! I have a 97 Fender Strat made in Mexico also. Liked and Subscribed!

[@olddogguitars23]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@vincenzoerriquenz2356]

The Fender ceramic pickups do sound very good, and they are constructed more as a P-90 pickup should, they are not *cheap* per say( as you said well) , as I tend to like fatter sounds i prefer them over the brighter classic single coils

[@julianmokhtar]

That magnet arrangement is also used on the DiMarzio SDS1. It's basically a P90 magnet configuration in a strat size pickup, which would account for the slightly fatter warmer tone.

[@olddogguitars23]

That makes a lot of sense and also explains why I like the tone!

[@BackWoodsBillyCraftBeerReviews]

The number of winds the gauge of the wire. Also the amount of METAL adding a metal plate to the back of your cheap pickups can actually improve them also 6 penny nails cut the head cut off the points solder on back of pickup typically 6 of them per humbucker... Cheers 🍻🥃🥃🎸🎵🎶🎶🎶

[@thebenefactor6744]

Thanks for your explanation of how the winds affect the ceramics. I had an '09 MIM that I couldn't wait to get the pups out of (classic bad brittle/wooly problems), yet I just got a '13 MIM, and, while they want to take off and distort at the least bit of pick attack, the tone is clear and balanced, and I enjoy not having the tone pot engaged on the bridge pup. It's just more of an aggressive sounding strat, and the action/ playability is super, so I'll just keep this one stock. This video clears up why ceramics can vary, which I didn't suspect before. Thanks.

[@augustusbetucius2931]

For me, it's quite simple. Bill Lawrence uses ceramic magnets in some of his Wilde and other pickup models, and his pickups are *UNBELIEVABLE* this is also true of Leo Fender's MFD pickups in his G&L guitars. Ceramic aren't necessarily or inherently bad. It's *how* they are used. The pickup has to be designed around the magnet.

[@jimmyd12001]

I like the loaded pickguard best, and the Gilmour switch is something I wasn't aware of .

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

It's stock on Fender's Pro II Strat.

[@smokepeddler]

It comes down to preference. I like low output pups. Therefore i like alnico pups with thick 42 guage coated wire. The more windings the darker.

[@newtondelmar4416]

My American made Fender Strat Jeff Beck Sig Edition has ceramic pups...over $1500 new :)

[@alsgeetar]

Ceramic pickups means tighter low end so if you want a little clearer low notes then ceramic magnets are the ones for you.Dimarzio super distortion is a classic rock pickup and ceramic.If you have a wooly low end in your les paul and you want something a liitle clearer then ceramic magnet could fix that.

[@SirLoinMagroin]

Great explanation and demo. Plus, very down to earth. Just took an Old Dog to do it and get er done. Enough to subscribe.

[@olddogguitars23]

Awesome, thank you!

[@emdae921]

The original pick ups in the red pickguard are commonly seen in in squires. I recently changed them not because they were crap, but they were lacking some treble and were very bright I put some 68 copies in with original style magnets, tone is the same but has less bright - ear piercing. Everyones tastes change too. Good video mate 👍

[@canadianintheukbrian]

Good information not all ceramics are the same my first guitar Affinity Squire they were terrible but my Vintage Brand V6P Strat Style has 3 Wilkinson Stacked Ceramics they sound great , I need a noise gate on my Katana Mini I like to throw it on the brown sound with gain up and volume gives that lovely crunch , noise is not terrible but a noise gate would calm it down a bit , great video

[@astridlenore]

It's interesting that those Mexican Fender pickups are basically built like a P90. Different sound for sure due to the coil shape but I'm sure it has some effect.

[@AndrewAHayes]

I had some ceramic pickups on a Strat that sounded terrible, after changing the wiring the switch and the pots there was a massive positive difference, a few months later I changed the pickups for some Alnico 5 Texas Specials and it was like night and day, they sounded fuller and not as tinny although they have a nice bright but balanced sound The originals were not wax potted and were microphonic. I always wondered what made a good ceramic and a bad one as I have heard good pickups that were ceramic.

