Which ToneRider humbucker? Classic Alnico IIs OR Alnico IVs maybe?

[Ronan]

Apologies in advance for the length of the post - just hoping for better advice if I give more info on what I'm looking for!

I'm changing pickups in a Custom Squier Tele. I've spent some time on the setup and hoping for a quite respectable sound without spending much.


I've narrowed it down to HBs from Tonerider. They seem, by all accounts, fantastic quality for the price range.

I'm just not sure which ToneRider humbucker I really need, though.

My only real frame of reference is from playing
- a stock Am Std Tele pickup set (with 250k pot I believe)
- a DiMarzio Chopper T in the bridge with 500k vol pot

Both satisfied me - particularly the very present highs of the Am Std Bridge stock and the tight, thick low end possible with the Chopper T (still had a nice amount of highs).

I'm looking mostly at 2 tonerider sets in particular but am open to suggestions for other models by Tonerider:
Alnico II Classics Set
or
Alnico IV Classics Set

The sort of sound I'm looking for with the pickup would be
- bright, bell-like highs
- something with an appealing clean sound (for slow right-handed tapping stuff)
- relatively thick, tight-sounding lows when overdriven*
- wide range of tone/resonance or whatever sort of vague word I should use
- nothing overly "high output"








Some background info on how/what I play (some of this will sound like nonsense talk, sorry!) -

I play mostly instrumental post-rock, post-hardcore, math rock and alternative / prog rock sort of stuff:
Loads of big, 'rich' multi-voiced chords with decent amounts of gain, my one big thing with chords I play is to try and hear as many notes 'clashing' together as possible (as in beats) - particularly the highs.
So if possible I'd like a pickup that won't gloss over the little nuanced 'beats' between sort of dissonant notes.

I have found the EMGs currently installed just give me some sort of mud instead of an accurate sound of notes interacting sharply together.

I also play a lot of clean right-hand tapping & pull-offs on top of clean chords. Moderate tempo, toneful stuff. Often with delay.

If it has any relevance -
The FX I use regularly are harmonic adders (like an EHX HOG or POG) and Filter/Wah with resonance.

*I play through a Marshall DSL JCM2000 and Marshall Mode 4B cab. I can get a significant amount of gain from my amp but need to be conscious of noise from my chain (which includes a laptop) at the louder, more overdriven volumes.


Thanks a lot if you read all that crap.
So any advice on which Tonerider I really want?