I dunno what pots are available there, but the thing I always do at some point is bypass the tone pot & cap. Can't recall ever using the the tone control on the guitar really. There's a few times I would have wanted extra bright but no pot does that, and for the moments I want clearly darker tones, I use a wah. I think no cap & tone = clearly more immediate and punchy sound.
Can't say I have noticed a push-pull control to have any effect on sound, I think the cap may be the main culprit in affecting the sound actually.
As for split coils - I always do that. All my guitars are either single bucker at the bridge, or that plus a single coil at the neck. I have never used or liked a neck bucker; to me they just sound way too round and muffled with this annoying wailing guitar hero sound at best - they just don't rock. But many of my guitars have buckers at neck, in which cases I have rigged them so that they are by default in single-coil mode and switchable to bucker if need be some day.
Quite often I like to play cleaner parts with neck single and bridge bucker on at the same time; that gives a big and nice sound. Just the neck single is usually too bright or jangly for me.
Since your SD likely allows for it, what I'd do is make it by default twin-coil singles, i.e. wire it so that it has two single-coils on at the same time, I mean like you'd have strat 2nd position.
That's what I had on my Les Paul, and I really liked it, it was perfect for cleans on a Paul, not too thin. But my current pickups don't allow for that wiring scheme.
Dee
"When life's a biatch, be a horny dog"
Amps: Marshall JVM 410H w/ Plexi Cap mod, Choke Mod & Negative Feedback Removal mod, 4x12", Behringer GMX110, Amplitube 3/StealthPedal
Half a dozen custom built/bastardized guitars all with EMG's, mostly 85's, Ibanez Artwood acoustic & Yamaha SGR bass, Epiphone Prophecy SG, Vox Wah, Pitchblack tuner plus assorted pedals, rack gear etc. for home studio use.