Like a Les Paul, you say?
Ok, warm cleans = VHII. It's a really warm pickup when clean and it can get gnarly when used with gain. If you play with high gain and play in a 'shred' sort of a style, it will sound like a proper shred pickup but if you turn the gain down and dig in like a blues player, it will get suitably ill tempered. Cleans are warm and they sing, but they are not bright.
For a more blue / jazzy sounding clean the Rebel Yell N is good. It's brighter than the VHII and can do great rock but it's smother and a bit hotter. Rolling down the tone gives a nice round sort of a tone.
Cleans are more open, bell like, and singing. Brighter. Great neck pickup though.
Bridge: Rebel Yell is a great all around rock pickup. It has a really even and surprisingly rich harmonic response with lots of overtones. The bottom is clear, open, and tight but it can sound thin in a brighter axe. Under high gain, it has a clear and open crunch like a chainsaw, and when boosted, it can get quite ferocious. Very bright and great in a super warm axe. I have this in a Godin LG (All Mahogany axe) paired with a VHII neck.
Alnico Nailbomb: I have this bridge pup paired with a Rebel Yell in my Les Paul. The A-Bomb is a pissed off, hairy, and ill tempered rock pickup. Turning down the volume pot on the guitar will give you much more traditional / bluesy type tones while leaving the volume on 10 and dialing in some heavy tones on the amp will get you right smack in Thrash territory. It's definitely a pickup which will do metal and will do it convincingly. Definitely an option worth looking into.
The Rebel Yell N / A-Bomb bridge is fantastic for my LP while the VHII N / Rebel Yell B is great for my Godin LG.
I will say this about the pickups.
The A-Bomb Bridge and the VHII neck have a similar sort of a gritty and hairy character which is due to the unmatched coils. i.e. I believe one bobbin is wrapped with more wire while the other is wrapped with less. Since the humbuckers aren't exactly even, you end up with more overtones. It's a more aggressive and dissonant sort of a tone.
The Rebel Yell set has coils that are more evenly matched so the perception is of a more 'consonant' or 'pure' sort of a tone. It's growls and sounds very even and musical. The wide pick attack is also awesome.
Given your description of what you want for tones, I think that a number of options will work for you. Just think about how much brightness, warmth, grit, smoothness, and aggression you want.
I think with a VHII Neck / A-Bomb combo, you may find the VHII to be a bit weak in output compared to the bridge pup but of course pickup height can help with this. I wonder if this might be what you're looking for tone wise. It really depends on your guitar.
The RY Neck / A-Bomb bridge I'd imagine wouldn't work for you since the RY neck doesn't have that 'shreddy' characteristic under high gain. The RY Neck is an R&R pickup and will do blues, howling rock leads, Cream era Clapton, and Jazz type tones with ease.
The RY bridge and VHII combo could work because of the closer output. Also, using a Rebel Yell B with modern type amps and heavier strings is awesome because the pickup stays tight and clear under ridiculous amounts of gain. The only downside is that it is not quite as 'metal' in spirit as either flavour of Nailbomb is. I personally found that a boost is helpful for the extra punch.
If you want a raw gritty sort of a tone, the A-Bomb bridge / VHII neck should give you the versatility you require and will do the metal thing in spades. Listen to the Sepultura Nailbomb sound to get an idea of what I mean by 'hairy' or 'gritty'. For a smoother tone from the bridge, a Rebel Yell (Bright) or Holy Diver (Warm) will be better.
Telerocker, I don't know that Jazzers know what a bridge pickup is!!! ;)
