Pick ups for Dean electric 12-string

[Dr.M]

Hey guys,
I'm looking at buying my first set of Bare Knuckles for my Dean electric 12-string and I'm having trouble choosing. The stock humbuckers do nothing for the sound, so anything is going to be an improvement, but I'd love some guidance as to what's going to really bring out the best of this guitar. I've narrowed it down to the Riff Raffs, The Nantucket, or the Mississippi Queen I think. I'm leaning towards the P90s as they seem a bit more aggressive and raw, but maybe I'm compromising string clarity? I don't know. I need something versatile as I tend to play both clean, bright, funky, and aggressive/gritty.

Any thoughts or advice would be great. Thanks everyone!

-L.

P.S. Picture of guitar:

[Kiichi]

Hi and welcome.

A P90 certainly can be agressive and raw, yet also sing wonderfully when you turn down the guitars controlls. The also are very good with string separation and clarity, so you should not worry there. Since they are at their core single coils they have a great defition, especially on the low strings. The Nantucket and MQ are so close to each other that they are basically the same thing. Just used to be that the NT was P90 format only and the MQ humbucker sized. They also should deliver the exact range you want. Classic clean sounds to agressive distortion sounds like Muse or so are no issue (they use them a lot). Also P90s loooove fuzz and handle it much better than HBs.

[Dr.M]

Thank you so much Kiichi, I really appreciate your feedback; this is exactly what I need to hear!  I'm totally sold, so now it's just a matter of placing the order. I'll post some audio files when everything's assembled!

Thanks again,
-M.

[Kiichi]

Btw, for extra versatility you could put in a push pull pot to switch the middle position from parallel to series and vice versa. Using this on a P90 set allows you to have a fourth position which is somewhat of a super humbucker if you will, as you have the two single coils put together like they would be if they were the coils of a humbucker. On my metal axe with a Stockholm and Supermassive that position is like a beefed up bridge. Great for extra fat riffing and solos with more of an edge.

For added versatility I can recommend that.