Floating pickup - Bartolini vs Benedetto

[Klatu]

How much of an improvement would you say it made?

[Patrick2]

Isn't there something out there that sounds like a classic humbucker but in a format suitable for a pickguard or neck mount?

It can be done. Here's a KA hand wound humbucker that Kent was kind enough to custom fit to my Unity arch top. He had to gring the metal cover down from the back edges to get it to fit. I sent him the entire pick guard. He fitted the pup and installed a thumb wheel tone control under the pick guard, with a treble bleed cap. The sound is wonderful.