Alnico 8 Unpolished Bar Magnet 2.444 In.

Excellent upgrade for Seymour Duncan Custom

Posted by Unknown on 23rd Oct 2016

I swapped out the Alnico 5 magnet in my Duncan Custom 5 for this Alnico 8. It's in the bridge of my Gibson SG. The difference that the magnet swap made is almost greater than the difference between the stock Gibson pickup and the Custom 5. I play in C-Standard tuning, mostly Doom Metal/Stoner Rock/Drone/Thrash....all sorts of aggressive, extreme Metal basically.

I found the Custom 5 to be too scooped. The pickup might be great in some guitars, but in my SG it just lacked oomph. Didn't have that thickness in the mids. The Alnico 8 magnet REALLY woke it up. The output is similar to ceramic, but the EQ is fairly even, and the highs are smooth and rich. It's not brittle or shrill at all. It's hard to describe, almost. It has a LOT of lows, a LOT of mids, and a LOT of highs. It's just more everything. Rich harmonics. In my downtuned SG, it's not muddy at all. Nice and tight, but still with a vintage PAF character. Not TOO tight if you know what I mean.

Swapping the magnet was a simple process. It honestly took me less time to install the Alnico 8 magnet than it takes to change strings. For how cheap the magnet is and how easy it is to swap, I can't recommend this mod enough. I almost wish I'd tried this magnet in the stock pickup before spending the money on the Seymour Duncan.

Tone Kraft got the magnet out to me quickly. I ordered something from Musician's Friend at the same time, and this magnet got here like 4 days before my MF order. And that was with standard shipping. I'll be buying from Tone Kraft again for sure.