I had ceramics in my 90 MIM Strat. I pulled them and replaced them with SCN noiseless. I realized I actually liked the ceramic sound so much that I didn’t throw them away. I kept them in a box, for 10 years. I ended up putting them in a 73 Mustang where they still are. They are much more usable than the original weak alnico pickups that were in it originally. Nice bite and more bass.
Yeah I could tell the difference. Ceramic is the superior magnet so the output is much higher. I used to prefer ceramics when I first started playing guitar, but now I've grown to prefer alnicos. The output on ceramic pickups was just too scratchy for me. It's definitely my playing's fault, but I found that alnico pickups are a lot more forgiving in that aspect. Plus I get a lot more granular control with soft and hard notes since the output isn't so high. And having less output isn't a problem because you've got a volume knob on your amp for that. I gotta say I'm pretty happy with my decision to switch to alnico pickups a few years ago. They're not as good magnets as ceramics, but I think they're perfect for guitar pickups. A lot easier to dial in classic rock tones with them too. ;)
Alnico's "X" had more treble and bite while Ceramic "Y" were duller and more "blah" - "yeah I work, but not as responsive or colorfull". I will stick to Alnico's on preferences. Your video reverified what I picked in past. Alnico II, III, IV pickups Classics
Strange that in this video they are not louder and not reall muddy... I have ceramic pickups from a 2009 Squier Bullet (branded SEM) and they are great compared to my wilkinson WVS 60 pickups.
This one was a bit "too obvious" but i still believe we all need a strat with Ceramic for some stuff (less high /less harsh high on drive/ less definition) to record the 3rd layer of guitars or something... AlNico's are very "in your face" for 2nd rhythm guitar for example.
I got it wrong because X was much louder than Y. Because it was louder, I expected that to be the ceramic guitar. I thought the cleans were nicer on X, but it sounded like the drive was clipping on X, and the overall gain tone was just nicer on Y.
I think it's really a push, the differences I heard was probably more due to the specific setup, could be pickup height, action height differences, pot differences, basically just a cumulative difference of the entire guitar build & setup. I preferred Alnico on some of the settings, ceramics on others. This is one reason I don't swap parts out on a guitar unless they're broken really. If a pickup is mocrophonic & I've rarely ever had that happen. Really get that with a sub $ 100, but even with those it's rare to get that pickup that is poorly potted or defectively wound. I recently bought a Tele that had a looser & rattly neck pickup cover & the bridge bobbin top flatwear piece wasn't flat for that pickup. Both easily fixable with gentle & minor surgery to take them apart and fix the issue. Whether it was a curled/warped bobbin, flatware part or it needed a little more or less wax for the potting on the top of the pickup. That Tele plays about as good as any other Tele on the planet, even one's priced hundreds & thousands more. The more I adjust & noodle around, with a guitar setup, it would have to really be poorly constructed & aligned for them to sound awful. If the alignment is correct, the setup is the difference maker. Even perceived cheaper strings that many whine about, seem to matter less when the guitar is properly aligned from the tuners to bridge, also setup & played in.
I'm surprised to see that the majority prefers Alnicos. To me Alnicos just sounded like any other guitar... Whilst the ceramics really had their own thing going on. And I think they sounded prettier clean.
The very simple reason why Alnico sounds like "any other guitar" because 98% of the guitar videos are recorded with Alnico vs... if you check the price range where the guitars with ceramic are it speaks for itself too..... I meant single coils, humbuckers are a different ball game
Why is it every time I see an X and Y comparison video...I think of Algebra and get nervous about failing at math? If train X carrying 450 Fender guitars is heading west at 80 MPH directly towards another train heading east going 450 MPH that is carrying 80 Donner guitars, how many Michael Bolt-ons hits does it take to win a Grammy? Well, DUH! The answer of course is just 1 upside-down Landon doing a blurry unboxing video. Also, those alnico pickups sounded pretty good in my opinion. You know you wanted my opinion. You asked for it. Also, congratulations to Sarah Conor for winning the guitar. I hope it helps you to defeat the Terminator and stop judgement day from coming.
Y WAS BEST FOR ME. IT WAS WARMER AND HAD A VERY SLIGHT REVERB VIBE. X WAS A LOT CLEARER BUT SOUNDED CHEAP TO MY EAR. I LIKE A MORE BALLSY SOUND. NO SHADOWS FOR ME THANKS.
I did see the results, so, my pick is x=alnico. Much more defined sound and broader frequency response. I prefer alnicos on my guitars, but also have ceramic for lots of genre defined recordings. Nice review and cheers to the guitar winner! Thanks Landon!
Some ceramics are awesome. I built a SD Everything Axe which consists of a Lil 59 neck, a DuckBucker Middle, and a JB Jr Bridge but I put a Pearly Gates for Strat in the Bridge. That guitar sounds so great, just tons of tone!
Ceramic has a harsh tone, especially in the treble, for certain type of sounds it can be great, mostly in distorision. Alnicos are sweeter and more musical to my ear, and the choice between II, III, IV and V are noticable. Alnico II are my favourites.
