OK - how many times do I walk down this road?

I've never found a neck pickup that I used enough to justify keeping it in the guitar...for Teles that is. So lately I've just been going "Esquire", with a SD Broadcaster...which was fun for a while, but now I'm jonesing for more neck tones.

Recent neck pups I've tried but didn't do it for me include: Barden T-neck, Duncan Antiquity mini-hum, Duncan Hot Stack for Strat, Rio Grande Tallboy for Strat (actually had neck & middle for the Tallboys).

I'm a blues/country guy, so I need some bite...anyone have any suggestions? It'd be cool to just have a standard looking Tele, chrome covered neck pup.

What do you want the neck pup to actually sound like?
Fat? Thin? Clean? Distorted?

What do you want the neck pup to actually sound like?
Fat? Thin? Clean? Distorted?

Yes

What do you want the neck pup to actually sound like?
Fat? Thin? Clean? Distorted?

Since it's all subjective, I don't mind trying a few suggestions. I use the bridge pup alone, for everything from Keff to Billy Gibbons type tone. I'd like a neck pup that compliments.

I hate naming songs, when referring to tone that I'm looking for, but here goes - how about EC's tone on "When I'm Tore Down". I KNOW he's using a 335 in the neck position there...but that's the general area that I'm looking for.

Can anyone report on a Duncan Quarter Pounder for Tele neck?

Well, that's a tough tone to go for with a tele neck pickup, I think. I use a Duncan '59 humbucker and hear a lot of the same blues tones in my head, my tele gets me pretty close.

There's also the strat-sized Lil'59, which sounds pretty close to the full-size thing when adjusted right.

As for standard tele tones, the best current-production pickup I've ever tried is the Van Zandt TruVintage, it sounded durned near exactly like an actual vintage Fender pickup I have. Doesn't do "Tore Down" type-tones, though, you need more meat than a standard tele for that.