Replacing mag pickups in a Variax

[crispsandwich]

Hello,

I have a real love/hate relationship with the magnetic pickups on my Variax JTV-89 (two humbuckers). I'm looking to replace them with BKPs.

I want a set that will be good for almost all styles, apart from djent and death metal. I play a lot of instrumental stuff (Marco Sfogli, Andy Timmons), rock/metal stuff (Alter Bridge, Metallica) and more bluesy stuff when my fingers can take the bends :P. I like to play clean, ambient stuff as well. I'm playing through an Axe FX II.

Humbuckers that split well would be a bonus (coil splits are active in positions 2 and 4).

Any suggestions?

[darrenw5094]

I recon the Abraxas is a good all round pup, but the Crawler seems to get more votes on these forums.

[darkandrew]

How does the Variax work - does it model using sound from the pickups? In which case, will changing the pickups mess up the modelling?

[crispsandwich]

How does the Variax work - does it model using sound from the pickups? In which case, will changing the pickups mess up the modelling?

The modelling and magnetics are separate, but you can blend the magnetics into the modelling if you wish to, using the Workbench software.