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Hey Alamo,
Yeah, the Lollar is a "Special T," and it's exactly the same pickup as I have in one of my Teles. I'm not quite sure why National and Mike Dowling settled on this particular model, but I've found it to be quite clean when needed, and it can get pretty growly and nasty if you want it to as well. I would imagine that any standard Tele pickup that isn't too deep would fit easily.
It is indeed neat and tidy. It only took me about 10 or 15 minutes to switch cover plates and I was done. Just plug in and go. Sorry to say, though, I didn't take any photos of the back side of the Hot-Plate. In general, it has two mini pots (volume & tone), the Lollar pup, and a 1/4" jack that's elevated above the plate as you can see in the front photo. I'm sure these components were chosen and installed so that they wouldn't penetrate too far into the cone area. Obviously a standard 1/4" jack or double-stacked humbucking pickup wouldn't work on the Hot-Plate. Standard Tele pots might be questionable as well.
All in all, I think it's a unit that's definitely worth considering. It doesn't capture the instrument 100% in an acoustical sense, but it's not bad, either.
Jim
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