[@elnyoutube123]

The quality of the copper wire used to wind the pickup makes a big difference. Squiers tend to use a pretty low quality wire especially on the cheapest models, whereas most aftermarket pickups use a much more pure copper and it naturally makes the pickup sound more clear.

[@monmixer]

Loaded pick guards are a blast. Solder 2 wires, to the output jack of the guitar.

[@alexanderguestguitars1173]

For me the alnico were the best. They were much more sparkly and articulate than the ceramic. But as you say, there is a particular darkness and warmth to the ceramics.

[@darkvillin]

The alnico sounded like there was more down low and up too but less in the middle. The ceramics sounded more level/even output throughout. Just my $.02. Thanks for the video.

[@jeffgualandijr9420]

certainly did, would put the stick pickups back on, those sounded great.

[@olddogguitars23]

I think the new pick ups sound more like a typical Strat, but I have to agree, I prefer the tone of the stock pick ups.

[@davidshafer6388]

I like the sound of ceramic pickups. I think most people just try the cheap ones, and think they all sound like that. I have had some killer ceramic pickups.

[@danedearmond4905]

Older Mexican strats sound pretty good (at least, the one's I've seen). Nothing wrong with Ceramics. Alnico's may be the vintage way, but whatever the magnet is made of is irrelevant IF you like the way they sound. I bought a cheaper Leo Jaymz strat ($130) for my niece and was thinking of dropping some Fender Tex-mex PUPs into it for her. But after getting it and hearing the Ceramics that it came with, they sounded great when paired with the Fender LT-25 I gave her. Even "Cheap" Ceramics can be quite nice. It really just depends on what you're intending to use them for. If you want high gain, and massive amounts of distortion, Ceramics can be amazing. If you want good cleans with even tones? Then maybe look into some Alnico's... However, at the end of the day, you'll hear more of a difference from you amp and play style, than you'll EVER hear from using different pickups...

[@virginmothers7104]

My favorite strat pickups look like the ceramic pickups found in older Mexican strats and Squiers, but instead of a ceramic bar magnet glued to the bottom, they have an alnico bar magnet glued to the bottom. I agree that SOME of those ceramic pickups sound good, but these sound even better.

[@ottokirk2325]

This is the right thing to do. A skinny P90. Lower output of course. I favor a mixed pair of A2/A5 bar mags, but the poles need to extend to do a P90 format. Defo stronger output.

[@RaymondLandis]

Hello Dan, your video was a pleasant surprise to find and watch on KZbin... I just happened to be another guitar enthusiast who purchased one of those Rockin-R-Guitars loaded pickguards off of Ebay... Mine looks exactly like yours. I didn't get around to using it for a while until recently when I installed it in a build project. I was so happy with the sound of it!!! I made a video of that one on my channel too... I recommend this company highly and just wanted to 2nd your "nomination." I also agree that ceramic pickups are not as bad as the rap they usually get... Thanks for sharing all this...

[@joereddy3146]

Had a Les Paul with their ceramic pickups. I loved it. It was indeed HOT. But how it hit the front of the amp was glorious. Then if you add gain with pedals, you really need to be on top of the guitars volume. Always made me think of Hendrix and how hot he ran his rig. Must’ve been on top of the volume like 90.

[@the.communist]

I like mexican strats ceramic pickups

[@Les537]

As far as I know mexi strats are a5 alnico. At least my 2019 model is.

[@donaldbedsole5154]

@@Les537 I think they changed from ceramic to alnico 5 some time before 2019.

[@musicmansandiego]

I got some of those pickups from the same company..they were Humbuckers..yeah attention to detail was awesome, like the video ..one of my favorite strats have ceramic..they sound great..

