bennroe wrote:To help narrow the scope of information I'm requesting, here are some buzzwords that describe the tone I'm looking for: bright, well-defined, full, sustain, clear, crisp. Help me understand how to get there!
A big factor is the shape of the magnets, which in the past was largely the difference between Fender and Gibson. P90's and most humbuckers use a bar magnet and metal pole pieces. Most traditional Fender single coils have no bar magnets and instead use rod-shaped or threaded magnetic pole pieces, resulting in a cleaner, thinner sound.
From the sound of it, your ideal pickup (in the neck position, anyway) would be a Wide Range Humbucker. They use threaded magnets and pretty much have the exact sound that you describe. Originals are very expensive and don't quite sound the same as the overhyped magnetic alloy (CuNiFe) tends to demagnetize. I would look at Curtis Novak's page since he makes them in a few different sizes, rather than Fender's huge design.