It will definitley depend on your amp, but, honestly the Miracle Man is definitely THE Metallica pickup and believe me, theyre NOT SCOOPED SOUNDING! I know the Miracle Man has that reputation on the board a bit, but the idea behind the MM is emphasis on the LOW mids, as opposed to the HIGH mids. They're smoother, less pushed, in comparison to being totally cut out the pickup's sound. They are very clean so they will handle an AWESOME amount of gain without turning into mush. EXCELLENT for speedy riffs that tax that wrist (Hetfield in SPADES) and equally as good for leads. The Cold Sweat equals the perfect companion for Metal or really any style that intends to get dirty. Very fluid lead tone with distortion but with a 8.3 kOhm resistance and an Alnico magnet, your cleans will not suffer, in fact, they're very nice 8) 8) Wish you the best of luck. I have this combo, and the minute I heard them, I knew they were THE THING for the sound I was after out the particular guitar they dropped into! You won't be dissappointed. When Tim states the Miracle Man's Massive Power is not a trade-off for great tonal quality, he isn't lying.