Ok well I guess my tone goal is a little piano like. A piezo might be an option but I'd probably upgrade the split p too if I did that...
...I already have my old school sound covered with my mim p4. I'm going to be pairing the p5 with a n Eden wtdi for a modern sound.
By piano-like, I assume you mean an obviously roundwound tone with lots of harmonics? I'm thinking older British prog rock, like Yes, Deep Purple, that sort of thing?
When you hear those tones on record, they're often coming from Rickenbackers, Alembics, etc. Still, there are some common elements, like using stainless rounds, often Rotosounds, changing them often to keep the zing, pushing the treble on your amp, and possibly playing with a pick.
Before you start thinking about routing for different/more pickups, here's a way to experiment with getting more of a "piano tone" from your VMP5: drop in a 9V battery, and an EMG BTC HZ:
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On a P-bass, you would wire it minus the blend control, using the volume control and the stacked bass/treble pot. It buffers your pickups for more zing, and also provides a nicely-voiced +/-12dB 2 band EQ.
The best part is that if you don't like it, you can cut it out and restore the passive wiring harness. No extra pickup routs near the bridge, or other obvious mods...
Once again, if you were jonesing for a brighter, more extended pickup, you could rout for an active EMG 40CS or 40DC. Soapbar shape, easy to cut the hole. They have a distinctive upper-mid bite and a lot of clarity.
They don't play well with a passive pickup, but EMG used to do a version of the ABC active blend, which could buffer between active and passive pickups. You could have the P in the normal position, and a soapbar in the bridge...
