Sometimes you just need to go back to ...

where you started.
Case in point:
I swapped out two of my pickups out of my Nashville B Bender Tele.
Went to a SD Lil 59 in the bridge and a SD Alnico Pro II in the neck.
Great pickups, but totally changed the tone of the guitar.
I lost my Tele "quack"
Just got my Tele back from the shop, with the stock pickups back in.
Played it thru my POD X3L and loving the sound!.
Made me wonder why I swapped them out in the first place.
This happen to anyone else?

All the time. I have two simple rules these days.

1) Never buy any guitar thinking I'll improve it when I get it home. A dud in the store is a dud at home and will usually remain a dud regardless of my most sincere efforts.

2) If I feel the urge to replace pickups in a one of my guitars I put it down until the feeling goes away and remember why I bought the guitar in the first place. If the feeling persists, I sell the guitar because it's just not right for me.

Dorothy said it best in The Wizard Of Oz----
"There's no place like home!"

I love to mod guitars ONLY if it improves them to my ear---

Aside from taking the finish off the neck, I've left mine stock. When the organ starts and the drummer kicks in I don't figure to be able to hear the difference in pickups. I play to open my mind to being closer to God. I'm not sure God cares about the tone of my telecaster, so long as it's not too shrill.

When I have changed pickups in guitars, I've always wished at some point that I could have a comination of the old sound along with the new sound. Now I just leave 'em alone and get on with the playing part.