Do Aftermarket Pickups Matter Anymore? - The Beard Files 

I discovered that my guitar sounds best when I stop worrying about upgrades and just play the damn thing.

"WE DISTRESSED THE COVER...."

If you are replacing cheap stock pickups with premium aftermarket pickups then YES, it does matter. If you are replacing premium pickups with similar aftermarket premium pickups then NO, it doesn't.

"These pickups, custom wound with the exotic copper only found in the mountains of Appalachia, nestled deep in the Heart of Moonshine Kentucky...."

Take all the sound processing out and plug straight into your amp. Then you will hear a big difference beween guitar with different pickups.

It's simple: Cheap/Budget guitars benefit from after market pickups. No question about it. Changing stock pickups on high-end/premium guitars is a lateral move based in personal taste and what you're going for.

"We have DISTRESSED THE COVER!" Every metal guitarist was laughing their ass off at this.

There goes your bare knuckle endorsement

I noticed a lot of these "nothing matters! Tone is in your fingers" videos from people who have a fleet of cars worth of amplifiers and 30+ guitars

Sorry late to the game on this one. Agreed that pickups matter less now than in the past. There are a couple of exceptions - single coil vs humbucker - big tone difference. And - pickup output. Even with digital gear (I don't use an amp), I have a distinct preference for lower gain pickups. That being said, I rarely ever feel the need to do a pickup swap.

Why should I care? I'm still just a freaking drummer.

Cannot wait for a video that will be exactly the same but about Tube Screamer/Overdrive type of pedals :D

Go demo a stock pickup out of a 200$ Ibanez. You're basically saying: "I stopped reviewing supercars because they were all so good!" A 50$ used Invader can help a kid with a 100$ guitar feel like Tom Delonge. Aftermarket pickups will always have a place.

I installed EMG pickups in my guitar and it made a huge difference

On a cheaper guitar, I think they make a huge difference. The trap I fell into years ago was the whole boutique pickup thing. I found the only thing that they did over Seymour Duncan or Dimarzio was make my wallet quite a bit lighter. Only my opinion but I do not think they are worth the price. I will stick with Duncan, Dimarzio or possibly something else along those lines.

Guys that go straight into their amp are going nuts right now. :D

I totally get what you’re saying fluff, one thing I feel you didn’t mention though, is that a lot of (cheaper) pickups are lacking clarity. No matter what amp/effects/plugins you use, you won’t gain clarity that’s not there!

I think it basically comes down to types of pickups. Humbuckers vs singles vs 90s And then high vs low out put. Everything else is a matter of getting to the desired tone quicker, unless you're just plugging direct into an amp like they did in the 70s and 80s.

I recently replaced the volume potentiometer of my strat from 250K to 500k without changing pickups and the results blew me away. There are so many factors in this topic.

Practice matters more than anything.

Was actually having a beer when it said to take a drink every time you said pickup. I made it to 1:06 before I belched loudly and realized I was in my 30s. Great video though!

Is this a 10 minute ad for Fishman?

Rig 1: Guitar-cable-plexi - Pickups is a huge Factor. Rig 2: Guitar-insert prefered toneshaping tools- cabsim-frfr monitor - a Line 6 Variax would do the job.

Pickups are basically a microphone.....Rosanne and Whitney both sang the national anthem, and nobody ever credited or blamed their microphone for how they sounded.....

Tell this to my prs 7 string. The stock pickups in that thing were POOP

Perhaps for metal the pickup matters less than for other genres... I don't know - I'm not a metal player. But for classic rock and blues, the pickup is a very important part of the tone. After much swapping of pickups, I've found that the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates is my pickup of choice. The difference in tone from the stock pickups (or any of the other pickups I've tried) in my guitars is enormous.

i don't see how this question would even arise. everyone is doing a hype-flip about fishman right now just like they did about bare knuckle before fishman. and pickups still make enough of a difference imo.

It‘s like car engines. Let‘s say V8-Engines. There are plenty of them. They all do one thing: ignite fuel. Yet they sound/feel/react in different ways. Some differences are very small and some are enormous. That‘s how I see pickups as well

Pickup type and position mattter, a single coil in the neck will never sound like a bridge humbucker, you’re right though brands and stuff are irrelevant

Some 25 years ago, before there was RU-vid or internet, I had an epiphany. Everyone around me was using JBs or other high output pickups for rock tones. I realized I probably don’t need a high output pickup to drive my high gain amp. I got a Duncan ‘59, and through my Dual Rectifier, it was bliss.

