The Last Bass Outpost

Wow, you must have had academics as bandmates, in the bands I played no one ever noticed a difference unless I guided their eyes to the fretboard and said "Look, no frets!". No amount of fretless style playing would ever have them take notice. 

Aaaa, the joys of playing with (tone) deaf people ..

Ohhh very nice matte finish, but the nut color? No, just no. Gibson must be nuts!

I bet its ceramic like the newer designs, this must be one of the first TB+ designs. Can you remove the metal cover?

I mean, if there was a way to do it, since it is cheap (ceramic is cheaper than alnico), our friends from the exotic east would have found it and produce it in millions...

Is it not possible for the ceramic magnet to be a blade?

It is possible I think, the problem is that this pickup would sound very trebly. Iron in a pickup core gives it warm sound (alnico contains more iron and other ferromagnetic metals than ceramic magnets). Think of it like a recipe, too much salt and you are ruing it, everything must be balanced

Nothing a neck mudbucker can't fix...

Yes, it is the (ceramic) magnet, or better, magnets, since there are 3 (one big between the two blades and two narrower outside).
The vintage Tbirds have alnico magnets instead of steel blades, so no need for a magnet on the bottom, thats one of the reasons they don't need as much cavity depth as the modern ones.