What pickups shall I buy for my 2 guitars?

[Poetic Justice]

Hi there, I've changed the original post to save time starting a new one.

Here's the new one:

The first one is an Ibanez RGD320Z which is a  ZR Trem fitted, basswood body with bolt on 3 Piece Maple neck. I was looking for something which would be great for Progressive Metal as well as Post/Hardcore metal. Chord clarity under gain is a must. I originally had a JB/Jazz set, which I loved, but it just had no clarity in chords, and was very loose sounding. I then replaced that with a Crunch Lab/Liquifire set, and found the same thing. Now I don't want something too metal like the Aftermath or Painkiller, but I also don't want something  that can't cut it when playing high speed metal. Since I play many genres of metal with this guitar, as well as writing melodic instrumental songs (slow and shred), I'd like a neck pickup where you can really hear every note picked, but also cleans up when the vol knob is rolled back. I'd be using a 5 way selector as well with the following positions,
http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/images/eg2011/pickup/3.png, so I'd like something that splits well too. I was thinking mabye a C-Bomb in the bridge and a Holy Diver or Cold Sweat in the neck. on the clips, I really like the sound of the C-bomb lead tone, it kind of reminded me a solo from a Scar Symmetry song. How would this sound in Basswood, or would an alnico sound better? Regarding the neck, which one would you pick? Oh and btw, this guitar is a 26.5" scale, just incase that makes a difference.

For my second guitar, which is custom made, the guitar includes a Double-Horned Cutaway Mahogany body with a 5-piece Maple Through neck. The fretboard is Ebony and it has no trem, just hardtail. I currently have EMGs in this guitar, but I've really gone off them lately. So I'm looking for something capable of the same type of metal - Post-Hardcore/Metalcore, as people call it these days, although I applying sub-genres to music. At first I was checking out the Aftermath, but after listening to lots and lots of clips, I decided that the pickup just wasn't for me in sound, so I'm preferably looking for something else. I play this guitar in D Standard, ocassionally Dropping to C.

Thanks  8)

[Telerocker]

The Diver has a beefy midrange, compact bass and harmonically rich high. You will get bold tones in an 80's metal-way. It will do nice a basswood, I think. If your guitars natural tone is quite dark, you may look at the alnico Nailbomb too, which is more agressive, especially in the uppermidrange and highs. The Diver though will provide a very good lead tone.

[Poetic Justice]

I read a few people's threads on here as well as some other sites, and was told Basswood is quite mid-heavy, so I was just worried it might not cut it seeing the high mids/low treble of the Holy Diver. I considered the Nailbomb at first, but I'm not finding it fat enough for my liking. the Holy Diver sounds exactly the type of pickup I'm looking for, I just wanted to make sure Basswood would work before buying it. Since it's an Alnico pickup, does the bottom string flub? I've had a few Alnico Dimarzios/Duncans over the years, but I've never found one with a nice tight bottom end (sounds wrong that) for them fast picked metal riffs.

[darkbluemurder]

On the Ibanez my first impression was Cold Sweat set but C-Bomb/Cold Sweat would also be good, maybe even better because of the long scale.

On the custom made guitar I would consider the Miracle Man.

Cheers Stephan

[Poetic Justice]

On the Ibanez my first impression was Cold Sweat set but C-Bomb/Cold Sweat would also be good, maybe even better because of the long scale.

On the custom made guitar I would consider the Miracle Man.

Cheers Stephan

I was thinking the Miracle Man, but would it work since its a maple neck through?

[darkbluemurder]

On the Ibanez my first impression was Cold Sweat set but C-Bomb/Cold Sweat would also be good, maybe even better because of the long scale.

On the custom made guitar I would consider the Miracle Man.

Cheers Stephan

I was thinking the Miracle Man, but would it work since its a maple neck through?

What makes you think it would not? I have one in an Alder bodied strat with a maple neck/rosewood fretboard and it's not too bright.

On the other hand if it is a guitar which is not built yet I read a very good recommendation (I think it was Nolly) who said it would be best to start with a pickup you know and then decide if and what is missing from it when it's in the guitar.

Cheers Stephan

[Poetic Justice]

On the Ibanez my first impression was Cold Sweat set but C-Bomb/Cold Sweat would also be good, maybe even better because of the long scale.

On the custom made guitar I would consider the Miracle Man.

Cheers Stephan

I was thinking the Miracle Man, but would it work since its a maple neck through?

What makes you think it would not? I have one in an Alder bodied strat with a maple neck/rosewood fretboard and it's not too bright.

On the other hand if it is a guitar which is not built yet I read a very good recommendation (I think it was Nolly) who said it would be best to start with a pickup you know and then decide if and what is missing from it when it's in the guitar.

Cheers Stephan

The guitar is already built unfortunately. Tim messaged me back recommending the Painkiller not long ago. I guess I'll just have to make a choice when the time comes, lol

[darkbluemurder]

The guitar is already built unfortunately. Tim messaged me back recommending the Painkiller not long ago. I guess I'll just have to make a choice when the time comes, lol

So if it's built, do you think it is acoustically bright or rather mid-accentuated? In both cases, Miracle Man would work but for mid-accentuated guitars I really think the Cold Sweat bridge is an excellent fit because it enhances the mids with a tight bass and clear highs.

Cheers Stephan

[Poetic Justice]

I'' have a play on it acoustically when I put some new strings on it lol