I had no idea, what was what, BUT thought X (the alnico apparently), was the best sounding one on almost every sound! It was the clearest, most defined and also the loudest for the most part. Louder is not always equal BETTER, of course but it definetely helps in a comparison like this, when trying to determine the texture and definition of a sound. The loudest one tend to stand out. But then you say that ceramic PU's tend to be louder? So yeah, its a funny little comparison, and now i cant help wonder if you switched them around somehow? :-D Thanks for the effort, nonetheless! :-)
I got both an Affinity with ceramics & a Classic Vibe with Alnico pups. They both sound good, but different. "Horses for Courses". I wouldn't be without either.
if u are using a good ceramic picks u can equalize the tone of ur amp and guitar increasing the bass and u get a similar sound to alnico. Alnico gives u more round sound that´s is true but when u are in a band this produces por interferences with the bass for example. So we must be careful and think about many variables that influence: the amp equalization , the context, the type of guitar u are using etc. Different colour for different tastes as we say in Spain.
The Alnico pickups are distinct and bright. The highs are noticeably high and the lows are noticeably low. Gives a good vintage sound. I'd prefer it in the neck, playing something slow and clean. The ceramic pickups are what some people would consider thin and flat, but I consider very round and smooth. The lows and highs blend very well together for a thick tone. I'd probably use it in the bridge with distortion, allowing me to get a heavy tone across all strings. They're both great pickups, my experience with both is that sometimes with Alnico the highs are almost ear piercing through a loud amp or with headphones, you need to roll the tone and volume down a bit. And the ceramics can't quite survive on their own, I feel they're a blank canvas for tone control and effects.
Made sense the way R.Baker said that the guitar he gave away was part of the channel and that's why he used it in a few vids. I think you should do the same! As for the difference in tone, I honestly think that it wouldn't make a difference if I was playing a $200 guitar and a $5000 guitar.. They all sound like garbage in my hands (working hard to change that).
Y was the ceramic pickups. Ceramic is pretty distinct; not bad, but distinct. I've had cheap Squier ceramic pickups (particularly the ones that were in my Bullet Tele) that were pretty cool.
Alnico is better than ceramic according to my taste.... Though I have an affinity Strat, which has ceramic pickups. But I think ceramics are a bit muddy....
I guessed guitar X and Y correctly only because guitar X sounded really similar to my Squier Affinity. Those ceramics sound better with dirt on than the alnicos to my ears.
i guess... guitar x is alnico guitar y is ceramic if i described both pickups, it'll be like this : ceramic : modern sounding (smoother), warmer, bassier, sometimes it'll sound muddy if the pickup is too close to the strings alnico 5 : vintage sounding (sharper), brighter, twangier, treblier, rich of clarity, less bass, bell like tone
Do magnets really have tone? Will it matter especially when the magnet is a bar type and the magnetic pull on the strings is conveyed through steel pole pieces? For similar components, a stronger magnet (ceramic) will give a higher pickup output. Similarly, raising the pickup height will increase output as well. Real tone is affected by other factors.
I have an old Epiphone Custom shop GT Les Paul. It's got ceramic pickups, trem bar and a killswitch. The whole guitar is more geared towards metal, especially the pickups. I prefer the Alnico, but I can see why people like the ceramics. They give a really bright, or really deep sound.
Obviously the Y guitar has less bass frequencies so it's the guitar with ceramic pickups. Anyway, it's the fingerboard the most affective part of the sound, so you should do the comparison with both guitars with the same fingerboard (maple or rosewood).
Oh mate, what are you talking about? That's like saying the particular type of steel in the roof of a car has the biggest effect on the noise that comes out of the exhaust.
I always wondered why my brother’s Squier Strat sounded better in a bar of 20 people with chatter, drums, and a bass than people with high end guitars and alnico pickups. His ceramic pickups cut through everything. Not that he was technically better, but his sound was so much better than others.
I missed it. I liked X more spank. Thought Ceramics were generally suppose to have more spank so I thought X were ceramics. Wrong. Alnicos. Depends on which brand, guitar, type pups - really can't make a general rule. I heard P90s were the ceramics had a bit more spank than A2 and I liked these over the A5.
I determined Ceramic was Y I looked for what I seemed to have less articulation/subtleties. Having never owned a guitar with ceramic pickups before until recently the first thing I noticed was the ability to get a different sound by using more or less force was practically absent, that I do not appreciate and those pickups will be replaced sometime soon
I much preferred guitar "X" (the Squier), as the other "Y" sounded weedy, thin and too plunky (plunky...? yeah, you know nasal, no sustain, just bloody awful).
I prefere alnico. I just bought a strat jv modified and they say vintage style pups but i suspect ceramic. Its hard for me to play ceramic pups. The dynamic is different and they sound cold to me. I love the strat but something is not vintage in their vintage style pickups. Dosent sound round and creamy. They sound crispy and cold and hard to play with.
I'm watching this after I ordered my first guitar ❤, its gonna be a strat type with alnico pickups. I honestly thought guitar X was the ceramic because of how bright it sounded. Thank you Landon
I toss back and forth over my PRS SE stock HB Bridge pup with ceramic magnet, or does it need an Alnico bar magnet or pup swap. Only way to know for sure is use the same pickup, same guitar and swap magnets and see what I like best, before blowing lots on pup swap. The Donner pups are muddy, but ceramics don't need to be, so I think your comparison says more about the Donner pups than the magnet differences. Congrats to Sarah!
@@AuntAlnico4 Thanks. Mine's a 2008 PRSE SE SC (22 fret, 25in scale), I haven't opened the pup up to see, just read that they were, they are pretty bright sounding and loud, not warm, not thick. I also read that they're ALNICO 2 or 5, just shorter magnet 2.25in and maybe that explains the sound. PRS says the resistance is around 10K but I haven't measured it. Hard to get actual specs online for SEs so nothing definitive. What ALNICO you think they are 2 or 5?
