Ceramic or Alnico Pickups?

Thanks for the bump!
Indeed it is true.
I recently bought a cheaper Agile 2000 ($200)and one of the other guys in the shop bought the nicest one ($450). Both play great, after a little set up. Mine had stock ceramics which were too bright, harsh and raty for me.

I like Alnico 2 humbuckers (think Slash, ZZ Top, Dickey Betts, early T Rex, Government Mule and like that). So, I tried the Rockfields (from GC @ $50) and a similar model from Guitar Fetish (for $40). Both were a huge improvement and pretty similar to each other, with the Rockfields being a little hotter and the GFS ones being a little more hi-fi. Both also killed his Agile factory Alnico 5 pickups.

Now this thing plays and sounds like rock in a box. It was a good deal and better pickups made a huge difference.

BTW, don't believe the hype - the pots, jack and switches are good quality. I bought replacements before I looked inside but the factory had used the same Alpha pots, Switchcraft jack and quality switch as the very ones I bought. D'ohh.

Thanks!

The site is just getting started, but enough gear goes through my hands every week that I should have a near constant supply of new material. People come by all the time with ads or links to gear they are thinking about buying, to ask questions. One day, an associate (Richie) said, "Man, you need a web site - just post the stuff you talk about everyday". So, I am trying it.

I've been a lurker at Chordie for some time. As you can imagine, if you are testing guitars and amps everyday, a handy bunch of song tabs is a great resource.