I think pickups ultimately effect the feel as a play the most as a player, and as you say it's the base to your sound, I think it has a big impact as a player. The way in which a pickup is made and wound has an impact on the sound, i agree those trying to claim they've reinvented the wheel is bollocks

I disagree for multiple reasons. 1) Pickups in stock guitars can occasionally be bad - if you want your stock Squier Jag to sound better, you could opt for some Seymours or something 2) A pickup change could make a bad guitar into something you enjoy playing. I wasn't keen on my HSS Fender until recently I swapped the stock Humbucker for a custom made humbucker sized P90. (Which can also be rewired for phase reversal, which I will eventually do) 3) Some stock humbuckers don't have enough wires to enable coil splitting, aftermarket ones often do. 4) Single coil sized humbuckers are a great mod for a Strat style guitar - especially with a coil split option. The list probably goes on. I find also while your point is quite valid with tone shaping other than pickups, combinations of pickups are hard to emulate past the guitar. I find my coil splitted strat bridge with my humbucking neck pickup is quite a unique sound that would be difficult to emulate without a specific guitar.

You just inadvertently also brought to light the tonewood debate (*takes cover)

In the motorcycle world there is a saying, "the most important accessory you can buy for your bike is gasoline." It doesn't mean that accessories or upgrades aren't good. The expression just points out that people put so much time and energy(and money) into thinking about these things, when they should just be riding the damn thing. Or playing their instrument, in this case.

I'm so glad you made this video. And it's funny reading all the comments and how sensitive people are about this. There's a difference between horrible pickups and everything else and there's a difference between kinds of pickups but swapping your 150$ Seymour Duncan's for your 250$ BKs is the equivalent to spending the extra money and time to just adjust the eq on your amp. I am very interested in the Fishman stuff because for better or worse it is a real change in the way pickups work.

I don't think pickups are a small part of the overall equation. Personally, I find trying different pickups an inspiring and interesting exercise. The problem with marketing them on RU-vid is that they are a product that must be tried in-person, like furniture. Everyone's hands and ears will produce and prefer different things. Having said that, the pickup market does seem saturated. Some of the big manufacturers keep introducing products that are very similar to existing items, especially for the "metal" pickup market. Edit: I don't speil gud

Actually, there are a few more innovations that you missed. Lace Sensors, for a start - they didn't exactly take over, but the design is markedly different to other pickups. Their Alumitones are another design entirely, too. Then there's the difference in response caused by magnet choice - if you take alnico magnets as the base, there is a "recovery time" for a disturbance of the magnetic field during which is settles back to its undisturbed state. Ceramic magnets have a markedly shorter recovery than alnico magnets, which is why - for a similar strength magnet - ceramic pickups tend to sound tighter in the low-end, and that's not a function of EQ (it's more akin to compression, but still not quite the same). Then you have neodymium magnets, which have an even shorter recovery time; they're not widely used, because so many people who've tried to use them in pickups have been stupid and used magnets which are far too big for the field they generate and thus pull a lot more on the strings. That's another thing - reducing string pull *does* increase sustain, so there's another fundamental change that you can't reproduce with pedals (unless you just whack the gain up). And I think it's pretty much a given that single coils sound different to humbuckers, so single-coil-sized humbuckers are another good reason for aftermarket pickups. Then there are stacked humbuckers, which sound pretty much like single coils but without the noise... tl;dr - I think there are *lots* of reasons to go for aftermarket pickups. I personally go for Lace Sensors in all of mine in the basis that the more powerful models sound similar to humbuckers and P90s, but without the massive string pull and with a slightly enhanced initial attack.

I agree the technology is old. But why fix it, if it ain't broke? I disagree the aftermarket pickup industry no longer matters. Several reasons, some of which you said yourself in the video: 1. It's a fundamental part of your tone. Yes, we can argue about your fingers, wood, fret material, neck construction, nut material, string gauge, orange-drop caps vs oil and paper, etc... but it hard to argue that pickups aren't a fundamental part of your tone. They convert the strings vibration into electrical signal. I'll choose a pickup based on the tone I'm going for. 2. Budget. I may not be able to afford a modelling amp or racks of digital processors. Swapping a pickup is a relatively inexpensive option. 3. Desire. Maybe I don't *want* a ton of processing equipment. For a lot of reasons. Ease of use. There's less to break. Less of a learning curve. Swapping a different pickup in may work. 4. Dependency. If you use signal processors to get the sound you want, you are dependent on them. What happens when you accidentally delete your settings? or there's a power surge that fries your processor? or...