[@picksalot1]

Having "Loaded Pickguards" is an easy way to get all the different Pickup variations, etc. you might want using one guitar. Just solder a "Quick Connect" to the guitar Jack and the Pickguards. Make sure to ground all the electronics to the Jack and Pickguards Quick Connects. Once you've done that, you can swap any Loaded Pickguard in about 10 minutes on a Strat guitar without further soldering.

[@normbarrows2]

One of my builds used JST connectors for the pickups and had like a dozen sets of pickups. It was wired for everything except series/parallel, including power for active pickups. 2 thumbscrews and 2 JST connectors and you had a new set of pickups in your guitar - already at the correct height. And you didn't have to touch the strings at all. The pickups slid under the already-tuned strings from the side.

[@picksalot1]

@normbarrows2 👍 Cool. Loaded Pickguards can be an awesome solution, as besides the Pickups, you can get the perfect combination of Pots, Capacitors, and Switches all at once.

[@overunityresearchchannel]

Yes sir that's the way to go I do it my self 👍💯🎸⚡

[@paulschauerman2052]

Great video. I had an Encore E76 Strat copy as my first decent electric. When l got a Stratocaster I was surprised by how low the output seemed in comparison. I'm sure in hindsight the Encore had ceramic pickups as it was much louder.

[@olddogguitars23]

Thanks for sharing!

[@frogdogify]

These are the best loaded Pick guards on the market!

[@olddogguitars23]

I was really surprised considering the price.

[@coneyislandguitars]

There’s nothing wrong with ceramic magnets. You need to design the pickup around them. Some of the better import Fender pickups have two ceramic magnets, steel poles, and are wound hot. They have a muscular tone. Especially for the bridge pickup on a Strat, which tends to be too bright These days people love gold foil pickups. Those use ceramic magnets. Bartolini pickups use ceramic magnets. They are very warm sounding. Bill Lawrence always used ceramic magnets. The first hot pickup on the market, the DiMarzio Super Distortion uses a ceramic magnet. Guitars get caught up in trends and buzz words: “true bypass,” “paper-in-oil,” “nitro lacquer,” “freakin’ Alnico man….” Lol It’s all snake oil. Just use what sounds good.

[@ottokirk2325]

I have a great playing cheapo SX S-type git with ceramic P90's @ 8.3k. Big sweet SC tone and a TB circuit puts them into Fender EQ with git vol @3. First time I have left a git in stock form.

[@christopherwatkins9729]

G'Day... enjoyed your interesting comparisons between 'sets' of 3 x Single Coil Pick-ups... Like yourself... prefer the original set that was on the guitar., and would put them back on again... but... "Tones" are a personal matter and someone else could like the 2nd set more ! and... Nice Strat !

[@Guitar_Smasher]

I decided that I wanted my G&L S-500 Tribute, with its MFD pickups, to sound more "Stratty." I replaced the stock ceramic pickups with Seymour Duncan Flat Strat SSL-2 and SSL-6 pickups, with flat pole pieces for the 12-inch fretboard radius. Glassy, sparkling vintage Strat tones now!

[@stevehart4311]

There is quite a difference between the two over my headphones. If it were mine I would be putting the first setup back in or sure. I have an afinity squire with Wilkinson MIK alnico pickups and Tone Hounds wiring set up with treble bleed and it sounds full and rich in every position. Love it.

[@bradleyolinger1691]

I generally have a strong preference towards hot ceramics or Alnico IIs. Tend to gravitate towards Dimarzios. Looking to get a hot P90 for a Tele I’m building. Do have the Boss Noise Gate pedal.

[@olddogguitars23]

I don’t have it, but I’ve used one before. I’ve got a feeling this Behringer is a cheap copy of it.

[@bradleyolinger1691]

@@olddogguitars23, very much so. Several of Behringer’s pedals are cheaper copies of Boss products. I have the Boss Noise Gate Pedal and one of the Waza Craft(over $200) pedals. Use a lot of Roland/Boss products, but won’t touch the Katana series. Those amps come off too flat to me.

