I first did this on a set of Alpha/Omega pickups and liked the result. Smoothed out the edginess, but kept the tightness. Not a big change, but not a bad one, either.
Looks cool. I'd expect those to be on the scoopy-er side of Winter, if my experiments with hex/filister in other pickups are indicative. Are these Custom Shop? Or Shop Floor Custom?
The "Blackened" version (all hex) isn't hugely different than the regular BW, but it bites a bit harder and feels a bit stiffer overall, which the BW doesn't really benefit from as it's already plenty tight and bright, at least for me.
Same with the Alpha/Omega...bright, tight pickups. I actually did the poles opposite on the Alpha/Omega. If I were to do it again, I'd probably just go all-fillister on the A/O set, but I really like the look of the "offfset" hex/screw combo on the flat black bobbins and it let's the 2 coils "see" the strings slightly differently for a little added character.
To answer your question, these would normally be shop-floor custom, but you can now buy the "blackened" versions of the BW as standard production through a handful of retailers online and just switch out the poles yourself. I actually have a custom "blackened" JB/59 set done up the same way. No home for those yet, though.
