Kiko L guitar revisited.....Need new neck pup!

[Monsta-Tone]

So....The more I play the Edwards KL-170 (Kiko signature model), the more I like the feel of the neck and the sustain.

The guitar is naturally very bright. Maple neck through, mahogany body sides (very thin), and maple cap that is very thick.

The pickups are ok, Hot Rails in the neck, and Custom 5 in the bridge.
I got a PATB-1 for the bridge, hoping that will tame some of the upper mid/high spike but still maintain the incredible sustain.

I like the Hot Rails, but it's a tad too hot so the clean tones (yeah, I know it's not a Les Paul and cleans aren't what the guitar was made for) always feel too urgent.
I think this guitar will have to have a rails type pickup because the neck pickup is slanted, but I could be wrong.

Anyway.....
I'm looking for fat PAF tone with lots of clarity and warmth and sustain for the neck position. I would also like to be able to have lots of harmonics in this position, which the HR has in spades.
I am not looking for single coil tones at all.

What do you guys think?
Cool Rails?
PA-STK1N? (this one looks really interesting, but not sure if the pole pieces would line up in a slanted position)
Air Norton S?
Pro Track?

[BloodRose]

Re: Kiko L guitar revisited.....Need new neck pup!

Cool rails is a very good neck pickup. It isnt pristine clean, so if you want fender spank, ld look elsewhere, but it will be alot better than the hotrails and still give you a sweet creamy lead tone

[Monsta-Tone]

Re: Kiko L guitar revisited.....Need new neck pup!

Right on, that sounds perfect! I do really like the bite and the sustain of the Hot Rails, but it's a little bit too aggressive.
I know this guitar was built for metal, but I like medium output pups and let the amp do the work.
I'll see if I can't find a Cool Rails to throw in there!

Is it noticeably brighter than the HR? That's the only reason I was looking at other pups too.

[925SS]

Re: Kiko L guitar revisited.....Need new neck pup!

Have you tried a higher cap value to tame the brightness down a little?
It's cheaper & easier than buying & installing a new p'up, & shouldn't affect the sustain much,if any

[Monsta-Tone]

Re: Kiko L guitar revisited.....Need new neck pup!

I put an .047 Orange Drop in it, that seemed to help a lot.
I have some Mallory caps and a bunch of vintage Fender, Marshall, Ampeg caps too, I thought about trying one of those.
Really, I think the HR is just a tad too hot for my tastes anyway. I love searing brutal distortion, but I also love buttery warm cleans. The HR excels at the distortion sounds, but cleans just sound like they don't want to be clean if that makes sense.

[Monsta-Tone]

Re: Kiko L guitar revisited.....Need new neck pup!

6 pieces of wood with wires
1 big box with a bunch of little glass bottles & 2 big round black things
1 little red & white & black box with 2 little glass bottles that sits on
a wood box with 2 big round black things.
1 little black box with 2 slightly bigger black boxes under it.

That is frickin awesome!