More confusion from me

[pickleweed]

here i am again.  sorry guys, just when i think i've found the pup for me, another one enters the mix.  so, ive got an ash hss fender strat that i am replacing the pups on.  ive decided to go with irish tours for the singles, and had always thought i was going nailbomb in the bridge.  i loved the leads, punch, and tightness, and harmonics of the nailbomb, but i just recentlly heard some of the vh2.  it seems very sweet, rounded and less aggressive than the nailbomb.  while still very tight and punchy.  i dont consider myself a metal head, so im a bit worried the nailbomb might be too much.  the nailbomb was the first one i heard that got me on the bk train, so i may be overthinking this a bit.

to give you an idea of what i like - guns n roses, coheed and cambria, pain of salvation, pink floyd.  ironically not a big fan of van halen, but i do like his tone.  i want whatever hb that can get me comfortably within that range of style, though im sure there is some crossover.  nothing extreme, but a good amount of crunchiness to be sure.  it'd be an ash strat thru a gt-8 fx processor in the fx loop of a  blackstar ht-5 if thats any help

from you're experiences, which do you feel would be a better fit for me?  thanks in advance!

[Nolly]

The VHII is a fantastic pickup, and can certainly do what you're asking for.
Personally I would be considering a Rebel Yell though - think of it as a tighter, smoother, more articulate Nailbomb, with a fatter midrange. It's higher output (than the VHII) also gives it the advantage of more authentic tones when coil-split.

[BigB]

Can't tell how it compares to the VHII or NB, but on a HSS strat with ITs, you might also want to consider a Crawler bridge. It's a rather hot, "vintage modern" pup - packed vith vintage PAF tones but enough power and definition to be equally at ease on more modern, hi gain tones. Very articulate even under heavy distortion, lot of attack on powerchords, and a nice singing sustain on leads.