1. Hendrix. Some of his clean stuff is ok, but his PHAT overdriven tone is the benchmark for all bratty-stratty stuff. Derailed the notion that only Les Paul's and humbuckers can be fat. References: Wild Blue Angel and Woodstock.
2. Wayne Krantz: youre right! "Long To Be Loose" and "Two Drunk Minimum" Jazz (plus much more!) on a strat.
3. Malmsteen. Modernized the strat for metal, but still managed to keep it cleanly overdriven. I have no choice but to refer to him. Although Blackmore did get the 70's strat rock tone nailed, YJM pumped it up to another level. try to look beyond the stagnancy and attitude of the Swedish meatball.
4. EJ is a notable mention for his stratospheric/atmospheric cool breeze-atop-a-mountain chorused clean tone, and his "1000lb violin" distortion. I read that he's heading to cleaner strat overdrive (sax like timbres) nowadays. But EJ admits that he's tone is an amalgamation of his influences- Beck, Jimi, SRV, Clapton.
The above mentioned stuff is the template for what I look/listen for when trying out a strat. Though there are purists that preach that the maple neck+swamp ash or alder body combo is where its at, lately I have'nt been giving much of a mind about it. Suhr's concept of a maple on basswood with a maple neck/rosewood board makes sense. The fattest strat I've played was the basswood body/maple neck MIJ i used to have, it was meaty.
Simplified preference:
1. neck pick up- spanky, throaty and clear. If its like that clean, it won,t be muddy overdriven.
2. neck+mid- a fat quack
3. mid- i prefer this wired bypassing the tone pots for extra grit when playing slide.
4. mid+bridge- a bright quack
5. bridge - warm, fat, detailed, not piercing. Most strats have this wired bypassing the tone circuit. I prefer otherwise so i can dial in some warmth. I like mine with a steel/copper baseplate attached.
Deacon Blues turned me on to the 7 sound mod. Its a must have for extra versatility. you can get some nice acoustic timbres on the "all pickups" settings, and a tele-like tone with the bridge+neck combo.
My "must haves" for a satisfiable strat tone:
1. Bone nut.
2. Very good tuners. these greatly influence the strings sustain.
3. Jumbo frets. for added note clarity and ease navigating the long-scale strat fret boxes
4. steel saddles. screw diecast.
5. solid steel inertia block. this makes sense, why trust a material used to make cooking pots?! solid steel is where its at, make the change and listen to your strat sing. titanium is cool too, but very costly.
6. more "nakedness". wood on wood contact is important! get rid of the finish (paint & laquer) where the neck meets the heel for more vibrancy. same under the pickguard area, and under the tremelo baseplate. al, of these make your strat "breath better".
7. ditch the tremelo string cavity cover. its like putting a hand over a singers mouth.
8. get your electronics properly shielded. or get a great set of pick ups to give your mods some tonal justice. perfection is in the details, my friends
out of personal preference, i like my whammy locked solid to the body
try these mods, then it won't matter if your strat is the real deal or a knock off. look beyond the brand. its all just wood, metal, plastic and bone!
i've encountered many lesser known brands that threaten to crucify the real deals, or totally bury them.
