New bridge pickup for Les Paul Custom

[Espejo]

Hello,

as the title says,  I am currently looking for a new bridge pickup for my beloved LP. The 498T in there is quite muddy, does not have good string seperation and is also slightly microphonic.
I play mostly hard rock/punk rock, so the humbucker should be able to produce sweet cleans and rich, fat and growling distorted tones. It should not be muddy and always have enough clarity without losing punch.
The guitar's woods are mahogany back and neck, a maple cap and an ebony fretboard.
My amp is a Laboga Caiman, which sounds very british ( Sound demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zw1Fw_hGsM) and the speakers I use are Eminence "The Governor"s, which are very similar to V30's.

I prefer AlNiCo V-magnets over any other types, so here are the pickups I've thought of:

Black Dog
Rebel Yell
Crawler
Nailbomb
Holydiver
Häussel Hot B
WB Firewater

Any recommendations/comments are welcome.

Thanks!

[Telerocker]

I think a RiffRaff will do the trick. Punchy, clear and with chimey cleans, but with enough balls for hardrock/metal.

[Nolly]

Out of the list I'd recommend the Rebel Yell highly - works very well in a Les Paul custom. Aggressive midrange with lots of snarl, but still with the refined character of an alnico pickup.

The Riff Raff could work, as Telerocker recommends, but since it is fairly low output it'd be worth knowing what your neck pickup to be sure it won't get overpowered

[Telerocker]

Your're right Nolly, didn't think about the neck-pu. If the neck is on the hotter side, the RY is perhaps the better option. Hey, but why not a calibrated set?

[BigB]

The crawler bridge could do for the "sweet cleans and rich, fat and growling distorted tones", but I think it needs a rather bright guitar. The ABomb will certainly have enough clarity and punch and I don't imagine it could become muddy at all (this pup can retain clarity and definition at insane gain levels), but I don't think it will give you the "sweet cleans" nor the "fat" distorted tones, it's rather on the tight, bitey, cutting, "chainsaw massacre" side.

Both have the definition, articulation and note separation that seem to be the BKP signature, both are rather organic and very "alive", with the Crawer being very warm, a little compressed (in a good way) with a good "oomph" factor, and having a definite vintage twist, and the ABomb being much more open, dynamic and agressive, and more modern sounding - while still being able to give more classic rock tones when you roll of the volume.  Both are great pickups when they find the appropriate host guitar, but I don't think I'd be that happy if I swapped them (the Crawler being on a bright going-thru maple neck / maple side / rosewood japanese Vox and the ABomb on a rather dark and full-sounding SG).

Given your guitar's description and your tone requirement, I think the Crawler would work better than the ABomb for you. I didn't try any of the other pups you listed.

[Espejo]

thanks for your answers! (:

Trouble is, my amp does not have quite a lot of gain, so I do not really want to go for a really low output pickup. The Black Dog is already on the limit.
Anyway, the neck pickup is a 490R which is going to leave that guitar as soon as I have the money. I chose to replace the 498T first because I play more on the bridge position. Maybe I'm going for an Abraxas, Mule, RY or Nailbomb neck. Maybe I'll go to other manufacturers for this. Did not quite think about it yet.

As my amp is pretty british voiced and my guitar has an ebony fretboard, I need a pickup with safe amount of bass. Not too much, but just balanced. I read some posts about the RY being quite shrill and not having a lot of low end. So, I'm not quite sure about this...

Another question: What (optical) options do I have when I order a pickup with gold cover? I read something about custom etching and now I'm quite curious. For example, is it possible to order a Nailbomb with gold cover on which it says 'Nailbomb'? Just thinking of that because I've seen a camo cover which said 'Nailbomb'.

[BigB]

thanks for your answers! (:

Trouble is, my amp does not have quite a lot of gain, so I do not really want to go for a really low output pickup.
(...)
As my amp is pretty british voiced and my guitar has an ebony fretboard, I need a pickup with safe amount of bass.

There's no real "bass" to be found on a 6-strings, standard tune guitar - low-mids at best. But anyway: if you have a bright guitar and a bright amp and you're looking for a warm fat bridge pup with enough power to push the amp, then the Crawler is your friend.

My 2 cents...

[Telerocker]

I have the Crawler in a swampashstrat and it's stellar. In a bright LP this one will work too. Btw, why not use a good overdrive/dist. pedal to help the humbucker a bit. I use the Emma Reezafratzitz (handmade in Denmark) with the gain at 10.00 o'clock to push it a bit further. Terrific sounds.

[Jofipe]

That Emma pedal sounds amazing..  it has a throaty mid. Its easy to tell when a guitarist uses it live.. i love it. I want one. 

[Telerocker]

That Emma pedal sounds amazing..  it has a throaty mid. Its easy to tell when a guitarist uses it live.. i love it. I want one. 

It's like having an extra tubechannel. It sounds very organic. Sorry, for the little hijack.

[Emperoff]

The Nailbomb has a good amount of output and also has some heft on the low mids, it may work for you.

[BigB]

The Nailbomb has a good amount of output and also has some heft on the low mids, it may work for you.

Mmm...  The NB surely has balls and growl but it's not "fat" in any way ("tight", "sharp", "cutting" might come to mind), and while it has really good clean tones - way better than what I expected FWIW - it's not what I'd call "sweet" cleans, at least when compared to the Crawler. 

wrt/ output, the NB is a bit more agressive but they are still close enough that I don't have to mess with my gain and volume settings when switching between the Vox and the SG - only small EQ adjustments (a bit less bass and bit more highs needed with the Vox FWIW).

I understand that BKPs tend to react a lot to the guitar they're in and I'd have to swap my Crawler and ABomb to *really* tell what comes from the pup and what comes from the wood, but I've played both guitars with other pups and play them unplugged often enough to know how they sound, and I've heard both pups on other guitars on quite few clips so I think I have at least a clue. Given   Espejo's requirements, I think the Crawler would be a better match than the NB. But I can of course be plain wrong ;)

My 2 cents...
 

[Emperoff]

I know, but the Crawler may be too dark for his guitar. The Holydiver could give him best of both worlds I suppose.

[BigB]

I know, but the Crawler may be too dark for his guitar.

Possibly yes, that's why I suggested it migh work IF his guitar and amp are on the bright side. LPs can be bright, specially with an ebony fretboard, and Crawlers are designed to work well on bright LPs.

The Holydiver could give him best of both worlds I suppose.

Possibly again - I'd have to try one to talk about it ;)

[vinchester]

I highly recommend Rebel Yell. I put it in my ESP Eclipse Full thickness which is simply LPC clone. Works perfect. It growls when overdrived and the clean is awesome :)