What’s the Deal with Alnico VIII Magnets?

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Eight Ball — Like this royalty-free clip-art illustration, the Alternative 8 manages to be both aggressive and round.

I was talking to some of the Seymour Duncan dudes the other day about pickups models deserving greater public awareness. One of the first names on everyone’s lips was the Alternative 8, a a high-output humbucker that uses a powerful alnico VIII magnet in lieu of the alnico II or alnico V magnets that fuel the vast majority of non-ceramic pickups.

I was intrigued, so I popped one into the bridge position of my Hamer 20th Anniversary. Yow.

If you’ve been following this blog, you’ve probably noticed that I tend to gravitate toward lower-output, vintage-flavored pickups, generating gain from the amp or a number of sketchy homemade distortion boxes. The Alternative 8, with its blistering DC resistance of 17.68k, is definitely a departure for me, but I found myself captivated by its deft balance of aggression and definition.

Have a listen and see what you think. Post-mortem after the video.

With the amp cranked and a bit of germanium overdrive, this pickup really wants to sustain. I find myself lingering on long notes rather than trying to play fast. Despite all the gain, the pickup does a remarkable job of maintaining definition on low, chunky chords, yet it doesn’t get too shrill in the high register. The crisp note attack makes this a good choice for high-gain players who play percussively, or who demand maximum rhythmic precision. With the Alternative 8, you damn well know when the notes start!

One surprise was how well the Alternative 8 blends with demo’s neck pickup, a much lower output model from Duncan’s Joe Bonamassa set (which I demoed with its official partner here.) The Alternative 8 has vastly more gain, yet I found the pair surprisingly complementary. (It’s not a discovery I set out to make — I was just too lazy to swap out the neck pickup before recording.)

Has anyone tried a pickup with an alnico VIII magnet? Or, for that matter, anything other than the ubiquitous alnico II or alnico V? (Coincidentally, I just learned that the Joe Bonamassa bridge pickup I removed to demo the Alternative 8 uses an alnico III.)

Effin’ magnets. How do they work?

8 alnico alnico 8 alnico VIII alternative bridge demo duncan humbucker Joe Bonamassa neck P.A.F. PAF pickup seymour VIII

Comments

16 responses to “What’s the Deal with Alnico VIII Magnets?”

July 17, 2012

Eric

Is the PTB still wired up in this guitar? I wonder how a high gain monster like this works with that system.

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1. July 17, 2012
  
  joe
  
  I’m glad you asked that, because I forgot to mention it! 🙂
  
  No, it’s not — I went back to the usual double-volume/single tone method in order to demo with a more “typical” configuration. The PTB would probably sound pretty cool — though the Alternative 8 is really good at keeping low-end boom in check, and you don’t need to roll off lows to get a good tone.
  
  Reply
July 17, 2012

David

I make pickups with neodymium magnets. Mostly bass pickups, but I have been working on some guitar pickups using neos. Neos are stronger than ceramics, but have the low end warmth of alnico.

Reply
1. July 17, 2012
  
  joe
  
  Interesting! Love to hear more. 🙂
  
  Reply
July 17, 2012

zyon

I heard a bit of that Santana sound in there…. that’s cool!

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July 17, 2012

joe

Yeah, I hear it too — and it’s not me, it’s the pickups!

I’m not entirely joking. I’d never have cited Carlos as much of an influence, but there’s something about those crazy, high-gain pickups and a cranked amp that makes you want to “emote” on those long held notes. Yet another case of how gear influences music, as opposed to the other way around. 😉

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July 18, 2012

Dirtbagg

I have a Crazy 8, which is fun to play for my Punk rock stuff

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1. July 18, 2012
  
  joe
  
  I haven’t tried one of those. To you ear, how does it sound different from other high-output humbuckers?
  
  Reply
  1. July 23, 2012
    
    Dirtbagg
    
    It is a Parallel axis pickup. it is have more of a high end treble or more treblely.
    
    but it is great for punk songs
    
    Reply
July 18, 2012

Andy

I have a Brian Moore that has a set of Lace Hemis loaded with barium ferrite magnets. They sound awesome, especially with a 2 meg volume pot 😀

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July 19, 2012

JH

hmmm.. your killing me. I decided to get a warmoth body and neck instead of buying a charvel so-cal. now I tried out the invader pickup and like it. this one sounds good too. I’ll have to see if anyone I know has one of these to try out. But I’ll probably go w a distortion (tried and true). You people are not making it easier to decide!
Who makes pickups with neodymium magnets. I heard them mentioned before, but I dont remember what was said about them.
BTW anyone know about these necks at warmoth? Their necks are great but I cant get the compound radius without having the truss rod adjust at the heel? same with the charvel necks too.

Reply
1. July 20, 2012
  
  Greg
  
  I have a warmoth parts strat I made with a compound Radius neck and with the truss rod adjust at the side and I think its great so far. It works almost the same as a fender neck where the truss rod is at the base of the neck but once you adjust that then you make fine adjustments at the side. I think of it as when you have a floyd rose bridge. You tune with the head stock tuners first then you fine adjust with the fine tuners. Makes sense? And I can’t tell you much about the pickups I have a Custom Custom in the bridge A gorge Lynch Lil screamin deamon in the middle and a pearly gates in the neck. A great versatile guitar since im a working musician and need alot of different sounds at one time and dont like to carry alot of gear.
  
  Reply
  1. July 20, 2012
    
    JH
    
    Thanks! I actually like that idea with the fine tune truss adjustment. also goin with warmoth for the recessed floyd rout whitch charvel doesnt have in their 22 fret guitars. Cant wait! Been a while since I had a floyd, and I cant do the 24 fret!
    
    Reply
January 5, 2013

Aceman

Little late to this one…

I currently am playing a JB8.

I picked up an awesome Dean Cadillac Silverburst. It came with a Duncan JB ($260 – Epic win of Sheen proportions).

I remembered a lot of the things I don’t dig about a JB in thick mahogany – namely spiky harsh highs. I swapped out the A5 for an A8.

Tamed the shrieky highs (ahhh), reduced the mids slightly, bass was a little boosted. Overall, it sounds fantastic.

I was plainning to put a Duncan Distortion in this guitar, but I may just keep the JB8. Much preferred by me to a regulalr JB…

Reply
March 6, 2014

Jackie Wong

Just get into this article for the word Alnico magnets , becuase we are the manufacturer of alnico magnets

Reply
May 11, 2024

Madbunyip3

Hi, adding to an old threat here. I just pulled out my old 1978 Ibanez performer with Alnico 8 Super 70’s. They sizzle. Also great tamed for jazz. Superb pickups. I have had several Gibson’s including a 71 and a 91 with PAFs, and the super 70’s are warmer, clearer across the spectrum, tighter and louder. I wish I had used this guitar more, I have had it for more than 40 years and never knew they used a different magnet. That explains a lot.

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