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Ceramic and Alnico?

J

John Deacon

Aug 24, 2007
917
0
Virginia
#1
What are the tonal differences between these two? Also, does the StingRay have ceramic or alnico, and does the Sterling have ceramic and alnico?

Also, I heard that the StingRay and the Sterling have different preamps. Is this right? I read it on Wikipedia, but we know that that may not always be a reliable source. What are the differences in these preamps tone wise?

Thanks!
 
#9
There is more to pickup building than magnet material so this isn't going to always stand up, pickup to pickup - it's just 1 variable among others ....

Alnico tends to me warmer, Ceramic more harsh. In some basses, the G&L JB-2 for instance, the ceramic pickups are thought of as edgy, detailed and as having presence. Me - I found 'em bitchily precise and unforgiving in a 1 pc Ash and maple edition I had... they were merely unpleasant in an Alder and Rosewod one. Both those basses really benefitted from the pickup swap.

Alnico based pickups will often have a slower rise time. That translates into less outright punch. Sounds bad but ... sometime too much punch can lead to harsh. Again 1 variable among many. I have an Ash & maple J. The materials tend towards bright and the neck is super stiff. I used Alnico pickups in that bass to tame it a little; to warm it up a little.

In the case of the MM pickup. I tried a Nordstrand MM4.32 in a lakland 44-02 I had. I liked it a lot. That one was Alnico. It so completely smoked the Bart that came out ... If I were a 'ray guy' - I'd be pretty high on that particular pickup I expect. Detailed and punchy but not to the point of being harsh...

That thought about when is more punch too much punch ... as the question how many folks use compression for it's taming effect *... maybe if they had a warmer pickup, they wouldn't ...

* as opposed to the slan 'n pop crowd where it's kinda in the over all tone for the idiom.
 
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#10
Also, if you want traditional rod magnet pickups where the poles are the magnets (fender, old school music man), those rods will always be alnico. I don't think ceramic manufactures that way.

Ceramic pickups will pretty much always have the magnet under the pickup with steel slugs or blades under the strings; this usually makes for a much hotter pickup with the same amount of wire.
 
#12
Ceramic pickups IME tend to be more "harsh" sounding. Very defined and clean tone. The alnico pickups tend to sound more "round". Not as much attack. IME fuller than ceramic.

I'm usually not a fan of the ceramic pickups. However, my current Stingray 5 has them, but has a rosewood board and alder, so it is not as harsh sounding as an ash/maple combination I've owned before
 
#15
When Stingrays first came out, they had the alcino pickups. Not sure what year, but they switched to ceramic. (Just a guess, but I would think around '90) I think they switched back to alnico in 2007 or 2008.

So to answer your question in a way, there are Stingray's out there with ceramic, and some with alcino, depending by year. A lot of people like the early ray's because they sound warmer. Partially because of alnico, partially because of the 2 band preamp. I played a ceramic Stingray for 9 years, its my snarly, growly, aggressive bass. I don't think of it as less than alnico, just a slightly different tonal goal. I'm pretty sure the ray that Flea used on the BSSM tour was a ceramic stingray.
 
#16
depalm said:
Alnico = warm, fat, …

Ceramic = clanky, harsh, cheap, …
Click to expand...

That's only true of cheap poorly designed pickups.

Would anyone call Barts "clanky" or "harsh"? I don't think so, yet they use ceramic magnets.

Alembic uses ceramics, DiMarzios use ceramics, and all the classic Bill lawrence pickups used ceramics.

Same can be said for neodymium magnets. People think they are super bright, but that's not really true.

But the stronger the magnet, the more high frequency energy you can get out of the pickup. It's up to the designer to make sure the pickup is not harsh sounding.

Just taking a pickup designed for alnico and sticking in a ceramic doesn't work very well. ;)

In my opinion alnicos can often sound dull and spongy when use for bass pickups.
 
#17
The way I see it, for the good aspects, Alnico magnets, in a well-designed pickup, tends to produce a warm, deep, well-defined tone. Ceramic magnets, also in a well-designed pickup, will make a very clean, articulate tone. Of course, there are pickups that cover a huge range of tones. There's more to a pickup than the magnet.

In the bad aspects, Anlicos can be muddy and dull, and Ceramics can be harsh and lifeless. But not in well-designed pickups.
 
#18
depalm said:
Alnico = warm, fat, …

Ceramic = clanky, harsh, cheap, …
Click to expand...


SGD Lutherie said:
That's only true of cheap poorly designed pickups.

Would anyone call Barts "clanky" or "harsh"? I don't think so, yet they use ceramic magnets.

Alembic uses ceramics, DiMarzios use ceramics, and all the classic Bill lawrence pickups used ceramics.

Same can be said for neodymium magnets. People think they are super bright, but that's not really true.

But the stronger the magnet, the more high frequency energy you can get out of the pickup. It's up to the designer to make sure the pickup is not harsh sounding.

Just taking a pickup designed for alnico and sticking in a ceramic doesn't work very well. ;)

In my opinion alnicos can often sound dull and spongy when use for bass pickups.
Click to expand...

True, but I was referring to Music Man pickups.

I had ceramic pickups on my Sterling and it always sounded clanky, harsh, lifeless etc… I replaced them with Nords alnico PUs, now it is a great sounding bass.

My Sting Ray sounds great with its stock alnico PU.

IMHO
 
#19
depalm said:
True, but I was referring to Music Man pickups.

I had ceramic pickups on my Sterling and it always sounded clanky, harsh, lifeless etc… I replaced them with Nords alnico PUs, now it is a great sounding bass.

My Sting Ray sounds great with its stock alnico PU.

IMHO
Click to expand...

Yeah, it depends on the bass though. I did a whole series of jazz basses with Baselines ceramic MM pickups and the matching preamp for a guy. He did one with alnicos, and it didn't sound as good to me as the other ones.

But he wanted a very bright tone anyway.

But on an overly bright bass, or if you want a warmer tone, it could be just the ticket.
 
#20
Well, the reason why I am trying to decide, is because I'm debating whether to get a Sterling or a StingRay.

I think I like the larger body, because the smaller body just...I dunno. I had a Sterling before but I sold it.

I understand the alnico is warm, and that ceramic is more clean. The Sterling seems like itd be more suited for funk and jazz. I love the tone though. And the StingRay sounds more warm from the alnico and I think it'd blend in with the mix really well.

But I picked up a 5 string Sterling, and I loved the tone. So as you can see, I'm stuck.

The 5 string StingRay also uses alnico, correct?
 

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