Pickups don't make a difference in tone.

[Adieu]

Maybe their amp sucks

Or maybe they once inadvertently replaced a quality exact knockoff or vintage unbadged actual brand name pickup with a new brand name version .... of the exact same thing.

One thing's for sure, people who put hot buckers into standard strats or install EMGs into passive guitars never say that

[Mad Max]

Why do people say this? I've seen on multiple other forums where someone will ask what kind of pickups they recommend for a certain sound and they'll tell him "get a better amp kid". Whats up with that?
I just got back into guitar playing about a year ago and in that time, I've gone from a 20 watt 1X8 to a 60 watt 1X10 to a 240 watt 2X12. My two main guitars are a Jackson King V JS-32 with stock pickups and a Jackson Pro Series Monarkh with SD Blackouts in it. Even in my 60 watt 1X10 the two guitars sound night and day different.