I hate to say it, but barbers that specialize in ethnic stuff do great clipper work. They're not afraid to cut close, they know how to fade. I go to crazy Muslims now, and I joke that they are a sleeper cell. But they do good work, cheap. Normal barbers, it's like four iterations of "no, closer" and they still do a poor job for twice the price.
I also knew a reservist that insisted on driving a nutty distance to use the military base barbers. I don't have that option, but they won't try to dissuade you from a skin-tight cut.