I can tell which is which. The distinct difference to my ear is the mids with ceramic sound scouped. Like if you're chasing a dime bag tone turn up the bass and treble all the way upand the mids all the way down. That's what ceramic sounds like to me like someone turned the mid nob on the amp all the way down
And I don't think either sounds bad just depends on what you are looking for. Alnico is great for blues and classic rock but heavy metal ceramic is better for chugging and screaming leads
I think ceramic pickup has a more compressed sound, while Alnico pickup has a more clear sound. It's just about personal preferences and what kind of music to play with what kind of effectors and amplifier.
my favorite guitar company is people who made their own guitar not fabricate guitars maybe one day i can make mine. but in my country its hard to buy guitar making one is nearly imposibble :(
I got it right this time !!>> one tip off is the ceramics are a slightly louder, but to me the tones on both are good. Cheap ceramics sound muddy though, while even cheap ALNICO sound cleaner but have weak output. Good quality of either are more a matter of taste in my opinion.
I thought you already did the giveaway on the Donner Strat last week. It's al nee co. I couldn't tell which was which on the tone test this time and usually I can. I love ceramic and alnico single coils and experiment with different K output pots with them with great results. I mentioned if I win the giveaway I'd give it to my son.
Hmm 🤔 All my guitars have Alnico pickups except my '96 Squier Strat that has ceramic pickups, the awful cheap ones with fake poles and an underlying bar magnet. I guess it might sound nicer with properly made alnico pickups, a new bridge , a new nut ,a body that's not made out of 16 tons of agathis(?) and tuners that work. Maybe.
I prefer ceramic to alnico in strats. They just sound more "stratty." Idk how else to put it. That bright clarity is missing from alnicos. The 2 and 4 positions sound restrained in comparison. My only problem is I have not found a quality set of ceramic strat pickups, only the generic type that come stock in lower priced strats and Strat-style guitars. If Fender sold a set of ceramics with a modern voicing, I'd be all over it in a heartbeat.
I can't believe I picked a ceramic (Y).over the alnico. Y sounded smoother. I'm confused. Perhaps the perceived lower volume in recorded y pickup threw me off?
I assume the strength of the magnet is what makes a difference, not the material it's made of. If we had a ceramic magnet and an alnico magnet with the exact same magnetic pull, and attached each to the same pickup, would there really be a difference?
Ok I listened with headphones on that time. BIGGGGGGGG difference. The CV I really liked. The only way I can describe it was more "authentic, classic strat tone"......that being said, the ceramic pickups are very good. It's not until you hear them side by side that it stands out. You earned yourself a subscriber 👍
Unpopular opinion alert!😉 I like ceramics, because you can turn them down, then crank up the amp to get the power tubes singing, without the high end sparkle falling off a cliff. All my guitars except one has them, and the reason I like that one, is because it has a treble bleed circuit, which makes the alnico pickups act more like ceramics.
The ceramics in my Ibanez sound a little dead sounding, and they have unpleasant distortion after effects. Clean they sound great, but not quite as great as my single coil Alnico. But it is quite possible I have no idea what I'm talking about.
G'Day Landon... Enjoyed this "Session" comparison... 'X' did it for me and guess that means the Squier Alnico Pickups ??? Would not have known my preference before this Sound Test... Fave Guitar ? My "joined-at-the-hip" Vintage ESTON acoustic / electric played through a 1984 VOX Busker 10 Watt AMP... Most cheerful Guitar ? Fender Player Redondo (Spruce Top & Jade green)... and best Guitar for Quality and Tone ? CRAFTER Auditorium with Cedar Top... both played through a Fender Acoustasonic 40 Watt AMP ... Huge diff between Spruce and Cedar Tops... and... Yes... Most frustrating and exciting Guitar ? Squier BulletStrat HSS played through a Fender Blues Junior Ltd 15 Watt and Valves... (Just won't stay in tune and so have disabled the tremolo and made it a hardtail ... Still a work in progress !)... A possible Dual Humbucker is floating around in my mind ?? Suggest a "Blind" Humbucker vs P90 Test "Session" and help me decide ! 🤔Cheers ! Keep on... keeping ON ! Christie......
These guitars are too different to accurately compare. It was blatantly obvious which was which because one has humbuckers and a rosewood fingerboard while the other doesn’t
I'm thinking that "Guitar X" would be the Squire. The neck pickups sound almost identical, but the bridge pickup sounds a bit muffled on Guitar Y. Edit: Fly By Night? Nice!
This is an unfair comparison, as you did not adjust for the volume differences of the two pickups. As the Alnico pickups will always be louder, they are experienced by most people as "better" - even if they sound practically the same at equal levels. The main difference of the Alnicos can be seen at high gain values, as they deliver more output voltage and thus generate more "overdrive". For guitarists mainly looking into heavy overdriven sounds that may be important. for the others I see no need to exchange caramic to Alnico pickups.
When I listen to blind videos I never try and guess what is what- I just try and hear what sounds better to me. Every time the Y sounded far better. I don’t know what that says about my tastes!
Scientological! Always entertaining! Very fitting to play Rush-ish tunes on a Canadian channel! The classic vibe is one nice guitar, one of the best deals at that price range. 🤟
Ok Landon I’ll subscribe, you seem to be entertaining enough I’ll watch for a while. You should make 50,000 in no time. Oh I was wondering if you ever tried the Slick brand guitars? I here they play well over there price point.
