Ok time for some interior dress-up... Ordered a stainless steel Anvil 2 knob from Moddiction. Mod cost: about $80 for the engraved version.
As you can see its a little thinner and a little taller than the stock knob. However it's countersunk deeper than the stock knob so it sits lower on the shifter. It's also about double the weight of the stock one.
When screwed all the way down the knob is a little too close to the reverse lockout ring for it to function properly, and the engraved shift pattern isn't oriented properly (on mine it was off by 90*). It also spun freely there was nothing to hold it rotationally. So I did what they suggested, applied some light duty thread locker and left it a few turns higher to clear the lockout and align the pattern. I installed it tonight and will let it set overnight before driving it, can't wait to try it!
EDIT: Drove with the new knob to work today, sat in some traffic for a while so really got to do some shifting ... it feels really good! Throws feel slightly shorter, and the shift feel is more solid. It's subtle but noticeable. Looks like the thread locker is working fine, it sits on as tightly as the stock knob did, no issues with the knob moving or spinning from usage.