Thread dig.
Recently bought one of these babies for my Casio guitar;
http://www.theguitarfiles.com/product_id-2520.html
So many tone snobs say you can't get vintage tone without buying something like vintage custom-shop Strat (a 'bargain' at AUD$5500, thank you very much!) with vintage Dimarzio pickups. Sure, they're nice guitars but wow, the price is killer.
However, I defy anyone to use a guitar with these pickups in it and pick the difference in tone or playability. There are a metric butt-load of reviews on Harmony Central of people who've tried these against their multi-thousand-dollar Strats and you'll be hard-pressed to find a negative review. They bloody sing and when you consider you're paying $200+ for one Dimarzio noiseless vs $30 for one of these, well, the debate is over isn't it? These are pretty quiet but if you want to get rid of the noise, just get some alunimium tape and cost the inside of the pick-up cavity with it. No noise.
Anyway, this is for those looking to upgrade their gear; the instrument industry is a bit of a rort so don't believe the hype.