Bang-for-the-buck Tele neck Pickup?

mongoose_eyeball

mongoose_eyeball

Inspired
A friend has had my MIM Tele for around a year; he installed a Fishman Powerbridge (a Tele bridge with peizos) for me, and he switched out the neck pickup to one of those SD mini-humbuckers, just to see whether I'd like it. I didn't, especially, so he took the Duncan out, but he ended up moving to a new house before he could put the Fender Pickup back in. So now, eight months after his move, he's got my neck pickup "in a box somewhere."

I don't want to nag him about finding the pickup, but I want to get my guitar back, so I'm thinking about just buying an inexpensive alternative and just having him put that in the guitar, something nice enough to constitute an upgrade from the stock Fender, but not something super-boutique that's gonna set me back, since I'm not getting a set; I'm just getting the one in order to facilitate the return of my guitar.

So here's my question: I've narrowed things down to a choice between a Cavalier "Fat Lioness" ($62 with shipping) or a Tonerider TRT2 Hot Classic ($49 with free shipping). I've read great things about both. Has anybody experienced either? If not, what's your pick for a tele neck pickup in that price range?

http://www.frettech.com/#tele

http://www.tonerider.com/hot-classics
 
Not familiar with these but take a look at guitarfetish.com. The GFS pickups are a great value and sound really good IMO.
 
Why shouldn't you nag to him and spent actual money on a new pickup? He caused the problem, just let him dig it out. It sounds like a reasonable request, especially if he is your friend. He got to borrow and use your guitar for a year, I think that entitles you to ask him spending some time digging through boxes.
 
Personally, I like Fender Custom Shop Twisted Tele pups as all arounders. I have a Senn Pomona with Lollars - pretty hot, good for rock, good dialed back too. They mate well with the guitar. I was impressed with some Sullivan's I had in a 52 RI a while back. Honestly, you can never tell how the guitar and pup are gonna match up. There are as many quality T style pickups as there are opinions. A lot of folks believe there's some magical shop with pickup elves but the manufacture of a pickup is pretty basic stuff - magnets, wire and a winder. After that, it's personal preference, potted, staggered, etc., I was in Abigail Ybarra's "office" in the Corona Custom Shop before she retired. She had a small desk and in front of it, a very basic auto winder, a couple spools of wire and... Eric Clapton on her cell phone...
 
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