This will be a short one.
Alnico 2 magnets are present in my two favorite pickups – the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates, and the Fender Shawbucker 1. Also, the very popular ProBucker pickups are also Alnico 2 magnets. Why do I like all of these pickups? Mostly because the output is lower. But why does that matter, and what’s the difference between Alnico 2 and Alnico 5?
The number basically compares the output – Alnico 5 has the most output, then Alnico 4, and then Alnico 2. The stronger the magnet, the more output the pickup has. Alnico stands for aluminum, nickel, and cobalt. When you vary the amount of each element, you change the strength of the magnet. Keep in mind that different companies do different formulas, so these are ballpark numbers.
An Alnico 2 magnet is:
- 10% Aluminum
- 17% Nickel
- 12.5% Cobalt
An Alnico 4 is:
- 12% Aluminum
- 28% Nickel
- 5% Cobalt
An Alnico 5 is:
- 12% Aluminum
- 26% Nickel
- 24% Cobalt
So why prefer a weaker magnet? Well, the magnet is only one part of the pickup. There’s also the wire and how much of it you use. But in general, lower output humbuckers sound sweeter and more hi-fi to me. You hear individual note definition better. Ironically, the same can be said of high output ceramic humbuckers, but for a different reason.
But mostly, the two Alnico 2 pickups I love sound very similar to the vintage Gibson PAF sound that I grew up admiring. So there’s that.
