For some time now I've been thinking about getting a Danelectro style lipstick tube pickup, sized to fit the cutouts in a Strat pickguard, for installation in the Parts-O-FrankenCaster. A couple weeks ago I found one on the popular e-auction site that would fit the bill: Strat-sized, similar in DC resistance to the Duo-Sonic pickups already in the guitar, looked like decent quality, reasonably priced, and a seller in the States (for quick delivery and ease of possible return). The brand of the pickup is "Calig", it seems to be well built, and I have no idea what it sounds like, since it hasn't been installed yet.
Even though I don't know if it's a sonic fit for my guitar, I've gotta say I'm really impressed with the level of packaging that went into getting it ready for shipping. First off, a very sturdy outer box, made in Southern California by PaperMart; upon opening that up, there was another, smaller box inside, wrapped in bubble wrap:
Inside that inner box was more bubble wrap, rolled up around the contents:
On the bottom of the inner box was a small bag with the hardware; what was rolled up was another bag containing the pickup:
After removing the pickup from its bag, we can see that the chrome "lipstick" tube is enclosed in its own condom:
Here's another view of the pickup:
We have three of the old original Danelectro and Silvertone instruments here at our house - a guitar and two basses - and it's no big secret that although they play well and sound great, they were made to a certain (low) price point, and a lot of the construction details are sketchy, to say the least. This new pickup, while possibly just a mere clone of a classic cheesy low quality design, is far superior in its workmanship, compared to the originals. As I've mentioned, I still have no idea so far about its tone. But hey, heck of a packaging job!