👍👍👍👍👍!!! Hi Landon , nice to see you and thanks for making this video. I hope You are fine. you seem a little bit exhausted. Ceramic is significantly harder and thinner than an Alnico pickup. if you know exactly what you want to play and how it should or must sound. You must choose the pickups accordingly. For example. I think ceramics are good for hard and aggressive sounds. modern sounds and nothing for 50s sounds ,for example. maybe for 60s sound with the right amp attitude. if i want to play 50s sound i use alnico vintage pickups. I think ceramic pickups are a little bit bad for good Strat sound. for example.
Honestly, what this has told me is that I want to use both Ceramic in the middle with alnico either side...it'll probably sound like shit, but that's my risk to take 😂😂
@@najmihakimkhairi1210 in my case, on my 1989 Korean Squier, all the original steel/ceramic pickups were wound the same way. Luckily this allowed them to be RWRP with the new Alnico5 pickups. So this guitar now has humbucking 2 4 for the first time in 32 years ;) Although it seems like the RF shielding I added (re-used some old aluminium foil) made more difference (possibly due to too much difference between pickup types)
Just need to read the title to give you my answer: Alnico. Not to sound like a snob (me, not the pickups), but I just prefer that vintage snappy tone of Alnico pickups. I had a Fender Mexico with Ceramics and I never liked how it sound, and it affected my lust for playing it. Which was a shame because it did play nice otherwise.
They have different sweet spots, the alnico’s tend to sound best when the guitars volume is at ten, or close to it - the ceramics have more output due to the stronger, permanent magnets, and tend to hit their sweet spot at around half volume. I prefer the ceramics, I turn my MIM Strat’s volume to about 5, and crank up my AC-15 to compensate, gets a gorgeous, and very dynamic vintage tone. The ceramics also overdrive the amp more at higher settings, best of both worlds versatility.
@@artamussumatra6286 It's all about what you prefer. I have a Pearly Gates humbucker in my Strat and I believe it's ceramic, but it sounds great and when you split it I couldn't tell the difference between it and my other pickups which is alnico.
@@Wabin22 Yea, those humbuckers sound great in a Strat. I love the sound if the Little ‘59 I put in my Niece’s Strat, I’m tempted to get one myself, but I’m really happy with the stock pup.
Hahaha, I lost it, completely wrong in guessing. I thought X was the ceramic and Y was the alnico. The Xsound was warmer and louder so I thought ceramic.
![⭐️( ลอยกระทง 2024 ) Ver. แดนซ์ Remix BY [ ดีเจกิต รีมิกซ์ ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rMWOLhgXUHc/mqdefault.jpg)
I had ceramics in my 90 MIM Strat. I pulled them and replaced them with SCN noiseless. I realized I actually liked the ceramic sound so much that I didn’t throw them away. I kept them in a box, for 10 years. I ended up putting them in a 73 Mustang where they still are. They are much more usable than the original weak alnico pickups that were in it originally. Nice bite and more bass.
Yeah I could tell the difference. Ceramic is the superior magnet so the output is much higher. I used to prefer ceramics when I first started playing guitar, but now I've grown to prefer alnicos. The output on ceramic pickups was just too scratchy for me. It's definitely my playing's fault, but I found that alnico pickups are a lot more forgiving in that aspect. Plus I get a lot more granular control with soft and hard notes since the output isn't so high.
And having less output isn't a problem because you've got a volume knob on your amp for that. I gotta say I'm pretty happy with my decision to switch to alnico pickups a few years ago. They're not as good magnets as ceramics, but I think they're perfect for guitar pickups. A lot easier to dial in classic rock tones with them too. ;)
Alnico's "X" had more treble and bite while Ceramic "Y" were duller and more "blah" - "yeah I work, but not as responsive or colorfull". I will stick to Alnico's on preferences. Your video reverified what I picked in past. Alnico II, III, IV pickups Classics
Ceramic was louder and more muddy to my ears of that makes sense. The Alnicos were bright and crisp to my ears. My favorite is Martin. 👍🏽
Strange that in this video they are not louder and not reall muddy... I have ceramic pickups from a 2009 Squier Bullet (branded SEM) and they are great compared to my wilkinson WVS 60 pickups.
@@dawoud8013 He’s trolling, He said his favorite was Martin.
Gotta say, guitar x sounded better. Full and less harsh. I just like those alnicos man! Nice video. Thanks.
This one was a bit "too obvious" but i still believe we all need a strat with Ceramic for some stuff (less high /less harsh high on drive/ less definition) to record the 3rd layer of guitars or something... AlNico's are very "in your face" for 2nd rhythm guitar for example.
I’m probably a bit wonky but I actually preferred the Donner ceramics on my TV speakers - wow !!! Congratulations Sarah 👏👏👏
I got it wrong because X was much louder than Y. Because it was louder, I expected that to be the ceramic guitar. I thought the cleans were nicer on X, but it sounded like the drive was clipping on X, and the overall gain tone was just nicer on Y.
I think it's really a push, the differences I heard was probably more due to the specific setup, could be pickup height, action height differences, pot differences, basically just a cumulative difference of the entire guitar build & setup. I preferred Alnico on some of the settings, ceramics on others. This is one reason I don't swap parts out on a guitar unless they're broken really. If a pickup is mocrophonic & I've rarely ever had that happen. Really get that with a sub $ 100, but even with those it's rare to get that pickup that is poorly potted or defectively wound.
I recently bought a Tele that had a looser & rattly neck pickup cover & the bridge bobbin top flatwear piece wasn't flat for that pickup. Both easily fixable with gentle & minor surgery to take them apart and fix the issue. Whether it was a curled/warped bobbin, flatware part or it needed a little more or less wax for the potting on the top of the pickup. That Tele plays about as good as any other Tele on the planet, even one's priced hundreds & thousands more. The more I adjust & noodle around, with a guitar setup, it would have to really be poorly constructed & aligned for them to sound awful. If the alignment is correct, the setup is the difference maker. Even perceived cheaper strings that many whine about, seem to matter less when the guitar is properly aligned from the tuners to bridge, also setup & played in.
