I've noticed a few budget brands are now offering neodymium pickups for cheap prices. I've bought neodymium magnets in the past to bolster weaker pickups, and I understand Alembic even offered a professional 'pickup booster' kit that was basically a ceramic bar magnet you stuck on the back of a Strat pickup or similar.
Out of curiosity, I'm wondering if I can wring a bit more output from my Mustang bass in a similar manner? In the long term (give it a few weeks) I might invest in a pickup upgrade for the wee beast. In the short term I was wondering if I can replace the slugs in the stock pickups with neodymium magnets? At the moment I feel that the stock pickups are a bit... thin? There is a bit of everything going on with the bass's tone, but it is a bit weak sounding overall.
I've found magnetic rod of a suitable size (6 mm by 15 mm), and for cheap. If nothing else I might tap one slug out the stock pickup on the wee beast and see what it sounds like. My fear, and probably the most obvious issue, is that the corresponding string will be inseparably attracted to the pickup. Secondly, there might be no tonal difference or output difference...
With these pickups, do I need to have the poles facing North in one half and South in the other? Should I simply see what direction the neodymium rods want to bond with the stock magnets, and use that as a reference? I've never worked with pickups with charged poles before.
Cheers,
Alan