The pickups in my Gibson came out for some pickups from The Creamery, a small pickup builder in the UK. The Gibson ones were too bitey for me so they came out and the Creamery ones went in. But you still got to look out for whether you NEED it. No point in swapping out pickups for the Seymour Duncan/DiMarzio equivalent if they're going to sound the same, just so you can say "yeah dude, it's a Seymour Duncan..."

From what I can tell about pickups: the pole shapes, coil resistance, inductance and magnet type are the only things that matter. High resistance pickups aren't really needed anymore since it (apparently) just reduces the high-frequencies and we don't really need the higher output due to more powerful amps now than were available 20-30 years ago. Magnet type matters somewhat but is relatively easy to slide it out and put a new one in. Higher inductance also produces a larger signal but will reduce the sustain since the stronger magnetic field dampens the string quicker, but produces more induced current in the coil. However pole piece head shape does affect the tone somewhat. Small pole pieces create a more focused magnetic field which is better for the bridge position or high-tension string setups where the strings don't move much. Larger pole pieces (like the large, dome-headed hex poles or blades) are better for maintaining a constant volume where the strings move a lot, like in the neck or if you do really big bends. Other than this, I agree that pickups don't really matter much. It's just thin copper wire wrapped around metal poles/screws. Yes wire thickness matters somewhat due to packing density but it's quite minor, especially once you throw in some OD, distortion or fuzz pedals. I don't think pickups are worth £100's, you're better off buying just better speakers for your cabinet since crap speakers won't be able to even produce the sounds your guitar/pedals/amp make anyway. Not in a way that actually sounds nice at least. Note: I'm a Physicist that deals with magnetism and electromagnetic inductance nearly every day. However this is all my opinion drawn from my knowledge of the science this is all based on, so I could be wrong since I lack the funds and time to do actual tests on this stuff :P

When I swapped the burstbucker in a les paul for a jb, it was night and day. If I just adjusted the gain and eq to compensate for the burstbucker, it would just sound mushy.

It's my duty as an alumnus of Appalachian State University to say... It's App-uh-latch-en

I guess I am just too old school. :) After 26 years of playing, I JUST bought my first Tube Screamer, and the only pedals I have ever used, and kept using are a wah and reverb for my amps that don't have it. So, being a guy that basically goes straight to the amp 90% (or more) of the time, pickups can make a huge difference. I just don't like adding a bunch of crap if I don't have to. I appreciate modern tech, and make use of it often enough, but for me, using a bunch of effects, EQ, etc. to get a good sound out of a mediocre guitar with mediocre pickups, out of a mediocre amp is like using a ton of salt and spices to make a piece of bad meat taste good. If the main ingredients of a recipe aren't of superior quality, it will never taste quite the same. Oh great, now I'm hungry. :-D Thanks for taking the time to make the video.

I really like when someone comes with a new idea that hasent been said before and this is new to me. Thank you Riffs beards and gear!

To the best of my knowledge, the first 24-fret electric guitar was (is) the Red Special, owned, and still played today by Brian May - built by him and his father around 1965. It, being a one-of-kind, places it in a totally different avenue from "manufactured" guitars. BTW - I TOTALLY agree with you. I'm not exactly a guitar tech/geek, but I believe the quality of the pots, and the source/quality of the capacitor has more to do with tone than the pickup itself.

I think it makes a giant effect on the tone. If you buy a $300 Epiphone Les Paul and slap a set of $150 Bare Knucles or Duncans in it it will sound better than a $500 Epiphone Les Paul. If a guitar feels good but sounds meh, slapping a pair of great pickups in it usually makes a big difference.

Didn't Lace come out with Alumitone pickups like the Deathbucker that have no coil windings well before Fishman Fluence?