4:41 is that Street spirit
Edit: I recognize so many those Radiohead songs
Alnico pickups do give that vintage vibe
Alnico, it's just better.
It was easy for me, I play my player series strat way too much to not notice.
It is really hard to hide the humbucker on Y. Alnico seems to be a bit hotter, but not necessarily better. Congratulations, Sarah!!
I'm surprised to see that the majority prefers Alnicos. To me Alnicos just sounded like any other guitar... Whilst the ceramics really had their own thing going on. And I think they sounded prettier clean.
Yes they do always ..... you have good ears !!!
@@berniebelsham6151 I have some old ones and they sound really good
The very simple reason why Alnico sounds like "any other guitar" because 98% of the guitar videos are recorded with Alnico vs... if you check the price range where the guitars with ceramic are it speaks for itself too..... I meant single coils, humbuckers are a different ball game
Why is it every time I see an X and Y comparison video...I think of Algebra and get nervous about failing at math? If train X carrying 450 Fender guitars is heading west at 80 MPH directly towards another train heading east going 450 MPH that is carrying 80 Donner guitars, how many Michael Bolt-ons hits does it take to win a Grammy? Well, DUH! The answer of course is just 1 upside-down Landon doing a blurry unboxing video. Also, those alnico pickups sounded pretty good in my opinion. You know you wanted my opinion. You asked for it. Also, congratulations to Sarah Conor for winning the guitar. I hope it helps you to defeat the Terminator and stop judgement day from coming.
It was Sarah Gardiner
@@davidkastin4240 my bad. Sarah Gardiner, good luck with the T-1000's. 🤣
Michael definitely has a set-neck.
@@michaelrendon6808 This is the tale...of Captain Jack Sparrow - pirate so brave on the seven seas....
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Y WAS BEST FOR ME. IT WAS WARMER AND HAD A VERY SLIGHT REVERB VIBE. X WAS A LOT CLEARER BUT SOUNDED CHEAP TO MY EAR.
I LIKE A MORE BALLSY SOUND. NO SHADOWS FOR ME THANKS.
I did see the results, so, my pick is x=alnico. Much more defined sound and broader frequency response. I prefer alnicos on my guitars, but also have ceramic for lots of genre defined recordings. Nice review and cheers to the guitar winner! Thanks Landon!
I got it right, but the humbucker gave it away. I wasn’t sure which was the Alnico or the Ceramic but I could hear a difference.
Some ceramics are awesome. I built a SD Everything Axe which consists of a Lil 59 neck, a DuckBucker Middle, and a JB Jr Bridge but I put a Pearly Gates for Strat in the Bridge. That guitar sounds so great, just tons of tone!
X ceramic. Question: do lower output pickups allow the amp to, 'breakup', at a lower volume?
Wouldn't lower output pickups be less likely to breakup the amp at lower volume?
Ceramic has a harsh tone, especially in the treble, for certain type of sounds it can be great, mostly in distorision. Alnicos are sweeter and more musical to my ear, and the choice between II, III, IV and V are noticable. Alnico II are my favourites.
I had no idea, what was what, BUT thought X (the alnico apparently), was the best sounding one on almost every sound! It was the clearest, most defined and also the loudest for the most part. Louder is not always equal BETTER, of course but it definetely helps in a comparison like this, when trying to determine the texture and definition of a sound. The loudest one tend to stand out. But then you say that ceramic PU's tend to be louder? So yeah, its a funny little comparison, and now i cant help wonder if you switched them around somehow? :-D Thanks for the effort, nonetheless! :-)
Got it right - Alnico is clear. Breaks with brilliance - Ceramic is punchy in mids. Like them both.
Blind comparisons make me uncomfortable, but that's kind of your channel in a nutshell, so, good job.
I got both an Affinity with ceramics & a Classic Vibe with Alnico pups.
They both sound good, but different. "Horses for Courses". I wouldn't be without either.
Is Y the Donner? With the bridge pickup being a humbucker, it sounds deeper than x.
if u are using a good ceramic picks u can equalize the tone of ur amp and guitar increasing the bass and u get a similar sound to alnico. Alnico gives u more round sound that´s is true but when u are in a band this produces por interferences with the bass for example. So we must be careful and think about many variables that influence: the amp equalization , the context, the type of guitar u are using etc. Different colour for different tastes as we say in Spain.
The Alnico pickups are distinct and bright. The highs are noticeably high and the lows are noticeably low. Gives a good vintage sound. I'd prefer it in the neck, playing something slow and clean.
The ceramic pickups are what some people would consider thin and flat, but I consider very round and smooth. The lows and highs blend very well together for a thick tone. I'd probably use it in the bridge with distortion, allowing me to get a heavy tone across all strings.
They're both great pickups, my experience with both is that sometimes with Alnico the highs are almost ear piercing through a loud amp or with headphones, you need to roll the tone and volume down a bit. And the ceramics can't quite survive on their own, I feel they're a blank canvas for tone control and effects.
Made sense the way R.Baker said that the guitar he gave away was part of the channel and that's why he used it in a few vids. I think you should do the same!
As for the difference in tone, I honestly think that it wouldn't make a difference if I was playing a $200 guitar and a $5000 guitar.. They all sound like garbage in my hands (working hard to change that).
