AlNiCo IV ?

[Stone]

Howdy all anyone use AlNiCo IV Pickups? and your thoughts
also do most prefer AlNiCo V for hard rock ?

Thanks all for your Input

 

[la szum]

Alnico II and IV can both be squishier than V, in my experience. More compressed at point of attack,
sort of thing. I really like a V in the bridge and then a II or IV based Alnico in the neck.

On a budget, those Tonerider Alnico IVs are some decent pickups. I put a set in a friend's PRS Tremonti
SE. He liked the guitar, but not the pickups, and didn't want to drop a bunch of coin in a sub $500 axe.

 

[fretworn]

Spoiler

In all candor… I believe my pole pieces are customized between the alinco2 and 4 with some 3s and there as well? I don’t really remember, I’d have to go look at the luthier specs.

 

[Jarick]

Hmm, it depends on the pickup. They tend to be somewhere between alnico 2 and alnico 5. They have a little less bass and treble compared to A5 and a little more clarity and output compared to A2.

My favorite A4 pickups I used were Bareknuckle Mules which sounded awesome all around but are now super expensive. The Tonerider A4 Classics are great bargains, really close in terms of sound. I also have used the Thornbucker bridge quite a bit which uses A4 to get a little warmer sound compared to A5, but not mushy like some A2 can be.

 

[Stone]

Yes ive looked at the Tonerider IV they certainly seem very nice considering their Price point
apparently some Gibson PAF used IV hence their 49x Designation
was looking for something a little less aggressive than a V
II in the bridge might be to flubby or tame II is weak and n really is AlNi no cobalt so was thinking maybe try the IV since its not that expensive from Tonerider

 

[la szum]

What's the output on your current Alnico V Bridge pickup you want to replace? The Toneriders are
super vintagey in terms of output. Right in the 8K range, as I recall.

 

[Stone]

What's the output on your current Alnico V Bridge pickup you want to replace? The Toneriders are
super vintagey in terms of output. Right in the 8K range, as I recall.

Yamaha VH 5

Alnico V magnet, German silver baseplate and heavy formvar wire for bright, powerful, balanced, vintage/modern sound. [8.4k (neck) / 8.8k (bridge) DCR]

 

[Stone]

I recall on my previous Older Gen Revstar i found the Pickups a little to bright and somewhat bass heavy
with my new 2nd Gen Revstar Coming in wanted to maybe try something else

 

[Rocco Crocco]

I had a DiMarzio PAF Master bridge PU that I found to be pretty bland in a Les Paul. I think I exchanged it for something else.

I currently have a set of Duncan Saturday Night Specials in an Epiphone LP and that guitar kicks ass.

 

[Stone]

I had a DiMarzio PAF Master bridge PU that I found to be pretty bland in a Les Paul. I think I exchanged it for something else.

I currently have a set of Duncan Saturday Night Specials in an Epiphone LP and that guitar kicks ass.

yes those are AlNiCo IV

 

[Jarick]

I think the Tonerider Alnico 4 would be a good pick. Something like 7.5k neck and 8.2k bridge maybe? Classic paf output. Should be more balanced and clearer and less aggressive.

The Duncan SNS have a nice clear neck but a pretty hot bridge. I found them a bit unbalanced. Like a more extreme version of Thornbuckers.

 

[ChangelingIX]

That's interesting that Jarick found the SNS pickups to be unbalanced, I actually think they're one of the more well-balanced ones out there.
I think the Duncan SNS bridge sits somewhere right in between that more tame, squishy Alnico II tone and the sharper more aggressive Alnico V.
It defintely is more cutting and has more edge to it than an old school PAF but it still retains much of the better qualities of them.
But like pretty much any and all pickups out there, it's hard to really know until you try them yourself and depending on the guitar you're installing them into and so forth.

 

[Jarick]

That's interesting that Jarick found the SNS pickups to be unbalanced, I actually think they're one of the more well-balanced ones out there.
I think the Duncan SNS bridge sits somewhere right in between that more tame, squishy Alnico II tone and the sharper more aggressive Alnico V.
It defintely is more cutting and has more edge to it than an old school PAF but it still retains much of the better qualities of them.
But like pretty much any and all pickups out there, it's hard to really know until you try them yourself and depending on the guitar you're installing them into and so forth.

It could have been my particular set too. I think the neck was just over 7k and the bridge was nearly 10k. There was just a ton of push especially mids in the bridge. I don't typically like PAF style pickups that are wound over 9k as the midrange can get out of control. I found that with the Duncan 78 I tried along with a Wolfetone Marshallhead that was over 9k (although the current Marshallhead I have is wound a little less hot so it's more balanced).

Suhr pickups I have found to be different though, they don't act as hot as they are on paper. I had an SSV+ which is like a modern PAF wound to 10k, and while it was a little more aggressive than an SSV/Thornbucker, it wasn't super mid forward. The Thornbucker Plus bridge is at/over 9k as well and certainly doesn't feel hot. And I know people love the Aldrich pickup for it's ability to clean up even though it's wound to like 18k (44 gauge wire like a JB).

 

[SillyOctpuss]

A fun experiment is to grab a set of pickups you already have, order a bunch of magnets and then swop them out to see how they affect the tone you get.

I had a set of paf style humbuckers with alnico ii in the neck and v in the bridge but was never happy with how they balanced. The bridge was either too spiky on the neck was too dull.

I ordered some alnico ii, iii, IV, v and viii. Then spent a day trying different permutations and eventually ended up with IV in the bridge and iii in the neck.