good neck pickup to match with aftermath bridge in les paul

[FamousGrouse86]

hello guys!
Recently I thought about upgrading the pickups in my Gibson LP studio (93' non chambered model), currently has the stock 490R and 498T pickups.
I play mostly modern drop-C-tuned heavy metal and rock, and the stock pickups (which are BTW very good rock and all around pickups) can't really
provide me that sound im looking for.

after listening to many pickup-demos and clips i have decided to take the aftermath for the bridge position, but i realy dont know which pickup to choose for the neck position.

im looking for a clear and defined clean tone with a full body, like the 490R or maybe a duncan 59 but with
more articulation and character.
i thought about the MULE which sounds great in the demos, but i afraid it wont work well with the aftermath volum-wise, and that it will sound too vintage in a les paul guitar.
Ben from BKP recomanded me to go for a Cold Sweat, but i heard people sayd it sounds quiet like the dimarzio liquifire , which i had the chance to try it out in my guitar's neck position and i totaly hated it.
or mybe just to go for an aftermath calibrated set? i dont know...

sorry for the massive digging, but i will be happy if some massive BKP players could help me here...
thanks!

[Telerocker]

The CS is reckoned to be one of the best contempory neckpickups. Deep, glassy cleans en fluid leads.

[darkbluemurder]

I don't know the Liquifire but I would also have said CS neck is a good option. What did you dislike about the Liquifire? If its output was not enough then the Aftermath set would be the way to go.

Cheers Stephan

[FamousGrouse86]

the liquifire in my les paul's neck position sound too compressed and not natural for my taste - very good
for high fret soloing and shredding but not so good for clean tone.
i dont  really know about the aftermath-neck, because i didnt find even a single demo for its clean tone in neck position.

[darkbluemurder]

So if the Liquifire is too compressed for you I would recommend the Cold Sweat neck over the Aftermath. I have the CS neck in two different guitars and it does not sound more compressed than a typical neck PAF-type humbucker.

Cheers Stephan

[FamousGrouse86]

thanks for your comments guys!

i would like to know how do you compare the CS to the MULE? keep in mind i use the neck pickup only for clean or light overdrive and rarly use it with high gain dist.
according to the recordings and demos the MULE has the best clean tone so far - very natural and rich kinda like an improved duncan 59', and i really tend towards it.
im just a bit concerned about a massive volume drop between the mule in the neck and the AM in the bridge.

so if the CS has basically the same characteristic as the MULE but with more gain\volume, i think
i will prefer the CS over the MULE.