[@WMSFLL]

From my own tone-quest experience, I'll take Alnico III all day long for single coil and humbuckers alike.

[@gearViewmirror]

'Gilmour switch'? Shit, i thought it was my invention.....🤣🤣🤣 I usually solder the trem groundwire to my coppertape shielding and then screw the groundwire from the vol. pot down on that. Quick connector to the jack, so pickguard swaps are quick and easy. I have a couple of Jet s-type axes and the ceramic neck and middle pups sound great! Nice vid👍🏼🎸🤘🏼🎸

[@jimmyjames2022]

I'm definitely a fan of ceramic magnets, my fav guitar these days is an SG with ceramic bar magnets under dual rail mini humbuckers. For sure the Al5s are brighter and more "Strat" like. The ceramics with the two bar magnets reminded me of P90s both in design and tone, they still have a Strat tone but with more woof. While I like that Al5 brightness at certain times, I think your ceramic pups are a way more versatile option given only the one guitar.

[@nickk6109]

I have an '88 MIJ STB-67, spangly. and I suspect simple ceramics but not hot. I made a scratch build 7 string 28.625" with SD Pegasus and Sentient pickups - Med-Hot and that gives me a good screaming blues if need be on the Sentient setup close to the strings. Note as harmonic as an LP but unique sounding.

[@501chorusecho]

cool shirt bro

[@olddogguitars23]

That made my day! Now I’ll be happy.

[@birdman316]

sweet strat bro! yaa ceramic pups dont "suck"....it all depends on what youre looking for.... my very best sounding strat has ceramic mag pups in it...ive been told by the ebay seller theyre wilkinsons....no markings anywhere so im not positive...

[@FilippoGoriFlorence]

i bought and sold plenty of fender strats from mexican to american ultra and rarities. one of my favorite is an american traditional (supposed to be cheap american made with chinese parts) which has ceramic pick ups. They sound really good and powerful to me. True maybe a little muddy, buth on tube amp they sound better than the american ultra ... go figure! Cheers

[@hafstrat]

The USA pro 2 has the Gilmour mode available by a push push out on the Bridge tone pot. 👍🏼🎸

[@221b-l3t]

I'm not a fan of them but I had 500T/496R in my V for almost 20 years and having sold them, I do kinda miss them. I might get a cheap guitar for that 80s ceramic tone. Kinda similar to a Super Distortion but different. But those made a lot of great music and iconic sounds (Randy Rhoads and many more, Maiden etc...). The 496R was really quite nice. I'm a Tonerider guy now so they make some 80s style high output ceramic pickups which I might try. It's not my favourite sound but it's a good sound. Of course the ancient ceramic pups in my Squire were truly aweful an quickly replaced. So I guess good alnico pickups sound good and good ceramic pickups sound good... the really cheap ones use ceramic so it's associated with aweful sounds. You can also have them further away and get a really bright tone that still sounds full.

[@thealchemisttiger688]

I’ve got an mij strat from ‘94 ceramic bar on the bottom, sound so sweet and warm

[@what1864]

i actually prefer ceramic magnets in single coil pickups , i do prefer alnico in humbuckers though ., that being said super distortion humbuckers are ceramic i believe, and i like them distorted .

[@jimcamp2423]

