Pickup Help For Modern Tones

[llJasonll]

So it is that time once again, as I was just notified that my new neck and body are being shipped to my house from Warmoth.  They are due to arrive by this Tuesday.  Long story short, I want to turn this guitar into a death metal monster.

Guitar Specs:
Body: Alder body w/ a carved Maple top.
Neck: Since they wouldn't do a one piece Maple neck, I was stuck getting a Maple neck and Maple fretboard.
H/H setup

I am 99.9% sure I want an Aftermath Bridge, as I have all of my other guitars loaded with other BK pickups and the AM is the only pickup I haven't tried yet (+ I like the tone from the PU, and think it compliments the wood of this guitar nicely).

My issue is with the neck pickup.  I'm not sure what to get, and I seem to be torn between a coldsweat neck, or maybe an Aftermath neck.  Can someone, who knows from experience, tell me what the difference between the two would be?  I think that I want a nice creamy lead sound that has a nice amount of gain, and from what I understand the CS would be the way to go with that one.

Any input would help.  Thanks!

[Slartibartfarst42]

I'm afraid I can be of only limted help as I've never tried an Aftermath but I have tried a Cold Sweat neck. It will indeed do the creamy lead tone you're after and it isn't as bright as the bridge version but I still wonder about it in an Alder bodied guitar. Might a Holydiver neck model be better suited? I've only tried the bridge Holydiver so someone else will need to comment but I understand the neck version is sweet.

[llJasonll]

Right on, the HD neck never entered my mind!  I'll also consider that PU too.

I suppose I should have asked what are the most popular neck Pick ups in the Bareknuckle line up?

[Slartibartfarst42]

The Cold Sweat is certainly a favourite in the neck position but I believe I'm correct in saying that the Holydiver and VHII are also pretty special. FRom your post I assume you already have the Holydiver bridge model so I doubt that pickup will need much selling to you  :D

[Telerocker]

I think the CS-neck is a good match to the Aftermath, from what I heard in clips and read here on the forum. You can ask the BKP-team about a calibrated Aftermath-set too. I don't have any experiences with the Aftermath though.

[llJasonll]

It may be coincidental, but I started playing in a Black Metal band about 6 weeks ago and the other guitar player does not play with much gain at all.  At first I was a little hesitant to adopt the idea, but as I started using less and less gain; I actually started to open up to the idea of playing with less gain.  I noticed that my pick dynamics are more pronounced, along with increase clarity, and openness in my tone.  Plus my playing has vastly improved.

I am still a little worried about having a guitar equipped with more vintage pickups, only because I don't want my tone to turn to mush if I do decide to add a bit of gain.  I guess I want my cake and be able to eat it too.

I've started to listen to some clips, on the site with some people playing very modern metal on some of the "vintage hot" line up.  I was hoping someone with experience with a VHII, Blackdog, RiffRaff, etc could comment?  I am starting to re-evaluate my choice for the bridge pickup...

[Nolly]

EDIT: Ah cr@p, didn't notice it was the OP talking about lower outputs.

The Black Dog is a good meaty sounding lower output pickup that works well in strat-style instruments. The Crawler also takes on a very different character in a superstrat than in a Les Paul - it can get very aggressive but retain excellent openness and definition.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Hardly a Vintage Hot option though. I used to play with a fantastic guitarist who was easily the fastest shredding Metal player I've ever seen and he also swore by lower output pickups. Works for Joe Satriani too I suppose.

[Nolly]

Misread, post edited accordingly

[llJasonll]

Thanks for all of the input, gents.  I'll start evaluating my options!