Neck pickup help...

[themetallicat86]

So I just pulled the trigger on a prestige Ibanez direct from Evertune.  Ash body, maple/walnut neck, ebony board (and an Evertune bridge obviously).  I'm pretty set on putting a DiMarzio Sonic Ecstasy in the bridge, I've had it in other guitars and I think it will smooth out what will likely be some serious high end from this instrument.

My hope is to get some suggestions for a neck humbucker.  I haven't owned a guitar routed for a neck pickup in over a decade, so I'm out of touch in this arena.  I'm not picky on brands or magnet types.  I believe I'd like something very open and touch sensitive that isn't overly creamy and NOT 'tubular' as Mr. Satriani would put it.

Any/all help/information is greatly appreciated!

[Dave Sloven]

The bare knuckle neck pickups that I have owned that aren't creamy or tubular at all would probably be the Impulse and Nailbomb models.

The Black Hawk neck is flutey, is that the same as tubular?  Anyway maybe stay away from that.

[darrenw5094]

The most touch sensitive neck pup I've tried, was the Riff Raff, its also pretty bright. It paired with Painkiller in an Ibanez J Custom, but wasn't blown away by the powerful bridge pup.

[Nolly]

The Painkiller neck is up there as one of the most articulate/tight/woody sounding neck pickups in the BKP humbucker range, and would a great option for someone who favours bridge pickups most of the time - you can literally riff on it and it'll sound really tight and percussive.
The other direction to go would be to the PAF-y AV neck pickups in the range like the Riff Raff (as mentioned above), Black Dog, VHII, and Holy Diver. All fall under 8k and should offer different takes on a classic woody and articulate neck pickup sound.