I believe that so many players dont know how to play strats. To me, the sound of the strat is versitility- all of the great strat players i can name give the pickup selector one hellva workout, near all the time. To me, THIS is what makes a strat sound so great- the contrasts of availible tone.
I dont like the sound of someone just using the bridge pickup of the strat for every song- it gives me a real hedache.
That said, the fatness, warmness and power of a paf or P90 equpt Les Paul is my personal favorite, time and time again. I think, with the exeption of the 335, that this is the most majestic guitar tone i have ever heard. From Ronson's work with Bowie, to Aerosmith, the stones, Slash, and one million others, I fell that this is my favorite sounding guitar.
Luke