guitars

There is a LOT of nuance between pickup choices. Identical pickups will sound different depending on where they are relative to the bridge, AND where the player chooses to pick the strong.

A pickup near the bridge is going to sound twangier, and one near the fretboard is going to sound mellower. The one in the middle will create a sound between those. After that, depending on the kind of switch you have, you can combine pickups, and find even more tones.

Combine those pickup choices with different picking locations on the string, and the tones will change even more. Add in the tone and volume controls, and you can manipulate the tones even further. And all that is possible before you start getting into pedals and amp configurations.

Then there are different kinds of pickup configurations depending on the model. Strats have 3 single coil pickups, while Teles have 2 single coils. Les Paul's have 2 humbuckers, some guitars use P90s, and some use other choices, or make their own. Some guitars combine multiple types of pickups for different sounds. I like HSS Strats, which have 2 single coils, and 1 humbucker, for a wider tonal selection. Usually the humbucker is by the bridge, but I've seen it in the middle, and up by the fretboard. If I was building it, I'd probably put it in the middle.

Basically, anything goes, so don't worry too much. For your first try, you might want to just emulate an already accepted configuration like SSS, especially if that's all you've got.