DarthPhineas, it's been a couple months since I last posted, so I'm not sure if you'll see this. I did end up going with the Illuminators. I am very pleased with the sound, including the cleans (especially the neck, and split coil settings). Really, the bridge isn't that bad for cleans either---both pickups are a step up from what I had (PRS SE HFS and Vintage Bass). The cleans were OK on the Vintage Bass, but weak & thin on the HFS---and split coil settings drastically reduced the volume. Both Illuminators sound much better clean, and single coil settings sound much more full, without such a huge volume drop. Also, there is a much bigger difference between the middle and neck positions. One thing I'm a little surprised at: in the middle position, there is a bit of the "2 PAF's at once" hollow, chirpy sound (like on my Les Paul with '57 Classics), but when you switch to single coil, it sounds A LOT like a Strat out-of-phase (position 2 or 4) setting---and this is a nice surprise. Both pickups alone with split coil sound like---well, single coils, but not out of phase. I wasn't expecting that---I'm assuming it's by design. Of course, I definitely like both pickups with gain---I did think the neck would be a little brighter, but it's not too dark. It's certainly CLEAR, but more subdued in the highs than I expected. However, you do get a nice chirp when picking individual notes. The bridge is certainly bright enough without being shrill. Thanks again for your advice---they're keepers!