Don't get me wrong, guys.
I had my personal experience with pickups wax potting.
I owned a couple of MIJ Fernandes/Burny Les Pauls from the '80s, one of them with original VH-1 pickups.
Those guitars were awesome and VH-1 pickups are more than decent ones, good old LP tones...but they're not wax potted.
I've always been a sort of "good amount of gain" guy...I love hard rock, metal, heavy stuff...last band I played with was a Kiss tribute band...so I think you can figure out the sounds I like more.
Well...with VH-1 pickups I had those tones but also a lot of noise and feedback, so I made them wax potted.
Every feedback issue was fixed and the pickups tone was 100% untouched...and I know that because I could compare the situation before and after wax potting.
With studs is the same...they can modify something about sustain, maybe...but your guitar's overall tone would remain the same.
I've owned 4-5 LPs in the past years (including a Custom Shop Goldtop '54 Reissue with P-90s) and I was used to change everything but wood...
I used alu tailpieces, steel studs, wraparounds and stuff so on...Today I'm not sure anymore this could change things so much that it worth the price you pay to aftermarket.
I own a Standard 2013 Gibson SG with '57 pickups (very good Gibson pickups! Factory wax potted, as far as I know. The best to me!) where I didn't change a screw...when I bought her, I compared with a Custom Shop Reissue SG with Custombuckers, alu tailpiece and ABR-1 bridge...Custombuckers where just more midrangy and I loved '57s more...after that, the guitar is an SG...
What Gibson seems not able anymore to do is a good f**king NUT.
They use corian everywhere and that makes more difference: I swapped original nut wit a TUSQ with correct strings spacing and this fixed some tuning and tone issues (higher strings where a little weak).
And no more wraparound: just lifted the tailpiece a litte to get correct strings angle...
That guitar KILLS! 100% Angus tone.
Now I'm going to receive a very kind gift from a friend: a 199x Studio Les Paul.
That guitar was owned by her father who passed away last December and she wants me to keep that guitar.
I will and I will not modify anything there: I bet that Les Paul will have perfect tones!
By the way, as I wrote, I'm outside this kind of discussion since many years and I do not want to start again here.
What I want to point out is that's a matter of approach: if someone has something to suggest you, give him/her a chance...and power off what your ears keep repeating.
I've a very good friend...we're friends since very long time now (more than 25 years for sure) and he's a very talented guitar player and a very good guy.
Is also a GAS guy as we are...but, coming to such arguments, he's more like "I don't understand about physics or electronic, but my ears..."......... GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..................
One of these days, I will cut his ears off!