Experiences with ceramics, most of my guitars are ceramics vs Alnico V. That matters a little for Alnico magnets, 2,3, V or 8 vs each other & ceramic magnets. Pickup height with a ceramics and with the Henries being stronger, that might make a difference for strength. I've not done any experimentation with Gauss strength for magnetizing & demagnetizing ceramics or Alnico. That seems to be a harder thing to experiment with as there is no real method to accurately set a magnets Gauss that isn't hit or miss, lucking into a measurement ? I don't get all wrapped up with the magnet type, I take the pickups and assess them for how they sound, not what they have for magnets. Even the number of winds, Squier ceramics for Sonic/Bullet/Affinity level model guitars are 3.7K they work fine & one can adjust pickup height or EQ to get some really nice sound from them too. As long as the pickups work, I'm good with them, no need to chase tone for things that work. Plug into a high end amp or even a practice amp with sim & cab modeling. Ceramic magnets are hardly disappointing products. So they saved a few bucks ceramic bar vs Alnico poles or bars (P90's are Alnico bar magnets & they are phenomenal sounding pickups). So they saved on thousands of wire winds. If they sound good & one prefers that, where it goes wrong is when Chinese pickups MSRP for $ 15-30 and the Alnico pickups are $ 100's. To me the higher dollar pickup is never going to be that much better Live or studio recorded or even living room recorded with a smartphone. With recorded music, there's DI & then there's mic'ing a cab speaker into a recording device. What muddies that recording is the fact that not all microphones are equal either, there's dynamic microphones & powered one's as well. I'm good with the guitars as they came out of the box as long as they're functional & work, properly potted and not overly microphonic. And that's another thing, how much wax potting makes a difference too, what type of wax clouds the issue. Some use parafin, bees wax, & EVH used surfboard wax. I doubt Gibson was doing that with PAF's in the 1970's. Didn't seem to affect VH for making excellent music. I guess I could've posted shorter, but I wanted to relay that I had done a few things to experiment to convince myself that ceramics aren't inferior to Alnico, sometimes they're different, other time indiscernible. It all depends upon how loud one plays and getting the tone adjusted, the amp at a certain point changes the guitar & pedal board signal with it's own internals. Too many knobs, knobs at every location to adjust a certain EQ frequency band. Some amps have 1 tone knob, others 2 and still others 3. Some might introduce an EQ with even more frequency bands to isolate & control for the entire spectrum of sound. Like anything, how much control does one want to have ? Those studios with the table sized EQ sound boards, I don't care what anyone says, there is no expert on using one of those and what a DJ or Recording engineer does is pure luck to use those EQ sliding controls and say they knew what they were doing. Most amps at the 12 o'clock position sound pretty good. I've seen too many recording musicians (Pete Thorn) really not adjust the amp EQ knobs very much from +/-5, the 12 o'clock position. I think at different volume levels you can virtually roll back or increase the EQ knob setting & still maintain identical tone. Volume power changes our perception of music. Why does a favorite song that is playing on the radio sound better when the volume is up while driving down the road. Same goes for live music at any venue. There's a point where to quiet it sucks, too loud & it sucks. Like fuel economy in your car, between 0-100 mph, the fuel economy is better between 45-70 mph.

[@randall9000]

I got this ◀️ 2014 Mexican standard strat with the assumption I would eventually swap the pups. Nope. Love them. Fat sound not thin and tinny like many other strats especially the bridge. Still get the good quacky 2 and 4 positions and a beautiful clean neck pickup, but a fatter P-90 like bridge sound

[@jerrygerza7565]

Yes you are spot on about MiM ceramic pickups! I have a lefty 1995 "Squier Series" Strat. The double magnet pickups sounded great! I was in your dilemma whether to put some Alnicos in to replace them. I got some Tone Riders City limits. They sound like the ceramics but on "steroids" so glad I did. But like you I am keeping the MiM double magnets and putting them in another MiK Strat that has ruff sounding single magnets. Great video! 👍

[@misterknightowlandco]

Aren’t EMG’s ceramic too? Nothing wrong with ceramic magnets, it’s the construction of the pickup.

[@221b-l3t]

Depends. They also have hybrids, Alnico bar, ceramic pole pieces. I believe the 66 is like that.

[@kennethcohagen3539]

Wow, I wish I could change a pickguard that fast!

