Quote:- What pickups (active or passive) can you recommend? People say EMGs fit my guitar the best but I'm not really into to metal that much. (cause AFAIK, EMGs are mostly designed for metal. As to what I hear and see but still, correct if I'm wrong. I did say "mostly" though.)
It's hard to recommend a pickup to you without knowing a little more about what you're looking for. Can you be as precise as possible in describing what you want in a pickup? Like for example, you did already say the cleans are muddy so I assume you want a clearer sound -- that indicates you may want something with a little less bass/midrange and more treble frequencies. Is the muddiness the only problem you're looking to solve, or are you also unsatisfied with the overall EQ or power of the pickup, etc. The more specific you can be the better recommendations we can give.
Also you may want to check out Dimarzio.com's Pickup Finder utility to help you choose a pickup. Seymour Duncan also has a pickup comparison applicaton you can use on their site. Both are very helpful!
Quote:- If I go with passives, what could be the possible use for the EQ switch?
I'm not sure if the EQ switch will work with passive pickups; perhaps someone else can answer this, or some Google searching may reveal the answer.
If it does work with passives, it will work the same way. It looks like it's a mid-cut switch. As mentioned above, cutting out the midrange and boosting the treble tends to "clear up" the sound and make it sharper (but of course the tradeoff is that it has less "oomph" and is drowned out in a mix more easily).
If it doesn't work with passives, you can just replace it with a tone knob or any other type of switch that will work with passives.
Quote:- If I go with actives, do they really need a 9v active power source or do some actives have the same 3v setup with the stock? will it work the same way with the EQ boost?
Depends on what you replace the pickups with. The vast majority of aftermarket active pickups require a 9V battery as a power source; I don't know of any that require differently. The pickups your guitar came with require only 3V, hence the two AA batteries. So if you go with pickups that require 9V to drive them, you would need to change that (it's not really a big change).
Due to the lower voltage and different construction of the pickups, you'll need to replace the pots either way, with 500K-Ohm pots if you go with passives, and 25K-Ohm (or 50K-Ohm depending on the manufacturer) pots if you go with 9V actives. I'm not sure which pots you have in that guitar but they are probably something around 100K-Ohm or 200K-Ohm.
Quote:I simply want a guitar that can do bluesy stuff then switch to 90's alternative but can also play heavy 2000ish stuff like Deftones or System of a Down then switch to happy, upbeat sounds of pop/punk and then play a bit of jazz or funk on the sides. Just "versatile" can define the need for an explanation.
I don't know if you will like what I like, but "versatile" was also something I was looking for when I replaced the pickups in my S. I settled on a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge position and a Dimarzio Breed neck model in the neck position. I'm EXTREMELY pleased with the Breed neck model; it is my favorite pickup to date. It's not muddy at all to my ears, but it does have a lot of bass and midrange and less treble, so with a default EQ it may not sound as clear as you are looking for. That being said I scoop the midrange out pretty heavily on my EQ when I play for metal, and I like the extra midrange when I play clean, so ... meh. Ultimately it's your decision, I'm just recommending what I like because it sounds like you are looking for something similar to what I was looking for.