Wouldn't the answer always be "Depends on what you want and what stock pickups you're getting..."? Pickups are all about personal taste, it's not like stock pickups are "worse" or "better". If you really want an epiphone LP, but really want the sound of the Seymour Duncan Nazgul, then yes they definitely matter. However, if you want the sound of the stock ones, then no they don't matter for you. If I want the Keith Merrow Fishman set, then it's a maybe. If I'm going to get his signature guitar, then no it doesn't matter because it comes with them. On the other hand, if I want those PU's sound but I'm going to buy a PRS custom 24, then yes because I'd have to buy them separately and install them. This seems like a weird question to even bring up or try to answer lol. As far as just dialing in your amp/pedal to compensate, you're always going to be limited to what those knobs affect. A bass knob is going to be different on every amp/pedal, so if you want to boost the 200hz range, but your amp affects more of the 110hz range (just random number examples), then you're kind of screwed to get the tone you want. To just EQ the exact sound you want out of your pickups would require like a graphic EQ in a DAW where you have nearly infinite control, which you can't do much of outside of a recording. Plus it's really one of those "the better your ingredients, the better/easier to get your end product will be". Even then the less you have in your chain the more they matter. I only really run a Wampler Dracarys into my amp, and with just that and the amp settings, I can't get my old Dean ML to sound close enough to my Schecter C1 Apocalypse for make the Schecter irrelevant that's for sure. I would definitely agree that none of it is new, but different pickups can sound very very different. Plus your pickups dictate your "12 o clock tone", so you can only cut/boost so much of something from there. If you want a ton of mids, but have super scooped PU's, you can't EQ as much mid from those as you cam from some more neutral or mid-heavy PU's. There again, you can only boost the mids that your gear affects anyway. So if you want to boost high mids, but your pedal/amp's mid control is more of a low mid, you're stuck.

Whichever pickups you have, you can always darken the tone with black machine heads or add more sparkle with metallic finish.

Pickups aren't for sound, they are for feel. Responsiveness is everything.

It's just my opinion and they'll probably be haters of it. I studied electronics in school and worked with electricity most of my life. To me, a pickup is just magnets and wire. I've built them myself and got incredible sounds with very low cost...like $5. I think there is an over emphasis and inflated prices on aftermarket pickups.. With all the effects today, I think you can pretty much make any pickup sound good!👍😎🎸🎶

"We have distressed the cover" :D Made me laugh :)

One small argument. Lets say I want a tight metal sound, for example. If I'm running a weak, no cut humbucker, I then need to add too much pedal boost causing extra noise in the signal chain. Yes I could get there, but its not ideal.

This is a really interesting opinion. However, it's only discussing a signal chain which will for sure be using significant amounts of sound processing with pedals and onboard effects on a DAW, as he mentions. In which case, yes, agreed, a humbucker is pretty much a humbucker. However, if like me and *so many* others that are making a living playing the guitar, you use a quality guitar, with few and pristine effects, plugged directly into a quality Tube amp that's mic'ed up for recording or live playing...then it makes a *huge* difference. When you're using the pickup dynamically, rolling back the volume for tonal shaping and gain control, every little thing in your chain; string gauge, tone cap., leads, even nut material all add up together to make a very unique tone. The big players in that scenario are scale length, body material, bridge type and most importantly pickups. Basically, it boils down to what your setup is. If you just want to chug and will be plugging into your laptop with a USB interface and using Neural DSP you could use pretty much anything - as he says - and you're good to go. If you're after a real musical relationship/interaction with your guitar and amplifier, where the gear is what also inspires your music, then, if you're happy with your guitar's set-up, the pickups are the *first* place to look to dramatically re-shape your tone.

100% agree Fluff. I was so disappointed in 1991 when I swapped my EMGs for Seymore Duncan's... the change in my tone was so miniscule and I ended up needing an overdrive pedal to get the same amount of distortion on my amp, lol. There may have been a little more control of dynamic when I played with the Duncan's but I really don't care about that stuff anymore. Whatever is in the guitar is what stay, unless something is wrong with the pick up... but I usually start by replacing pots if something isn't working right.

There are some complete crap pickups on cheap guitars that do need to replaced. Like the cheap ceramic pickups on really low end squiers and epis.

Lace also made major innovations when it comes to instrument pickups.

I don't think the aftermarketness was ever the story and SD invader still sounds quite diffrent than JB. If pickups are "just wire around pole pieces" theg guitars are "whatever with more than couple of strings on it". It's just matter of where you put the threshold of likeness.

Imagine Eddie Van Halen NEVER using humbucker pickups & Floyd Rose tremolos!!!! I know those two hands and those 10 fingers WERE MAGIC, but, take away the humbuckers. Would we have THE BROWN SOUND??!!??!!

Unless you're like me and your RG had those god awful Infinity pickups, then yea you need some old 81 85's

Just want to say, most aftermarket pickups will pick up the "new string sound" for FAR longer than the ones coming in sub $300 guitars.