[@NintenDub]

It's all about what you put into it. Materials matter, but the recipe and what you do to get the end result makes variables. Than, after it's done, it's about how you use it. If you take a steak and sear it, than season it, you get a different steak than if your marinate it first. If you tenderise it, you get something different also. Open flame,campfire, oven, stovetop....it's all heat right? But still you get differing results

[@twowaymuir]

Thanks for the review, but if the audio was better regarding the tonal sound of the new pickups I would be able to to tell more abount them, but they do sound pretty treble in this recording. Did not notice the warmth that you mention after enganging the Gilmour switch so I will just have to take your word for it. Agree that Ceramic Pickups can be good to great or bad. Same with other non ceramic pickups IMO. Depends on that sound that you are looking for.

[@BudgetRC_Channel]

You're correct that ceramic is stronger than alnico, but with strat/tele pickups it's not that simple because alnico strat/tele pickups have the magnetic slugs right inside the winding, where ceramics in that style have a bar under the pickup more like a humbucker along with steel pole pieces. This setup has the lower inductance that you'd expect from ceramic, but is also much lower output because of the magnet placement. The result is that you either get brighter, weaker pickups, or you have to add a ton of winds to get more output. I'm not aware of any tele/strat pickups that use ceramic for any reason other than cost savings. With P90s and humbuckers that's a different story, and ceramic can often be a design decision and not necessarily a cost motivated decision.

[@hootowl6354]

I had samarium cobalt, their silent pups they used to sell, on my Strat. Maybe they still sell them, I don't know. I thought they were terrible. I changed to some Kinman alnicos and they are night- and-day better.

[@therory6888]

Thanks for the video! What did you end up for pick up heights on both sets?

[@robertnatiello3814]

I would chide out to fellow guitarists that clarity relative to a similar or same style pickup is the most redeemable aspect of a pickup when comparing. I almost always point to the clearest sounding pick first (same volume level) relative to another. Can I hear the note with more clarity and tone. This is what tricked us into identifying a squire vs much more expensive strat even though you could simply replace the pickups if you really preferred the squire - that simple. I do however wonder what differentiates in terms of measurement numbers or materials the difference $$ between pickups.

[@RandyFricke]

I have a guitar with a set of $20 pickups I got off of Amazon that sound great.

[@DJBuglip]

The new ones sounded better for a strat to me. But then that's for a clean strat. If I was playing metal I might feel differently.

[@davidburke8311]

I bought a copy SG with a Dimebucker in the bridge. I hated it. Being in the UK I swapped it out for an Iron Gear Hot Slag at a fraction of the price. High gain (17K) but not harsh and thin like the Dimebucker. Sometimes I think about the Emperors New Clothes when it comes to the big pickup manufacturers, when all is said and done it's not rocket science to make one - but you pay a small fortune for the privilege.

[@DavidRafaelSutton]

Yeah on my 2017 firebird there are ceramic pickups and there's nothing cheap about that nor does it sound like that I can they're very hot out for pickups but when you roll back from on the volume on the guitar they clean up beautifully so I agree with you not that I know more than you and you know tons more than me sir but yeah it's not whether or not it's ceramic or amigo Magnus it's how it's made in general I'm personally I dig my 2017 firebird Gibson with this with those pickups although sometimes I think of buying another Gibson and switching out the pickups just to see what it would be like a thanks again sincerely David Raphael AKA Bob the blind bedroom guitarist

[@pharmerdavid1432]

I've heard it said the ceramic pickups sounded better than alnico when Fender Mexico strats switched from ceramic, I think the "psycho-acoustic effect" (placebo expectancy of tone) is more powerful than most of us realize. One amp tech I follow had two different bassman amps, one blackface one bonde, and everybody knows the blond version sounds best - right? So he switched the amps between head cabinets and people always preferred the one inside the blonde every time! Just one example. I think we agonize too much about gear, just find a sound that you love and stick with it. Yes there are thousands of other sounds you might love too, but just bond with one. It's like that with women too, but I digress...

[@martinheath5947]

The Gilmour switch is much more elegantly done as a push/pull tone knob

[@TruthSurge]

how do you know it's alnico 5? Is there some test for magnet type or are you trusting the seller to say what kind it is? Just curious. thx

[@StephenGangi]

If you know the "make and model" of the pickup you can Google it, or check it on the maker's website.

