[FrankHudson]

Hard to pick one pickup for ever for everything, so I won't.

The way pickups react to different amps and single chains can totally change the response and perceptions for one thing.

So I'll answer based on "pickups that have impressed me in the past year or so" instead:

P90 type in Epiphone 339 Pro. A little hotter than some other P90s I've played, but there's several sounds there if you just turn the guitar's volume down. Classic P90s are more hum-prone that just about any other popular pickup, and these aren't even hum-cancelling in the both pickup position for some reason, but I like P90s and I sure like this version.

Gibson 57 Classics in a mid-teens Gibson Les Paul tribute. Like folks have already said, this just seems to get the sound "right" from expectations I no doubt have from real PAFs on vinyl records of my youth.

Fender 52 vintage bridge pickup, in well, a Telecaster. This, or something close to it, has been my core sound for decades. Bright and not that high an output, but it's usually easy enough to tame brightness or add gain as opposed to adding it to a muddy, inarticulate pickup. Recent Squier vintage vibe pickups seem similar enough to me.

"Duncan Designed" Jaguar pickups in inexpensive Squier Jaguar. I sort of expected "Straty" but it's more like a Strat crossed with a Tele. I have no idea what a real Jaguar pickup set in a real Jaguar would sound like, but I know my bank balance doesn't want me to find out.

Firebird style mini-humbuckers. The guitar I keep by my computer is a Squier three pickup Tele with the original "Duncan Designed" Firebird style mini humbucker with a solid chrome cover in the neck position. Even though there's a 52 style Tele pickup in the bridge position and a decent "Duncan Design" Strat pickup in the middle, I use that neck pickup a lot for adding guitar overdubs. Humbucking but not too muddy, an nice bite. Sounds great clean or with a lot of gain thrown at it. Or throw some compression at it and play slide. We've gone through a P90 renaissance in the past few years, so maybe the mini-humbucker will come back into consideration?

I'm still working on coming to grips with the Filtertron type pickups in my Electromatic Gretsch that Steve DeRosa turned me onto here. Similar to the mini-humbucker idea, it's brighter and plenty articulate. I think I'll find even better sound from them when I get things dialed in for them.