Re: '72 fender tele deluxe reissue
FWIW I played one at a local GC - they're clean sounding, not like a typical humbucker. There wasn't much character to the sound itself - kind of like "this is the sound the strings are making right now and nothing else." I wouldn't call them sterile, because they did react to playing dynamics fairly well. But I wouldn't call it a spiritual experience or anything.
I think the biggest problem with the 72 deluxe reissue is that regular telecasters are so distinctive that when you start to get away from that you're kind of moving into a different market segment. I sat down and played it, and I just thought, "well this would be real nice with a good tele single coil in the bridge... and maybe a strat pickup in the neck..." I love love love the control layout - the 4-knob layout is the most versatile IMO because you have so many shades in the middle position, not to mention if you want to get crazy with push-pulls and spin-a-splits, etc. But the wide range humbuckers aren't my favorite.
If that's what you want though, man go for it. I really liked the feel of the thing.