I tumbled down this rabbit hole backwards a few years back. I honestly believe that as long as you are picking from the well-known short list of options, the pickup is the least significant link in the chain. Honestly, I feel the same way about the amp - provided you are selecting from the now well-known options. I’ve heard folks achieve staggeringly authentic early VH tones from variac’ed NMV heads, JCM800s, JVMs, and even wide open Vintage Moderns. Of course, the Suhr 68, the Metro-Plex, the Granger, Germino, all bring the goods in the right hands. People love to hate these pesky ‘weird mids’ in a Splawn, but the most authentic cover of Eruption on the internet is the one Mike Himmel laid down - and I know for a fact that he used a 50 watt QR for that track. (The B-Reel shows a Marshall 1987, but thats not what he used to record)
For my ears, the single most important thing in nailing ‘that’ overall sound is the player. Someone with the chops, the feel, and the swing who has paid careful attention to exactly where the palm mutes belong rhythmically in each little part will have you convinced you‘re listening to out-takes from the VH-I & II sessions. Even plugged into an 800 with a TS out front. And someone pounding through the parts dropping everything on beats 2 and 4 like a marching band will sound like ass - even playing through a variac’ed ‘68 plexi with a 10-band MXR EQ and an OG Echoplex out front with JBL/Greenback loaded cabs.
I think it is a known commodity that the PAF wound Alnico pickup in Frank during the early days clearly had less oomph than the hotter wound ceramic mag pickup in the destroyer. You can hear the extra wallop and sizzle on tracks where the destroyer was used. But that is its own rabbit hole - the nuances each pickup brings to the table are heavily influenced by the guitar the pickup calls home. Set neck vs bolt-on / Gibson scale vs Fender scale / mahogany or korina vs Northern Hard Ash.
If you‘ve got the chops and a dense, heavy strat body, you cant go wrong with a Duncan ‘59, Duncan Custom, Duncan Custom ‘59 Hybrid - my personal favorite is the Whole Lotta Humbucker. As far as boutiques go, I hear things with the Pariah Pasadena White that no other pickup gets quite the same.
