Need Pickup Recommendation for my Vintage "ESP" 48th St Custom Shop Custom Tele

[Enigma]

Hi Folks,

First time poster here.  I would like to put Bareknuckle pickups into this beauty.  This was custom made in the mid-80s in NYC's famous 48th Street Custom Shop by a Japanese luthier, Yoshi - this shop eventually became ESP.  It originally came with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates (which sound fantastic with this), but I want a tone that's more Les Paul like (i.e., The Mule?).  At the same time, I welcome suggestions from you folks as to what might sound good with this?

The guitar has an Ebony board with a Maple top.  Currently, it has PRS Dragon IIs in them.  But, I don't like them as much as the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates which apparently sound good with Ebony boards.  Also, I own a PRS Custom 24 which has Vintage Bass and HFS pickups, so I hope to not run into that sonic territory.  Currently, I'm thinking Crawler to balance the general brightness the guitar gives off, or Emerald.

Technical Question & Requirement:
1)  Pickups have to have 4 wires for coil-tap; and
2)  Do the BareKnuckle pickups come without the metal casing?

So, here is the guitar.  What tone does it speak to you? Thanks for your suggestions!

W/ PRS Dragon II


W/ Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates

[ericsabbath]

black dogs

[Miracle Man]

black dogs

Agreed, black dogs would sound great. I had a Mule set in a maple top/ebony board SG and the bridge Mule was to bright. Black Dog bridge/Mule neck would probably work pretty well too.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

+3 for me. If for some reason you wanted to go heavy, Holy Divers would work too.

[Enigma]

Ben recommends Crawlers.  I like what I hear from the sound clips.  I'll have to check out Black Dogs!

[Telerocker]

Crawler will let your guitar growl in a the most pleasant way. It has a huge midrange. It's a versatile allround pickup with still some PAF-flavour for any style except for metal. Leadtones are stellar. Tone above the 12th fret stays fat and round. Don't worry Crawlers have enough high's to cut trough and they split very well too. I guess the middy Black Dog others recommend will do too.

[Cpt_Gonzo]

I vote Holydiver set, too!

[Philly Q]

Currently, I'm thinking Crawler to balance the general brightness the guitar gives off, or Emerald.

I'm not going to argue with what the guys have said, Crawlers would be great, probably Black Dogs too.

If the guitar's bright I reckon Emeralds will be too bright (I think I saw a comment the other day saying Emeralds are voiced similarly to the Dragon IIs you have in there now, in fact)

I think you should consider Abraxas too - hotter than Mules, less aggressive than Crawlers, some sweetness thanks to the AIV magnets.

Nice guitar by the way!  Very '80s, but it has a classic look about it too.  :D

[Enigma]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions thus far.  I'm going to go with Crawlers as my first Bare Knuckle pickups.  I'm sure this won't be my last BK pickups!

[Enigma]

Currently, I'm thinking Crawler to balance the general brightness the guitar gives off, or Emerald.

Nice guitar by the way!  Very '80s, but it has a classic look about it too.  :D

Thanks!  It's quite an hybrid.  Pointy headstock to identify itself with the '80s era with classic, carved top Tele shape with hard-tail.