There are various magnets on the market that could be used but there are some factors I feel make them undesirable for commercial pickups. The price on many of the advanced magnet materials is sky high and some of their magnetic properties make the pickup sound undesirable for my ears. Examples:

Samarium Cobalt: a permanent magnet material that is widely used first generation high energy material. It’s a rare earth element and exhibits extraordinary magnetic performance characteristics in energy product. They say that the expense can be offset by lowering component fabrication and material costs. Two grades I have experimented are Samarium Cobalt type 18 and type 22 HE. Type 18 is easier to magnetize and is used when multi-pole magnetization is required. Cobalt 22 HE exhibits higher energy product, greater temperature stability and increased corrosion resistance.

Neodymium-Iron -Boron 27: Is a later developed high energy magnet. It is manufactured of Non Critical Raw Materials and is most cost effective high energy magnet. Neodymium is a sintered material offering superior mechanical properties with less chip and cracking than Samarium Cobalt.

Cast Alnico 8 HE: The cast Alnico 8 HE is a straight line anisotropic (oriented) material which offers superior magnetic performance. The improved crystal structure and alloying technique allow Cast Alnico 8 HE to achieve a maximum energy product of 6 million gauss oersteds. It’s coercive force is 2.5 times greater than Cast Alnico 5 which is pretty standard in the music industry. The Cast Alnico 8 HE have a greater resistance to demagnetization or calibration.

Sintered Alnico 8 H: This Alnico material is also a straight line anisotropic material which shares the same superior magnetic performance of the Cast Alnico 8 HE. The fine grain structure results in a magnet with more uniform flux distribution and stronger mechanical properties. The sintered Alnico 8 H has a lower magnetic energy than its cast counterpart. It can be manufactured to closer tolerances which prove to be more economical.

Ceramic 8: This is considered the premium grade of ceramic material. The Strontium Base material exhibits excellent peak energy and greater resistance to demagnetization than the Ceramic 5 counterpart.