There are "cheap" pickups that sound good too. But sometimes more expensive stuff make you feel you have a bit more premium instruments and also its fun experimenting. In most cases you will hear a difference but this difference doesn't necessarily mean better. I am not comparing the ultra cheap range of low budget brands or random guitars from ebay or w.e but most low-mid range guitars (good squier/epi models and above) do sound very decent nowadays. If you can afford it though just buy it and have fun.

I'm huge about leaving a guitar stock, and not purchasing it if I do not like how it is on my rig. My problem with sticking this and that into a guitar is that it just doesn't work as well as many claim it does. I went through a slew of pickup swaps in several guitars, and came to the conclusion that the pickup swap robbed my guitars of their initial magic that made me want them in the first place. I then realized that, tone wise, I'm just more into what is in the signal chain, and what speaker is in the amp as well as the tubes, to shape my tone further. It's just how I've come to realize the pickups are either a win or not for me.

I took the Gibson 490R and 498T out of my Les Paul Smartwood Studio and installed a pair of Seymour Duncan Sentient/Pegasus. Wow, what a difference, these are a bit hotter but also much clearer and pleasing to the ear.

I agree for metal tones but for the stuff I do all I'm adding is reverb and delay, I like having a super good pickup sound so I have less eq work in the mixing proscess

Hey dude, you should know that there is something magical about certain pick-ups in real old guitars. Some companies have captured those classic rich and full sounds of yester-year as you well know.

Pickups are like pizza; sure it’s “just” dough, sauce, seasoning, and cheese, but everyone makes it a different way. Pickups are “just” magnets and wires, but they sounds worlds different to me. I have 12 guitars, all with different pickups, and all sound and feel completely different. But sure Fluff, tell us more about how awesome Fishman Fluence pickups are if they don’t matter.

I think your point is well taken. That said upgrading from a low end factory pickup in a beginner/intermediate guitar still makes a difference in my opinion.

I have improved the 70 year old pickup design. Still winding coils, but the end result is you can use any cable length from 2 feet to 200 feet without loss, you don't need to ground your strings, and they are lower noise than active pickups.

I bought about 25 guitars since 1995 and there was't even a single one that I couldn't noticeably improve by changing the pickups. The most recent was a 2017 Gibson Les Paul Standard. Out the Burstbucker Pros (and all that crap PCB electronics), in a pair of custom Monty's. Night and day difference. Aftermarket pickups matter a lot no matter what price point of the guitar (well, almost).

I kind of agree with you but only for metal, slightly overdriven or clean sounds to me seemed to be changed a lot by pickups. Just my opinion though

stock pickups from a £300 guitar or the same guitar with emg's or semour duncans ect.

I want to kind of add that like a guy kinda already said if you use a very raw old school ‘straight into the amp style tone ‘ it does matter when you replace stock pups with aftermarket ,also branded pups can determine the choice of guitar in the first place ,most brands use sd,Emg or dimarzio once you get above £400-500 ....nice video

i actually totally agree with u, in context of a full mix it doesn't even matter that much

When it comes to the stock Jackson JS22 models, I would definitely swap them. They're SUPER hot like, almost peaking sound levels hot. Otherwise amazing guitars

i always appreciate your opinions, but this time im gonna have to disagree. if you are talking about "reinventing the wheel", then yes, pickups havent moved forward in that aspect in awhile and in my experience, the fishman was a massive step back. for all the hype and promotion for it...i have tried them and still cannot find a use for that pickup. HOWEVER, i would say that as an artist that uses pickups from The Guitarmory line, every pickup that i have used from them has a different sound and feel that is both individual to the pickup and also drastically alters the tone. whether it be a high or mid or even low output pickup, each has a nuance to them that makes picking up the guitar a new experience every time. so in that respect, i believe that pickups, while they may not have changed in the TECHNOLOGY aspect as you have described, are just as relevant and important in choice for the guitarist as ever. im not looking for the "axe-fx" version of pickups, im always interested in the real sound that a guitarist can produce in every different situation.

Here's the thing. How much more processed is the signal chain actually getting? I can kind of see the argument for high-gain metal tones - and even then, did the specific pickup *ever* matter there? Because frankly, metal bands nowadays aren't actually using that much more gain than some of the heavier bands from the eighties. In their case, as long as you're using a high output pickup it really doesn't matter too much which specific one you're using. You're not going to hear the difference it makes how thick the coil-wire is, or how much space is between the magnet core and the coil, or what the precise alloying mix of the magnets is. However, for a mildly-overdriven or clean tone? You can absolutely tell the difference that the number of windings, coil spacing, etc makes. Yes, you *can* in theory dial in those nuances with a detailed enough EQ - but a lot of people don't have that.

