Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 Pro Neck – Full Tonal Review

Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 Pro Neck APH-1N Review

The review of the Alnico II Pro, one of the most iconic neck pickups ever popularized by Slash, is finally here. Before diving in, I’d like to thank my dear reader Emre Bingöl, because this isn’t a pickup I purchased myself — he kindly sent it to me as a loan specifically for this review. This isn’t actually my first time trying one. I had the chance to use various Alnico 2 Pro models in the past, but many years have passed since then, and aside from the DCR values, I didn’t keep any additional measurements from the ones that previously went through my hands. So this particular sample also served as a much-needed memory refresher.

I can’t say I’m obsessed with the Alnico 2 Pro, but I would never claim I dislike it either. With that said, let’s get into the details...

The Test Guitar

Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 Pro (A2P shortly) still standing on my “Pink Tiger”. That pink tiger is a superstrat has a Jackson Dinky body made of alder, one piece maple neck in modern C profile, German made Jackson Floyd Rose tremolo with Japanese stainless steel saddles, 25,5” scale, nickel silver frets, Alpha 500K pots and elixir strings in Eb tuning. Guitar has Seymour Duncan Full Shred in the bridge and No-name blade style middle pickup (~9K thou). Its primary (unplugged) tone is neutral to fairly bright.  

Evaluation

Let’s read the official desciption first, as always;

“Our Alnico 2 Pro humbucker pickups will instantly turn your guitar into a true bluesbreaker. The Alnico 2 Pro Humbucker neck uses the soft treble attack and low string pull of an alnico 2 bar magnet, combined with a special vintage output coil wind to create a warm, sweet tone that is smooth and full, with tons of natural sustain. The highs sound thick and really sing, while the lows are warm and buttery, giving you a pickup that is very sensitive to pick attack.

The Alnico 2 Pro bridge humbucker’s highs are articulate and smooth, and the lows are warm and spongy. Combined with a high gain tube amp, the overdriven tone is expressive and soulful. For over 25 years Slash has been the champion of this pickup and used them exclusively on Appetite for Destruction, which has gone on to become the biggest selling debut album of all time. Hand built in Santa Barbara, CA, the Alnico 2 Pro humbucker pickups use an alnico 2 bar magnet, nickel silver bottom plate, 4-conductor lead wire for multiple wiring options, and are wax potted for squeal free operation. The bridge humbucker is available in standard humbucker or Trembucker spacing.”

And from old catalogs;

“Application

Warm, moderate-output humbucker. Great for jazz, blues, classic rock and slide.

Description

The Alnico 2 magnet and moderate windings yield a warm, sweet tone with more natural string vibration for great sustain. Classic rock players who get their distortion from the amp rather than the pickup love the APH-1. It allows them to back off the crunch and get beautiful clean tones with softer attack. Compared to the '59, the Alnico II Pro has a rounder sound with a spongier bass response. Comes with four-conductor hookup cable and no logo.

complete setup

Often the APH-1 is used in both neck and bridge positions. Or, in the neck with a higher output pickup like an SH-11 Custom Custom or SHPG-1b Pearly Gates for heavier rock or hotter blues sounds from the bridge position.

Guitars

For brighter toned instruments. Works especially well with maple and ebony fingerboards. Also works great with hollow and semi-hollow body guitars.

Available mods

Nickel or gold-plated cover. Trembucker. Seymour Duncan logo. Colors (humbucker spacing).

Players

Slash / Velvet Revolver & Guns 'N Roses (neck & bridge), Michael Wilton / Queensryche (bridge), Jeff Tamelier / Tower of Power (neck), Tim Mahoney / 311 (neck), Troy Van Leeuwen / Queens of the Stone Age (neck)”

…And, my measuremens are here;

Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 Pro Neck

Magnet – Alnico 2

Advertised DCR: 7.50 K Ohm (Series)

Measured DCR: 7.37 K Ohm (Series)

Measured DCR: 3.63 K Ohm (Screw Coil/South)

Measured DCR: 3.76 K Ohm (Slug Coil/North)

Inductance @100Hz: 3.83 H (Series)

Inductance @100Hz: 1.65 H (Screw Coil)

Inductance @100Hz: 1.66 H (Slug Coil)

Advertised Resonance Frequency: 7.1KHz (unloaded)

Measured C: -39nF (Series)/ -70.6nF (Screw Coil) / -69.7nF (Slug Coil)

Output: Low/Moderate

EQ (B/M/T) – 7/4/8 (old catalog data)

Gauss: 270G screw, 270G slug (measured at top center of D&G pole pieces)

Ambient Measurement Temperature: 20^oC

The first important thing I need to mention as I begin this review is that the pickup I have in hand is not an ordinary Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 Pro. This one was pulled from a modern Charvel and, unlike the usual version, it features hex head (shorter Allen head) pole pieces. In a way, you could even think of it as something similar to a Full Shred neck—but with an Alnico II magnet. These pole pieces aren’t as long as the ones used in Duncan’s standard PAF-style models, and they’re actually quite close to the style found in DiMarzio’s PAF Pro pickups. If you look closely, you can see they are marked YFS.

Duncan of modern Charvel DKs has hex pole pieces made by YFS

Other than that, we can say it looks like a typical Allen-head–style humbucker. The coils are wound fairly evenly (yes, as is often the case, the slug coil has a bit more wind—probably a habit/routine/whatever carried over from old PAFs), a nickel silver baseplate, and shorter pole pieces…

In terms of Gauss readings, there’s nothing unusually strong here compared to typical Alnico 2-equipped pickups. Considering that some of my more recently produced Pearly Gates models measure above 300 G, a reading of around 270 G isn’t particularly high. But in most standard Alnico 2 humbuckers, I usually see this value somewhere in the 200–250 G range.

