So, I was curious again. Apparently curiosity killed some cat however long ago, silly cat. Anyway... I decided to take one of my Dominion's and splice in part of an Imperium (specifically, the 'northern' or neck coil is from the Dominion and the 'southern' or bridge coil is from the Imperium). The magnet setup is the Imperium's (3/8" thick ceramic with a spacer pad to isolate it from the frame), the Dominion coil still has the keeper bar making direct contact with the magnet, but the bar doesn't touch the frame (I have no idea if that makes a difference, but I KNOW the magnet being isolated from the frame makes a world of difference in the high end based on previous endeavors).
To my ears, this particular mutation is more balanced than either of the individual designs (likely from the disparity between the coils). There's still some compression going on, but it's more subtle. The overall output feels like it's somewhere between the Dom. and the Imp. (I have no way to measure, sorry). The low end is kind of punchy and not muddy, the mids are reduced from either individual pickup (and feel wider as opposed to being focused in a certain range) but in a pleasant fashion and the high end is open and smooth. There's a good amount of bite with distortion and a great mix between the Dom's more raucous nature and the Imp's velvet-fisted control. The cleans, are absolutely wonderful. Not a honk in sight (like a lot of 'buckers) and a bit of chime and depth.
I wouldn't go so far as to say it's perfect, but so far I'm digging it.
