I found this post searching for the same question. I hate pistol-grip controllers! Like you said, it's hard to be precise with the throttle. I also find the steering unintuitive and the brake/reverse to be unergonomic.
I'm modernizing an old Tamiya Hornet, and I was planning on replacing my old Futaba Attack 75MHz stick tx with a modern 2.4GHz setup -- but it doesn't seem like there's anything out there I'd actually want to use!
Maybe if I bump this thread, somebody will reply and tell me about some suitable radio. You mentioned the 4GS, and I assume the 4GRS is the replacement. I have no need for all that fanciness, and I would really rather not pay $380. If I were going to pay that much, I'd want a TX that I could also use for a heli or multirotor someday. Do any of the fancy flight controllers allow you to lock each stick to one axis?