Love Robert’s stuff! I did use this guitar in 3 videos total
Y was the ceramic pickups. Ceramic is pretty distinct; not bad, but distinct. I've had cheap Squier ceramic pickups (particularly the ones that were in my Bullet Tele) that were pretty cool.
I know what you mean
I got so distracted by the video playing upside down that I almost forgot to listen for the sound demos!!! hahahahaha!!!
Alnico is better than ceramic according to my taste.... Though I have an affinity Strat, which has ceramic pickups. But I think ceramics are a bit muddy....
I was right because i know the fender very well..
But now i knew more what is facifica all bout...
Thanks bro..thats helps alot
Hey, I got it right... probably because of my Squier CV 70s with Alnicos. Sounded familiar
congrats to the lucky winner. You are really lucky to get this guitar from
Landon Bailey.
Alnico are magnets. Ceramic is flat bar with pople attachments. Magnetic properties of pole attachments are very important.
I often get fooled on these blind tests, but I got this one right. The ceramics are slightly more "harsh". Not a huge difference, but enough.
I guessed guitar X and Y correctly only because guitar X sounded really similar to my Squier Affinity. Those ceramics sound better with dirt on than the alnicos to my ears.
i guess...
guitar x is alnico
guitar y is ceramic
if i described both pickups, it'll be like this :
ceramic : modern sounding (smoother), warmer, bassier, sometimes it'll sound muddy if the pickup is too close to the strings
alnico 5 : vintage sounding (sharper), brighter, twangier, treblier, rich of clarity, less bass, bell like tone
cool thanks for the sharing!
Yo Lando !! Great video … I know I have a set of ceramics in my 2001 Mexican Strat and I love those pickups !!
Congrats to the winner👍
Can’t wait for the 50k giveaway 🤞
Awesome video by the way.
X sounds awesome! Thanks for the comparison. Now I know that a Classic Vibe is what I want.
Do magnets really have tone? Will it matter especially when the magnet is a bar type and the magnetic pull on the strings is conveyed through steel pole pieces? For similar components, a stronger magnet (ceramic) will give a higher pickup output. Similarly, raising the pickup height will increase output as well. Real tone is affected by other factors.
I have an old Epiphone Custom shop GT Les Paul. It's got ceramic pickups, trem bar and a killswitch. The whole guitar is more geared towards metal, especially the pickups. I prefer the Alnico, but I can see why people like the ceramics. They give a really bright, or really deep sound.
Obviously the Y guitar has less bass frequencies so it's the guitar with ceramic pickups. Anyway, it's the fingerboard the most affective part of the sound, so you should do the comparison with both guitars with the same fingerboard (maple or rosewood).
they would sound the same
Oh mate, what are you talking about? That's like saying the particular type of steel in the roof of a car has the biggest effect on the noise that comes out of the exhaust.
Tone wood is a myth😂
Much preferred X....alnico?
I always wondered why my brother’s Squier Strat sounded better in a bar of 20 people with chatter, drums, and a bass than people with high end guitars and alnico pickups.
His ceramic pickups cut through everything. Not that he was technically better, but his sound was so much better than others.
I missed it. I liked X more spank. Thought Ceramics were generally suppose to have more spank so I thought X were ceramics. Wrong. Alnicos. Depends on which brand, guitar, type pups - really can't make a general rule. I heard P90s were the ceramics had a bit more spank than A2 and I liked these over the A5.
I determined Ceramic was Y I looked for what I seemed to have less articulation/subtleties. Having never owned a guitar with ceramic pickups before until recently the first thing I noticed was the ability to get a different sound by using more or less force was practically absent, that I do not appreciate and those pickups will be replaced sometime soon
I much preferred guitar "X" (the Squier), as the other "Y" sounded weedy, thin and too plunky (plunky...? yeah, you know nasal, no sustain, just bloody awful).
The sounds were pretty clear. I liked the Donner sound better.
X sounded much clearer and louder. Wondering about difference in pickup height? Either way X wins. Waiting ti find out what X is....
The alnicos on the Squier stood out. Donner still sounds pretty good though.
I prefere alnico. I just bought a strat jv modified and they say vintage style pups but i suspect ceramic. Its hard for me to play ceramic pups. The dynamic is different and they sound cold to me. I love the strat but something is not vintage in their vintage style pickups. Dosent sound round and creamy. They sound crispy and cold and hard to play with.
I'm watching this after I ordered my first guitar ❤, its gonna be a strat type with alnico pickups. I honestly thought guitar X was the ceramic because of how bright it sounded. Thank you Landon
Got my decision at first comparison. Had my decision final at bridge pickups. Humbuckers rlly sound different with single coils. Got it right thou
Ahhh "Doesn't Remind Me" by Audioslave. Very nice!
I toss back and forth over my PRS SE stock HB Bridge pup with ceramic magnet, or does it need an Alnico bar magnet or pup swap. Only way to know for sure is use the same pickup, same guitar and swap magnets and see what I like best, before blowing lots on pup swap. The Donner pups are muddy, but ceramics don't need to be, so I think your comparison says more about the Donner pups than the magnet differences. Congrats to Sarah!
I've got an older PRS se custom 22 and it sounds like ALNICO to me.
@@AuntAlnico4 Thanks. Mine's a 2008 PRSE SE SC (22 fret, 25in scale), I haven't opened the pup up to see, just read that they were, they are pretty bright sounding and loud, not warm, not thick. I also read that they're ALNICO 2 or 5, just shorter magnet 2.25in and maybe that explains the sound. PRS says the resistance is around 10K but I haven't measured it. Hard to get actual specs online for SEs so nothing definitive. What ALNICO you think they are 2 or 5?
