I truly love this story. I've thought for a long time that a lot of the differences we perceive when making small changes is placebo effect. We mess around with minute things as players, chasing tone and telling ourselves the money and time were worth it, but in the end I suspect 90+ percent of the differences we hear are imagined or could have been done easier with a twist of a knob.
I finally gave up on "boutique" pedals and got a board full of Boss, and I stopped replacing pickups and electronics for this reason. I've been a hell of a lot happier since I stopped obsessing about the little things.