Humbuckers to accompany a Tele with Piledrivers

[jesperbc]

So I asked about the output of the Black Hawks in another thread yesterday, but today it struck me that I have another guitar that I want to change the pickups in, and I don't want the two guitars sounding like night and day, more than they already do.

I have a Japanese 2013 Fender Special Run '52 Telecaster with a set of very vintage-y output pickups, that completely disappears in the mix when I play with another guitarist, who plays a humbucker equipped guitar. I've already decided to switch out the stock pickups for a Piledriver set, but then it struck me that I might end up with two completely different sounding guitars, since the other guitar I have is an ESP LTD Deluxe MH-1000, which I want to equip with a set of Black Hawks.

So the question is: What would be a good set of/combination of (contemporary sounding) pickups to install in the MH-1000, to match the output of the soon-to-be Piledriver equipped Tele, without installing "Vintage Hot" category pickups, or going all out shredder/djent/jazz-prog-fusion-ey... I want the Telecaster to retain the twang and single coil characteristics, that the Tele is known for, and use it for less aggressive stuff, while the MH-1000 can be more ballsy and high-gain, aggressive and tight.

I'm currently leaning towards a Black Hawks set with a ceramic in the bridge and a standard Alnico V in the neck.

What would you guys advise? I'm pretty new to Bare Knuckle...

/edit: MH-1000: Mahogany body/neck, rosewood fretboard, Tele: Ash body, maple neck.
/edit 2: I play a grunge-inspired kind of rock, think Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains and Soundgarden, mixed with alternative metal inspired by A Perfect Circle, Tool and Deftones... So I need crystal cleans, rawk tones and tight agressive distortion. Doable?

[jesperbc]

I'm thinking maybe a Cold Sweat set or maybe even a Juggernaut set? Most other pickups are noted with much different applications than the styles that I associate with...

/edit: Or should I try out a Black Dog set?

[jesperbc]

Bumping

[Kiichi]

Based only on theoretical knowledge I could see the CS work very well here. Should have a similar agression and edge I guess.

[Dave Sloven]

Have you considered a VHII set?

I agree that the Cold Sweat would give the sort of sounds you want if we don't consider the guitar itself, but I'm just not sure how a Tele would react the the various humbuckers in the BKP range.  The VHII though seems to work well in a variety of guitars and it seems to be more powerful than the resistance ratings suggest.  Same could be said of the Black Hawks.

The Cold Sweats on the other hand do seem to compare to most of the range in terms of output.  In the same guitar the CS has less output than the A-Bomb, which is what the figures would lead you to expect.

[jesperbc]

I'm suffering from option paralysis after listening to all the "modern metal" and "progressive metal" clips of vintage hot and contemporary pickups...

Options are now:
Black Dog - I like the midrange focus in the modern metal clip
Black Hawk - I like the bite of the ceramic and the overall focused sound. The alnico V sounds a little muffled in the clip.
Cold Sweat - I like the bass response
Aftermath - Had to delete it after closer listening...
Nailbomb - I like the midrange bite of the A-bomb, but the tightness of the C-bomb - so confused...
Painkiller - Deleted, didn't touch on anything after all
Juggernaut - actually sounded a little boomy in the clip, perhaps due to the low treble response? I don't know, I'm not a tone pro...
Holydiver - I really like the midrange heavyness in this modern metal clip.

[Telerocker]

Rebel Yells: mids, quite some uppermids and treble, great crunch, organic with some vintagevibe when rolled down, but still more modern sounding then the vintagehot-pickups.

[Dave Sloven]

Sounds like you are gravitating toward the Cold Sweat.

They are a great pickup, and not too finicky about what you put them in.  I have a set in my SG Standard and they work really well there.