I use actives, and as much as every1 hates them, you can put them mega close to the strings and they don't pull. really good that way. I got one pickup (the bridge one) really high up and the neck one really low down so i can switch between EMG60 blues clean kinda tone, straight to the killer metal distortion just with the pick ups (even when the gain on my amp is pretty hardcore). Haven't noticed too much difference in sustain if the gain is up, however if the gain is down the neck "clean" pickup will cut out after a while because it's so low and the bridge pickup will keep going even when I put my guitar down and go to the bathroom (string thru).

So i guess maybe muck around with gain settings? ultimately a compressor i've heard is the best (every1 here seems to be recommending them too).