Shawicked vid I could use a classic vibe for sure. Cheers ! Just subbed, Have you tried the Greg Bennett Samick's out ?
cheers! I haven't heard of that
@@landonbailey A good cheap guit for sure.
I can tell which is which. The distinct difference to my ear is the mids with ceramic sound scouped. Like if you're chasing a dime bag tone turn up the bass and treble all the way upand the mids all the way down. That's what ceramic sounds like to me like someone turned the mid nob on the amp all the way down
And I don't think either sounds bad just depends on what you are looking for. Alnico is great for blues and classic rock but heavy metal ceramic is better for chugging and screaming leads
🎸👍
The best tone I ever had was with a cheap ceramic single coil through a $29 Rogue amp. I remember heads turned. Great video again!!
smells like straight bullshit to me
@@drpelliper5818
Right , it turned heads because they were like "WTF is that noise?"
I think ceramic pickup has a more compressed sound, while Alnico pickup has a more clear sound. It's just about personal preferences and what kind of music to play with what kind of effectors and amplifier.
my favorite guitar company is people who made their own guitar not fabricate guitars maybe one day i can make mine. but in my country its hard to buy guitar making one is nearly imposibble :(
I got it right this time !!>> one tip off is the ceramics are a slightly louder, but to me the tones on both are good. Cheap ceramics sound muddy though, while even cheap ALNICO sound cleaner but have weak output. Good quality of either are more a matter of taste in my opinion.
I thought you already did the giveaway on the Donner Strat last week. It's al nee co. I couldn't tell which was which on the tone test this time and usually I can. I love ceramic and alnico single coils and experiment with different K output pots with them with great results. I mentioned if I win the giveaway I'd give it to my son.
Al Ni Co = Aluminium , Nickel and Cobalt. Why Al Knee Coe ? 😂
Yes you can hear a difference definitely
Hmm 🤔 All my guitars have Alnico pickups except my '96 Squier Strat that has ceramic pickups, the awful cheap ones with fake poles and an underlying bar magnet. I guess it might sound nicer with properly made alnico pickups, a new bridge , a new nut ,a body that's not made out of 16 tons of agathis(?) and tuners that work. Maybe.
Ceramic pickups aren't as warm to my ears but are much cleaner sounding for sure, especially when you add gain or od.
I prefer ceramic to alnico in strats. They just sound more "stratty." Idk how else to put it. That bright clarity is missing from alnicos. The 2 and 4 positions sound restrained in comparison. My only problem is I have not found a quality set of ceramic strat pickups, only the generic type that come stock in lower priced strats and Strat-style guitars. If Fender sold a set of ceramics with a modern voicing, I'd be all over it in a heartbeat.
I can't believe I picked a ceramic (Y).over the alnico. Y sounded smoother. I'm confused. Perhaps the perceived lower volume in recorded y pickup threw me off?
I assume the strength of the magnet is what makes a difference, not the material it's made of. If we had a ceramic magnet and an alnico magnet with the exact same magnetic pull, and attached each to the same pickup, would there really be a difference?
I picked it easy enough . The Red Guitar sounds like there is an Issue with its Set-up too , BTW .
it was shipped away for a giveaway quite a while ago!
@@landonbailey Yeah , I know . Noticed the Date Stamp after posting . Surprised to get a reply actually .
Ok I listened with headphones on that time. BIGGGGGGGG difference. The CV I really liked. The only way I can describe it was more "authentic, classic strat tone"......that being said, the ceramic pickups are very good. It's not until you hear them side by side that it stands out.
You earned yourself a subscriber 👍
cheers!
Unpopular opinion alert!😉 I like ceramics, because you can turn them down, then crank up the amp to get the power tubes singing, without the high end sparkle falling off a cliff. All my guitars except one has them, and the reason I like that one, is because it has a treble bleed circuit, which makes the alnico pickups act more like ceramics.
The ceramics in my Ibanez sound a little dead sounding, and they have unpleasant distortion after effects.
Clean they sound great, but not quite as great as my single coil Alnico.
But it is quite possible I have no idea what I'm talking about.
X is the Donner, so I thought. Reverend Guitars is my favorite guitar brand.
are you blind?
Hey, well done Sarah!! Enjoy!
I like X, guessing alnico for X. Fly by Night! I knew when I heard the bridge clean.
G'Day Landon... Enjoyed this "Session" comparison... 'X' did it for me and guess that means the Squier Alnico Pickups ??? Would not have known my preference before this Sound Test... Fave Guitar ? My "joined-at-the-hip" Vintage ESTON acoustic / electric played through a 1984 VOX Busker 10 Watt AMP... Most cheerful Guitar ? Fender Player Redondo (Spruce Top & Jade green)... and best Guitar for Quality and Tone ? CRAFTER Auditorium with Cedar Top... both played through a Fender Acoustasonic 40 Watt AMP ... Huge diff between Spruce and Cedar Tops... and... Yes... Most frustrating and exciting Guitar ? Squier BulletStrat HSS played through a Fender Blues Junior Ltd 15 Watt and Valves... (Just won't stay in tune and so have disabled the tremolo and made it a hardtail ... Still a work in progress !)... A possible Dual Humbucker is floating around in my mind ?? Suggest a "Blind" Humbucker vs P90 Test "Session" and help me decide ! 🤔Cheers ! Keep on... keeping ON ! Christie......
cheers!
I prefer X, which pup is that i presume Alnicos?
