[Major Tom]

If you want a clearer sounding neck pickup, IMO the DiMarzio Bluesbucker is awesome. I did a review of it a few years back - Bluesbucker review. I probably still have the audio clip if you are interested. I have them in the neck position of 3 LP's. I bought them used on ebay, like around $35 - 40 each.

I would agree that GFS pickups are pretty good for the $, although some are better than others. The Dream 90's are ok in the bridge position, but IMO, they are a little lacking in high end, and therefore a little muffled in the neck position of a mahagany neck + body ax. Some of their pickups may be every bit as good as higher end brands such as Duncan, DiMarzio, but in my experience, some definitely are not. I'm not talking about subjective tone, but demonstrable characteristics. Some are inherently more microphonic, and not in a "good" way - like the "snock" sound that occurs when your pick hits the top of the pickup (I hate that), or even the squealing feedback if you get to close to a loud amp. They also use brass for their humbucker covers, which kills a lot of the magnetism of the hidden slug coil, and results in a duller sounding pickup (especially noticeable in the neck position) and a little less output. I personally would recommend not getting any GFS or other budget import humbuckers with covers.

I did not care for the tele pickups I got from them - despite what he says in the "specs", the brass cover of the neck pickup does make it muddy sounding. It did sound fine when I took that off, but I like the looks of it better on, and there is a risk of ruining the thing in the removal process. The bridge pickup is OK, but nothing special, possibly because they use a brass base plate and not steel, like the original Fenders - the baseplate affects the magnetism in a certain way that supposedly contributes to the tele tone.

[Almost Enough]

I'm surprised to see people ditching the Dream 90s. I love mine. But then again, it's in a blond jazz box. I also haven't played it since I got my other guitars with higher end pickups, either...so it could have been honeymooning.

I'm still debating on what to do about tuners. My wife is going to buy me a gift for my birthday, and I just wanted some tuners, but we can't afford to spend much. I may just keep searching for some used Grovers or something.