[gauchosilvertone]

My alder bodied, mahogany neck, ebony board Warmoth Soloist has a beautiful sound unplugged- warm, balanced, resonant, shimmery, and long sustaining.

It has the JB/Jazz set, covered.  My problem is something like mush- not muddy exactly, it just doesn't have the punch and immediacy I want.  I'm accustomed to hardtails, and with the gain turned up it just doesn't have the right combination of cajones and cut.  The JB has plenty of high highs (pick attack), but overall I do not find it a bright pickup.  It's extremely warm actually.

I've had a Crunch Lab which cut great but is just too compressed, it robs this beautiful instrument of its nuance.

I typically go Alnico though I'm not against ceramic.  I actually think k the Duncan Custom (SH-5).

I'm thinking-
Dominion bridge
Norton
Mo Joe

What else?

[damonstewart70]

Man,go TONE ZONE & notes AND chords jump out,once you find the "sweet spot" for your style & guitar(which I advise ALWAYS do) you get an aggressive pickup that is warm & organic.Best in my opinion for medium gain or JUST AT high gain & sounds good on semi cleans.Hope that's helpful peace @ you

[DarthPhineas]

I can get where you consider the CL a little compressed. The Illuminator is similar, but more open.

And I'm not at all sure where that other pickup could be seen as warm. Then again, it does offer a little more insight into the tonal qualities of what you're working with.

Of the options you suggested, I'd lean toward the Mo Joe for something like a bit of a hot rod with a touch of a vintage that blend together well for definition. The Dominion is powerful overall, a smidge punchy in the lows, and more open-sounding than I expected from it.

A PAF Pro in the bridge could be an option for focus and articulation.

[jazzfromhell]

If I were going for cut alone in a warm guitar I'd go Duncan Distortion. It can be a bit buzzy and thin in a thin-sounding guitar but in a warm alder guitar it can be absolutely brilliant. Finding cut AND punch in the same pickup well, thats difficult. TZ is definitely punchy, I love it, but I think actually Norton is a great balance between the two.

[darkbluemurder]

I actually had the Tone Zone back to back with a JB in the same guitar (an acoustically bright sounding guitar). The TZ definitely has more punch in the low end but whether it is more articulate overall depends on the guitar it goes in. I had mixed results in two different guitars. Breed bridge would be a less fizzy alternative but since you want more cut I would go a tad lower in output. Unfortunately I have not played any of the models you mentioned so I cannot give a more detailed recommendation at the moment.

Cheers Stephan

[buddroyce]

Versatile and punchy? I actually really like the Transition bridge, it's got all the qualities I loved about the Tone Zone but with a tighter punchier bottom end.