Ok I got the advice from the Man himself :)
Based on my description, Tim recommends me a set of Painkillers or Aftermath. And since I found the Aftermath too be too "surgical" from what clips I could find, that leaves me with the PK.
I did check out Steven's great clips of Rebel Yell as well, but those are clearly aimed for hard rock. While I love vintage-hot neck pup, I remember how I had to "fight" with my bridge IceBucker to get the level of distortion I want. So yeah I'm gonna get the high-output PK which should make my life easier :D
BUT I still want the juicy deep overdriven, a little loose, w/ warm clean neck pup tho! I like Antag's clip of the HolyDiver neck. So HD neck it is.
PK bridge, HD Neck. Could I go wrong with this combo? :shock:
If you're worried about the Aftermath being too surgical,, you really won't like the PK then. That's about as surgical as it gets. And honestly man, the Rebel Yell is bloody amazing for metal. Clips are to be taken with a grain of salt, there are infinite variables in play in the world of audio engineering. I had a RY in a 7-string guitar that I was using for ultra-heavy blackened death-metal/melodeath stuff and it was great. Plenty of output and aggression.
If you want something that's higher output than a RY but not too 'surgical', the Holydiver, Warpig, and Nailbomb are excellent choices. I bet the Aftermath would be fine too though. Keep in mind the awesome guys recording clips with those are known for having mega-tight djenty tones through an Axe-FX, not exactly overly organic or loose. Thats why I say take clips with a grain of salt, if a player more like yourself recorded a clip in a similar setup as you have, it would sound entirely different.
