Re: Heavier bridge pickup for LP with a Pearly Gates neck
Ok, let's recap...
I have a PG set. I love the neck, but the bridge doesn't really take me where I want to go with the guitar now. I got it when I was using an Ibanez for metal tones, but now I'm selling the ibanez. I want to keep the PG neck and then add a hotter bridge pickup.
Metal guitar is gone, the guitar with the PG set is being expected to step up and do metal.
I don't care so much if it doesn't perfectly match the PG, as long as it isn't jarring how different they are.
Few Seymour Duncan aficionados user will tell you that a vintage output Seymour Duncan neck pickup will be jarring with a Seymour Duncan bridge pickup of pretty much any flavor. There may be preferences between the vintage line, and someone might go outside the box and suggest a vintage bridge pickup, but vintage output neck is perfectly OK with a scorching bridge. This isn't to say that people won't recommend hotter neck pickups, but there isn't much dissension about recommending a vintage output pickup.
If I can do a more modest rock sound by rolling back the volume on the bridge pup, then that would be enough.
Not without '50s wiring, a treble bleed, or possibly a no-load tone control, or remove the tone control altogether. Without one of these in place, rolling off the volume reduces your highs. The fewer highs, the harder it will be to get a rock sound.
I'd like something that can do van halen style tap harmonics
With enough gain and highs and proper technique this won't be a problem.
However...
good for solos like Vai, and do a little rythm for Megadeth, Metallica and so on.
Now we're getting into a bit of a problem area. There's a reason why the DiMarzio tech mentioned the pickups he mentioned.
I've looked at the JB but sound clips make it sound like it doesn't have the clear definition type tone I want for solos.
As others stated, the JB is quite possibly the best pickup for clear definition for solos ever made. Let's also not forget that Dave Mustaine used them with Megadeth for quite a long time, not that I think it's the best pickup for you.
I'm leaning more toward a pegasus, illuminator or titan. I never downtune - wonder if these are better for guitars for tuning down. I love Dream Theater and the JP6 guitars sound great, so I would normally not hesitate to get the illuminator, but I wonder how it would sound in an LP and also I wonder if it is just too compressed to fit in with the PG.
You have an 24.75" scale in standard tuning. One way to get a 25.5" scale to sound more like a 24.75" scale is to down-tune. The Pegasus, Illuminator and Titan will work just fine in an LP, as will a Custom 5 or an Alt 8. The PG neck will work fine with any of these.
The 59/Custom hybrid isn't really what you want.