[@MegaGuitman]

On the new pickup demo you are using new strings...think that might make a difference.

[@olddogguitars23]

I didn’t change the strings. Just loosened them up enough to slide the pickguard out.

[@colemcdaniel5468]

80% of Duncans and Dimarzios are ceramic. Its really a must for high gain. Alnicos not so much. Everything has its place.

[@cliffhanger8170]

Well said

[@Epiwater11]

I m curious about china's alnico pickups, is it really alnico or just some alloy magnetized thing?

[@garyanthony8044]

There are a lot of ways to shape the sound of any pickup. The first one is built right into the guitar. Learn how to use the volume and tone controls! If you know how to solder, a very simple mod is to have the bridge pickup connected to the middle tone pot. Very simple and very helpful to tame a bright bridge pickup.

[@Turybegood]

Ceramic Pups are cool!!!

[@YNGWIE998]

Sir, I couldn't help but notice the pickup height adjustment (grub) screws are way too long in your guitar. For some unknown reason some guitar manufacturers fit 10mm long grubs in the strat saddles, which can be very uncomfortable to your hand when resting on the bridge during playing. I always swap them out for 6mm grubs on both E string saddles, and 8mm grubs on the ADGB saddles. Voila, comfortable bridge saddles!

[@olddogguitars23]

Yeah, I was noticing that they stick way out of the saddles. Definitely something I’ll change at some point.

[@OlyBrad]

I’m not 100 percent sure, but it seems like you forgot to check pickup height on the new pick guard before the comparison.

[@theroadsnearyou...5088]

I thought both sets of pickups sounded good, just a case of dialling the tone in to suit your taste/ear!

[@John-q4f1r]

I've been playing over 50 yrs and always prefer the ceramic pickups😂

[@78tag]

Biggest difference to me was the distortion and the mud went away when you put the 'new' set in that guitar. That's a Strat. Maybe the original electrics were meant to come some where near a set of HB'rs ??

[@olddogguitars23]

The alnico magnets definitely sounded more strat-like to me.

[@randallscott6]

All these buttons and switches drive me nuts.what is the amp for then?

[@avalanche9026]

Must know to play it right. Yes electronic it’s important too

[@jjsguitarpickups7437]

The Mexican pickup uses thinner gauge wire and less of it. Fewer turns are applied and wound to DCR to keep the multimeter troopers happy. This is because copper as a commodity is sold by weight and there's roughly half as much copper on a mim pickup. Over a ceramic magnet, of this magnetic circuit design these can be underwhelming to play. The higher H figure is partly due to the finer wire, but also the ceramic bars underneath. I agree, ceramic has a place, but theres a whole lot more to it than folks with meters making fairly quick assessments of it. Ceramic is not conductive, so eddy current losses, the coercivity of ceramic and the max energy product are all different. Though it may seem easy to compare these mim designs with alnico rod pickups, theyre such a departure from the original design. The mim pickup is a cost saving design with underwhelming sonic results. We get daily requests to replace them and with good reason.

[@normbarrows2]

Wax potted triple ceramic magnet quadrails are my preferred passive pickup for my guitar builds. Ceramics supposedly give you slightly faster attack.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

What is "slightly faster attack."

[@johnterpack3940]

@@RideAcrossTheRiver It's helpful when you have to use your guitar in a self-defense scenario.

[@waynegram8907]

The Ceramic pickups inductance are 3.4mH to 3.7mH compared to Alnico pickups are 1.7mH to 2.0mH, that is a very big difference from darker tone to higher tone. What can you do to make pickups to get more twangy to get those surf twang tones?

[@olddogguitars23]

I think it would be tough to get much twang with that much inductance. I suspect the frequency response curve is much closer to a humbucker than a traditional strat single coil. I’m not sure but maybe 500k or 1M pots could help?

