Do you hate the pickups because of how they look or what they are, Matt?
If its the look of them you dislike, then that isn't going to change (except maybe the colour, I'll test and see if white or black looks best), but if its the sound of jazzmaster pickups you dont like then dont be decieved by the covers. I'm making my own pickup's to go under the covers. They'll have a variable 'heat' , with resistances up to about 16K each, so they should be able to cope with high gain metal stuff too Plus the switching means I could have them in series, = 32K, but that's maybe slighty OTT
How heavy was your 1st guitar, rsguitar? I was expecting this one to be pretty heavy, even with all the chambering, but its strangely turned out to be very light so far.
More surprisingly, its not even neck heavy. I was worried that it may be, since although the body may be chambered, the neck is still a solid piece of oak. Plus it has 24 frets proud of the body.
Thanks for the comments!