so it seems curtis novak finally found an alloy that is not CuNiFe but still strong enough to be threaded, thus allowing him to make WR-humbucker copies with magnetic screws rather than with bar magnets underneath, just like in the original fender/seth lover design:
http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/hum-WR.shtml
$145, standard humbucker size
details in the pdf:
http://curtisnovak.com/Articles/GB98.pdf
now if only he had sound samples ...
