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I'm a blues player, and I'ver been using Alnico II Pro's in a LP through a '53 Deluxe with a Celestion Alnico Blue speaker in it. I like the sound pretty well, given that I put a lot of money into really quality stuff, it *should* sound nice.

It can be a little whiney and tin-like though, as the speaker is rather bright, and the pups have pronounced highs. I have some Pearly Gates on order (which might seem like a quot;why botherquot; given their similarity to AIIPs). Now I'm wondering if a Custom Custom bridge might reduce some of the chimey highs for which the speakers are known ? Would this be a bad call for blues ?

The CC should solve your problem, I use one in the bridge into various Fender amps with excellent results.

Another option might be a set of Seth Lovers. I have 2 LPs, one with Seths and one with AII Pros. The Seths have a warmer smoother tone and I find them more responsive to variations in pick attack. I'm not sure that I'm going to keep the AII Pros - I like the neck pup, but I find the bridge one a little too 'hard'. I am considering trying a set of Antiquities in that guitar. Seths are definitely warmer than AII Pros though, and would be a great choice for blues.

I dont think the Pearly gates will help you at all. They have more percived brightness and sparkle than the Alnico II pros. The CC will be a good choice and also the Seth Lovers might be a good idea also.

I'm a blues player and I use the Seth Lover neck and Custom Custom bridge pickup and I play mostly through my old 50's tweed Deluxes with vintage 60's Celestion Alnico G12 speakers. So we have similar set-ups.

The Custom Custom is great! Probably just what you are looking for. I'd leave the neck Alnico 2 Pro humbucker in place and just switch out the bridge pickup to a CC.

Lew

1 on the CC. Sounds great in every guitar I've put it in.

Ditto on what Lew and Simon said. My opinion is that you shouldn't even open up the PG's, just send'em back. For blues players that know real tone, the Seths or the CC/APH is the way to go. The pickups that really put a smile on my face is the $300 set of 50th Anniversary engraved Alnico II Seth Lovers I got from Musician's Friend.
They cost $80 more, but they look and sound as good as you'd expect Custom Shop Seths to sound.