Ooh this is a hot take lol. I mostly agree. If you're running some monster 15 pedal board your pickups are an afterthought. On the other hand I play a strat with texas specials and while I agree that I could eq my guitar to sound a different way... Its just an uphill battle. Like playing metal with a telecaster.

You sir, are absolutely correct.

actually I noticed relevant differences between a SD "invader", a DiMarzio "D-sonic", an EMG 81; agreed, they'r part of a chain, but they still give the tone its basic characteristic to emphasize - or fight against - along the rest of the "equation".

I feel like its more about the quality of pickup, ive got a beginner guitar that i got on trade for an old bass i didnt need anymore and the pickups on it are so loose sounding and wishy washy. im not sure what i wanna get but it doenst matter what i do with my boss katana that thing just doesnt chug right, its sounds like garbage. Cant play blues with it because the clean tones are flat and unfeeling. Ive compared it to my ibanez, my dads 85 usa strat, and his gibson es335. those guitars all sound amazing through my amp, but this little LTD beginner guitar is just not doing it. in this case i think pickups will make a huge difference.

Aftermarket pickups make more of a difference when you are playing straight through a tube amp to me. Once you start adding digital components to the signal chain the become less relevant.

So I bought a $168 Telecaster from China. Cosmetically the thing is really nice, though the frets needed a little tidy-ing up. A Tele fanatic friend gave her a test run and complained about the pick-ups and suggested I spend a couple hundred $$$ on something HOT! The guitar shop did the minor fret work and a standard set-up. They took out the pick-ups and called me to say they were marked 'Epiphone'' so I told him to just put 'em back in and skip the swap out. The next week my friend tried the guitar again...."WOW" he said,,,,,",the difference between night and day!!!! NOW you've got some great sounding pick ups!!"

I agree with you when you said it was a small factor in a larger equation. Pickups, pedals, amp, cab, etc. are all involved in shaping your tone. I appreciate the video. It's nice to hear a different perspective.

Yes they matter. This honestly isn't even up for debate. You're using extreme examples like people over selling their pick ups to prove a point when factually many pick ups behave drastically different from one another. Just because you can get a decent metal tone with an old Les Paul doesn't mean anything when you start to get into the specifics of what kinds of things you want to actually do with your music

I prefer good ole EMG 81.

personally i think the aftermarket pickups still matter atleast for me. if i get a cheap guitar for a project ill change the pickups first

This makes me giggle now that you are about to have your own signature pups.

I think they do if you want to change your sound. I have a thinline tele with wide range humbuckers and I’m swapping out the neck for a strat pickup and the bridge for a seymour duncan jb

the trick for for a budget guitar player like me: i buy a mid range guitar model buy and swap in a set of bareknuckle Juggs or Nailbomb and poof you get a better sounding instrument without breaking the bank ... in one go 😏😬😂

I wouldn't say a PAF is the same thing as a Seymour Duncan Nazgul for example, they're tonally different

I dont think listeners can tell the difference msot of the time. I think it's got a lot more to do with how the guitar responds to your playing style. The final sound differences are pretty subtle even in extreme cases.

I know this is an older video, but spectre studios did a test on this and the only notable difference (barring volume) was on the clean channel. Which is the only reason I change my pickups, because I enjoy playing clean. Anything with overdrive doesn’t need much other than dialling in

The eq on the amp set the shape of the tone the most

Your kind of contradictory saying they don't matter but then go on a diatribe about adjusting things to get your tone instead of the pickups doing it. I'll agree that pickups are alot like headphones in that at the top of the heap there isn't alot of difference, just flavor, but at the bottom it's a ton of difference. Also pretty funny that you just swapped a new pickup in your Gibson RD ;P

Where is Arnold Hablewitz when we need him?

You're right. For metal. But that's it. Jazz, country and a lot of rock is just guitar amp and maybe an overdrive and delay. In those cases, every part of the chain matters.

if what you currently have still works and doesn't make a lot of noise, don't worry about changing pickups, that's it.

To there are only a handful of pickups that stand out, including the og super distortion. What makes that one so significant to me is the fact that it still holds strong in the market and among musicians even after almost 50 years. The ones that do stand out, I feel, all do have something to bring to the table and it's all about preference