One thing about pickups that I'll relate from personal experience (and take it at that, if you may) is that anyone who says that a certain gauge or a certain kind of winding or a certain magnet doesn't make a good tone will eventually eat his or her words. There are a lot of variables that can be played with to drastically alter the tone of the pickup. Most pickup makers keep things secretive, so it's very difficult to find a decent source of this information.
This Oni pickup looks great! I've long thought that guitars would look more exciting if the hardware was designed more aesthetically. The carbon fiber base plate would look particularly cool on an acryllic guitar. Too bad acryllic weighs a lot and sounds so weird.
Dan, I think the way you boldly approach things like pickup design and such really shows your talent for making instruments. Perhaps some day you may find time to design an Oni amplifier that blows everything else away, too.