As you may or may not already know, the A2P and the Jazz are very closely related—practically siblings. You know, Duncan does that all the time just like “the Custom”, like “the JB”; use a popular pickup as a base or platform and derived models from it by playing the pole pieces, magnets ect. The coils are the same; only the magnets differ. Because of that, the A2P inherits many of the Jazz’s strong qualities. Of course, they’re not identical. Thanks to its Alnico 5 magnet, the Jazz is more mid-scooped, while the Alnico 2 gives the A2P more pronounced mid presence. Yet it still delivers this in a very clean and controlled way.

The lows are spongy, the mids are prominent and flutey, and the highs are round and soft. It’s a very enjoyable pickup for melodic playing. The last time I enjoyed this kind of character this much was with the Zen D Summer Breeze. As long as you’re not playing heavy metal or something extremely aggressive, I really like this tone. In the neck position it has a mellow quality that I find very pleasant. And thanks to how the mids behave, it also stands out nicely in a mix.

Also, the Jazz’s quasi–single-coil clarity isn’t present here—the humbucker feel is much more dominant and unmistakably clear.

Now, let’s get to the most obvious question: How different is it from a standard A2P? I didn’t do an A/B test on the same guitar, and I haven’t used a regular A2P in a long time, so my memory might not be perfectly fresh. All fair disclaimers. But based on what I remember and what I heard from the guitar, I didn’t notice any significant difference.

I noticed one more subtle detail. On Seymour Duncan pickups, the screw coil is normally the south coil, while the slug coil is north. This means that on bridge models, the logoed coil is the south coil. On neck models, however, the logoed coil becomes the north coil. But on the unit I have here, the polarity is reversed. Logo coil is south. I believe this is due to the wiring style used on Charvel guitars, where the 3rd switch position activates the inner coils in parallel, requiring an alternate coil orientation for humless operation.

I really can’t take claims like “I swapped the standard humbucker for double hex poles and my tone changed dramatically!” too seriously — and that’s definitely not the case here. Unless it’s just selective perception on my part, this one might be slightly better in terms of clarity. Otherwise, the core tonal character of the A2P is very much present as far as I can hear.

What styles does the A2P work well for? Well… ask Slash :) Jokes aside, it’s obvious that it fits blues-influenced power rock extremely well. If you prefer using the neck pickup for Gary Moore–style licks, it’s also an excellent choice, thanks to its soft, thick, and clear tonal character. On the other hand, I think it also feels good in shred-style playing that involves fast picking. However, players who prefer sharper, more cutting tones may not be fully satisfied. For example, if you usually choose the ’59 or the Jazz for this kind of picking response, you might find the A2P a bit different.

When evaluating the A2P in terms of dynamic range, I must say has a low compression when volume pot is full up, but as you lower the volume knob down, you can get serious cleans. This level of sonic clarity and control is very nice.

If you’re wondering which guitars it works best in, I’d definitely say brighter guitars. In the neck position, it shines on guitars that don’t have a tendency to get muddy and naturally have a crisp top end. On the other hand, if your neck position tone already has a heavy “mud sauce,” I’d think twice before choosing it.

If you install the A2P in the neck, what does it pair best with in the bridge? First of all, I should say that it works extremely well with the Full Shred that’s already in my guitar. In general, it gets along nicely with overwound PAF-style bridge pickups. For example, A2 modded Ibanez V7 and Lollar Imperial Hi Wind. Moreover, it pairs also well with the Pearly Gates Bridge.

It also works with higher-output — but not overly hot — models such as the Custom Custom and Custom 5 or the Tone Zone, Air Zone, Breed from Dimarzio, and even the Tonerider Rocksong Bridge, at least in my experience.

I’m not much of a humbucker fan when it comes to clean tones, but we can comfortably say it performs quite well. It’s also a very suitable pickup for jazz-style cleans.

Conclusion

Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 Pro neck is one of those rare pickups that doesn’t try to impress you with brute force or exaggerated character—and that’s exactly why it works. It’s a subtle, expressive, and genuinely musical pickup that rewards nuance rather than aggression. Its soft lows, flutey mids, and rounded highs form a voice that is unmistakably “Alnico 2,” yet still refined enough to handle anything from bluesy lead lines to warm, emotive phrasing.

If you come from sharper, more immediate neck pickups like the Jazz or ’59, the A2P neck might initially feel less urgent. But give it some time, and you’ll notice how naturally it responds to dynamics, how well it sits in a mix without crowding other frequencies, and how comfortably it handles melodic playing without ever becoming harsh.

This particular hex-pole variant doesn’t reinvent or recreate the A2P formula—but it also doesn’t need to. It stays true to the core character of the model while offering just a touch more clarity, which some players may appreciate.

Overall, Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 Pro neck remains a timeless neck pickup: smooth without being dull, articulate without being sharp, and expressive without demanding anything from the player. If your guitar is on the brighter side and you enjoy warm, vocal, emotionally rich tones, the A2P delivers exactly what it promises—and continues to prove why it has been a favorite for decades.

Pros

• Warm, sweet, and expressive tonal character

• Prominent mids that sit very well in a mix

• Smooth, rounded highs that avoid harshness

• Low compression at full volume; excellent cleanup with the volume knob

• Excellent for blues-influenced rock, melodic playing, and jazz-style cleans

• Pairs well with many overwound PAF-style and moderate-hot bridge pickups

• Hex-pole variant adds a hair more clarity without altering the core character

  
  

Cons

• Not ideal for players who prefer sharp, cutting neck tones for fast picking styles

• Can feel too soft or mellow for heavy metal or ultra-aggressive styles

• May become muddy in inherently dark, bass-heavy guitars

• Typical A2 neck tone, there is no extra “souce” like pearly Gates has in the hi-mids

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