PICKUPS and Pickup Magnets 101. Here we GO!
Late to the party but...
My favourite humbucker is the Duncan Custom Custom.
It is nice and hot but also nice and vintage (classic) sound and they can be had for $50ea on eBay fairly easily.
It will not really be what you are after though because of the Alnico2 magnet.
I'll try to keep this as short and non-confusing as possible.
Seymour Duncan has 3 "Classic" pickups. Actually maybe 4 now sort of..more on this later..
There is the Classic, the Classic Classic, and the Classic5. Man it's been a while. I might not even have those names right.
They are all the same "power". They are all the exact same pickup except for the composition of the magnet inside the pickup.
The "Classic Classic" magnet composition is Alnico2. I wont get too into the tone of each but...A2 is vintage sounding without the CRISP high end you're after. It has pronounced mids and a bit of a "loose" bottom end. Fluid sounding?
The "Classic" uses a ceramic magnet. Think "tight", tight with big bottom end. Pronounced high end. Scooped midrange. Great for metal.
The "Classic5" has an Alnico5 magnet in it and (A5)tonally lies somewhere in between a ceramic magnet and an Alnico2 magnet (btw "Al-Ni-Co" just means the metal is an alloy primarily made-up of Aluminum, Nickel, and Cobalt)...sort of.
I think Duncan also uses the Classic as half of one of their newer humbuckers too. One bobbin from a Classic and the other from another of their most popular pickups. It is not part of the "Classic" Series though.
I think you're starting to see that there is a LOT you can do to modify pickups. Like everything guitar-related, you can go pretty crazy. Hey, EVH couldnt leave ANYTHING alone either. Worked-out ok for him lol.
OK so... you can buy pickup magnets on eBay for literally a couple or few quid each. Swapping them out isn't rocket surgery. In fact, it's easier than unsoldering and re-soldering a pickup. You can even leave the pickup mounted in the pickup ring.
Once you've separated the pickup from the guitar all you have to do is loosen a couple of screws, slide one magnet (it's just a rectangular bar that sits underneath the bobbins/coils) out and slide a different one in. Tighten the screws and mount the pickup (that is still wired to the guitar and still mounted to the pickup rings) back onto the guitar. Oh...you WILL have to remove the strings though...probably ;-)
If wax potted you might have to warm it up a bit with mama's hair blower thing to loosen things up a bit.
So now, for $50 (shipped) plus let's say $15...ahh let's go CRAZY and say $20... OK let me try again...
So now, for $70 (about 50GBP??) you can make all 3 of the Classic Series of Duncan pickups AND you can make a whole bunch of other NEW versions too. Maybe try one with an AlNiCo8 magnet (people say EVH used an A8 magnet in his early recordings...not chasing EVH tone, he's just SO recognizable ). Try an A7 or 9 maybe? Hey you could even try a neodymium magnet :-O How about a UOA5 (UnOriented).
In other (more) words, for your 100GBP you could EASILY get TWO used or even NEW "take-off" Seymour Duncan "Clasic" or "Classic5" pickups, or one of each...I really think you wouldnt love the Classic Classic so skip it. Unless one is very cheap.
You'll have PLENTY of money left over to buy just about EVERY magnet there is lol.
You can get magnets from Addiction-fx on eBay or at their website (I'm not affiliated). The guy is great and can help if you get overwhelmed by the vast # of options.
Basically you want magnetized of course, you can use rough/cast or smooth/ground and you want the 2.5" bar magnets. I think they're 1/2" wide and 1/8" thick? Dont quote me on that.
Google "guitar pickup magnet composition" or something. Check the subject-out in the seymour duncan forums.
Also very effective at changing the tone of a pickup are the polepieces. Not only their height but also their composition.
You just have to think about it for a second.
If polepiece height for instance, didnt make much difference in how a pickup sounds, there is NO WAY on God's warming earth would manufacturers go to the trouble of threading polepieces and their holes in the pickups.
The polepieces are MEANT to be adjusted and adjusting them DOES make a pretty drastic difference in the tone. Try it out.
When it comes right down to it, your electric guitar's pickups are the guitar's engine. Everything else is heated seats and stereos and fenders and headlights etc.
Tone is in your hands. And in your amp. And the guitar's neck, body, bridge, cable, pedals, tubes....but, tone is ALWAYS in the pickups too or especially.
Great thing about them is that you can still get great ones that are made in the USA for very fair prices. Dimarzio and Seymour Duncan. Hey, I'm not saying that made in the USA automatically means good. I'm Canadian anyway. Duncan and Dimarzio get my respect for not outsourcing anyway.
Fun with Pickup magnets. Again, your 100GBP will buy you a dozen (dozens?) of different pickups via magnet swapping.
At just over 14Kohms, the Duncan Classic series is cheap and AWESOME platform to work with.
There. DONE! I sure hope that story helps at least one person. If it does it was worth it.