These guitars are too different to accurately compare. It was blatantly obvious which was which because one has humbuckers and a rosewood fingerboard while the other doesn’t
👍🎸
I'm thinking that "Guitar X" would be the Squire. The neck pickups sound almost identical, but the bridge pickup sounds a bit muffled on Guitar Y. Edit: Fly By Night? Nice!
I knew X was the Alnico - cleaner and crisper. Favorite guitar brand price/quality is Epiphone. Acoustic - Guild
This is an unfair comparison, as you did not adjust for the volume differences of the two pickups. As the Alnico pickups will always be louder, they are experienced by most people as "better" - even if they sound practically the same at equal levels. The main difference of the Alnicos can be seen at high gain values, as they deliver more output voltage and thus generate more "overdrive". For guitarists mainly looking into heavy overdriven sounds that may be important. for the others I see no need to exchange caramic to Alnico pickups.
I've always found Ceramic pickups louder
When I listen to blind videos I never try and guess what is what- I just try and hear what sounds better to me. Every time the Y sounded far better. I don’t know what that says about my tastes!
In this case it says you like more mids & less treble. Nothing wrong with that. Not my choice but why should it be ? Enjoy what you enjoy.
@@jktolford8272 oh no I’m a mid lover! Damit
I couldn't tell the difference with youtube compression lol
Tone deaf....
Scientological! Always entertaining! Very fitting to play Rush-ish tunes on a Canadian channel! The classic vibe is one nice guitar, one of the best deals at that price range. 🤟
I like X, will find out which one is it
Ok Landon I’ll subscribe, you seem to be entertaining enough I’ll watch for a while. You should make 50,000 in no time. Oh I was wondering if you ever tried the Slick brand guitars? I here they play well over there price point.
"I will only it on somebody on Earth, its pretty standard these days"
Lol
Say again!?
🤔
I will only it on somebody on Earth, SAY WHAT NOW?
@@ZitherBeast
That's what I'm talkin' bout!
I will only ship it TO somebody on Earth. its even in the closed caption. :)
Well im not anglophone, have mercy😂
👍👍👍👍👍!!! Hi Landon , nice to see you and thanks for making this video. I hope You are fine. you seem a little bit exhausted.
Ceramic is significantly harder and thinner than an Alnico pickup. if you know exactly what you want to play and how it should or must sound. You must choose the pickups accordingly. For example. I think ceramics are good for hard and aggressive sounds. modern sounds and nothing for 50s sounds ,for example. maybe for 60s sound with the right amp attitude. if i want to play 50s sound i use alnico vintage pickups. I think ceramic pickups are a little bit bad for good Strat sound. for example.
cheers! this was a while ago
Y is Alnico and X is ceramic
cool vibes,great guy, im subcribed.
Thanks for the sub!
Congratulations Sarah!! Enjoy the ceramics
hii.... i have subbed your channel... and my favorite brand is fender... preferablly a vintage stratocaster
:-)
cheers!
@@landonbailey 😊😊😊😊
Honestly, what this has told me is that I want to use both
Ceramic in the middle with alnico either side...it'll probably sound like shit, but that's my risk to take 😂😂
I'm doing this
It depends how the pickup is wound
@@najmihakimkhairi1210 in my case, on my 1989 Korean Squier, all the original steel/ceramic pickups were wound the same way. Luckily this allowed them to be RWRP with the new Alnico5 pickups. So this guitar now has humbucking 2 4 for the first time in 32 years ;) Although it seems like the RF shielding I added (re-used some old aluminium foil) made more difference (possibly due to too much difference between pickup types)
I like both pups. Working on a project guitar soon and I'm installing an HB size Alnico 5(p90) neck and a Vintage ceramic single coil for the bridge.
@@grooveu1965 I've got a bit carried away with my RWRP success, and designed, and am now installing, a switch for serial in-phase and out of phase ;)
Just need to read the title to give you my answer: Alnico.
Not to sound like a snob (me, not the pickups), but I just prefer that vintage snappy tone of Alnico pickups.
I had a Fender Mexico with Ceramics and I never liked how it sound, and it affected my lust for playing it. Which was a shame because it did play nice otherwise.
I use Neomydian magnets. Guitar Fetish Neo 9s.
@@avgmaster1 I have some guitars with Ceramics and they sound great, so I don't want to be a snob.
Whatever sounds good, sounds good :)
They have different sweet spots, the alnico’s tend to sound best when the guitars volume is at ten, or close to it - the ceramics have more output due to the stronger, permanent magnets, and tend to hit their sweet spot at around half volume. I prefer the ceramics, I turn my MIM Strat’s volume to about 5, and crank up my AC-15 to compensate, gets a gorgeous, and very dynamic vintage tone. The ceramics also overdrive the amp more at higher settings, best of both worlds versatility.
@@artamussumatra6286 It's all about what you prefer.
I have a Pearly Gates humbucker in my Strat and I believe it's ceramic, but it sounds great and when you split it I couldn't tell the difference between it and my other pickups which is alnico.
@@Wabin22 Yea, those humbuckers sound great in a Strat. I love the sound if the Little ‘59 I put in my Niece’s Strat, I’m tempted to get one myself, but I’m really happy with the stock pup.
Hahaha, I lost it, completely wrong in guessing. I thought X was the ceramic and Y was the alnico. The Xsound was warmer and louder so I thought ceramic.
I guessed right, but I also learned from this demo that not even bright ceramic magnets can brighten up a humbucker.
X is louder than Y so people generally go for louder -- need to be equal volume right?
I don't know what people go for