Hmm thanks for that feedback Slarti. Actually, I've now decided to put these pickups into my first guitar (which so happens to be made from Poplar :D). "Poplar is a stringy, dense, yet lightweight hardwood that is unusually resonant. Poplar, when used in solid-body electric guitars, has an exceptionally crisp sound, often described as "spirited" and "bouncy" - even "funky." Poplar guitars are ideal choices for players who favor single-coil snap and clean sound." is what a guitar buying guide said.
Ok. Now how does
your own poplar guitar sounds (unplugged, that is) ? While there are generic, average trends for a given tonewood, there can be a lot of differences between two planks of the same wood - and there are other factors too (construction, neck and fretboard material etc).
So it appears this guitar body has good high frequency sounds anyway, so I may go for creamier pickups. I want some nice ACDC and Led Zeppelin sounds that are rich, creamy, but still have clear note definition and attack.
Given your above description and requirements, and given that poplar is usually described as quite close to alder, I think you might be happy with Crawlers. FWIW, they're now listed in the contemporary section for whatever reason I can't understand, but they really have a quite vintagey feeling - think "PAFs on steroids" - and were designed to work well on strat-like guitars. They might not be "the most traditional Classic Rock" voiced of the range (nothing like, say, the Mules) but they do indeed work JustFine for classic rock.
I'd describe them as "warm, thick yet clear and cutting" - and no it's not an oxymoron -, and they are incredibly versatile, can go anywhere from jazz to blues to reggae to rock to hard rock to almost metal, and they do it right - and that's without even splitting them, but I heard they sound great splitted too (really have to take some time and rewire these switches one day). Great clear clean tones - very sweet on the neck, more bell-like on the bridge, very nice 'quack' when both on -, great crunch tones, great overdriven tones, and the bridge is not shy when it comes to hi gain.
Oh, that's on an all-maple, going-thru neck, rosewood fretboard guitar, but from the clips and other reviews of these pups this shouldn't be too far from how they'd sound on alder or poplar or ash. They will bring some warmth and body to a bright guitar without muddying it.
FWIW, if you really want ACDC / Led Zep tones, a mahogany axe with true vintage pups is still your best option - poplar will not sounds like mahogany, period.