[@waynegram8907]

@olddogguitars23 yes ceramic magnets pickups sounds more like a humbucker, ceramic magnets pickups are darker and warmer but not sure how to get more twang surf tones?

[@bluwng]

Magnets are not inherently good or bad tone wise, they don’t produce sounds they are just magnets reacting to movement of strings and how they impact the magnetic field.

[@3rdmm]

Stratocaster pickups have AlNiCo rod magnets, that's the main reason for their characteristic sound. When you use steel slugs instead of the rod magnets, and attach a ceramic bar magnet underneath, which then also acts somewhat like a base plate, you've constructed a different pickup, even if it does masquerade as a Strat pup. It's a cheaper solution, because 6 AlNiCo rod magnets cost more than one ceramic bar (or even two). 99 out of 100 Strat players will invariably prefer the original design.

[@GCKelloch]

Ceramic magnets have a permeability very close to air and are non-conductive. They don't attract flux lines, affect inductance or cause eddy currents. Therefore, they do not affect the pickup like a Steel baseplate would. It's the Steel poles that create that effect.

[@3rdmm]

@@GCKelloch A steel baseplate is something you only find under a Tele bridge pickup. Humbuckers have nickel silver or brass baseplates. I said "somewhat like a baseplate", because the resulting magnetic field is more like what you'd get with a baseplate compared to the field produced by rod magnets.

[@elnyoutube123]

It still sounds like a Strat through, just more responsive and with more depth. I prefer the ceramic magnets especially if I rewind the pickups with better quality wire.

[@nicholasaragon4126]

I never judge a pickup until I've put it through many hours of playing in a mix and recording with a mix. On its own it may sound offensive, in a mix it may sound awesome or unique.

[@jeremiahmeraz9298]

Every ceramic pickup I had on my Stratocasters sounded like crap, no matter what style of music I played, pedals I used, or amps I hooked up to. They were always lacking and often too low in volume. The second I upgraded to AlNiCo5 pickups, it was full-bodied, loud, and sounded amazing. This went for any alnico5pickup, including the $25 sets on Amazon, to the squire classic vibe pickups, to the fender pickups. Ceramic pickups just don’t sound nearly as good.

[@stewarttomkinson3356]

My Harley Benton left-handed HSS had ceramics bought one of them pick guards and put it in there much better

[@antonioelle4894]

pretty strange, usually ceramics have higher output but they lack in definition. The ones that I have now on my Jet are pretty good actually, those I Had on a squier affinity (2002) were really midrangey and not that good. On the contrary the alnico on squier standard are a bit shrill while on my old highway 1 tele were not that loud

[@angusorvid8840]

I blame this witchcraft that convinces players alnico good/ceramic bad on pickup manufacturers who love to brag about the "magic" of their alnico magnets. It's corksniffery.

[@wayne2150]

One of my favourite pickups is Seymour Duncan's SH-5 Duncan Custom ... which uses a ceramic magnet. Beautiful sounding pickup! Love it!

[@johnterpack3940]

Yeah, magnetism and electricity don't come in flavors. Field strength does make a difference, though. And that does tend to correlate to the type of magnet to a large degree.

[@chippsterstephens6800]

The magnet type is just one issue, as are wire type , and the intended outcome. A ceramic magnet and poly wire, may be fine for a high output pickup, it is a horrible choice for a vintage tone. That’s the way it works. It’s delusional to think otherwise.

[@johnterpack3940]

@@chippsterstephens6800 Electricity and magnetism don't come in flavors. Electricity has no idea what kind of insulation is on the wire. It is literally impossible for poly to effect anything. Similarly, magnetic field lines are entirely unaware of what material they come from. Saying otherwise is completely contrary to science. It's flat-earth nonsense. You can't hook up a gauge to a piece of wire and detect what insulation it has. You can't measure a magnetic field to see what the magnet is made of.

[@anx925]

Good video. My experience with pickups agrees 100% with what you are saying. In your demo, I MUCH prefer the sound of the ceramics.