I personally classify strat tone into a couple categories... you have your 1st generation tone... which is the 54-62ish tone. It's the basic classic tone. Then you have the 2nd generation tone... which is from mid 60's to about the mid 70's. This is the tone I got for. It's hotter than the 1st generation tone but it's not too hot to back off and get real classic tones just like a '57.... Also, if you need to get some crunch you can put the selector on the bridge/middle section crank up the distortion and you've got all you need. Next is the dead era strat pickups which cover pretty much the start of the 80's all the way until just recently. The tone isn't anything special... it's not hot and it's not classic tone. It's an average modern tone that you can get with any SSH Ibanez or jackson... or whatever... Then lastly... you have the specialty pickups. Which are the high-end pickups like the Tezas Specials and the Noiseless and the Vintage Noiseless pickups. The Texas Specials are wound way tight. They get more bite and they almost have a natural overdrive tone to them. The Noiseless pickups give you a strat tone in a hum free setup... They're basically minihumbuckers... After all that I would suggest what I call a 2nd generation tone... which is what I put into my American Strat. I bought a set of Custom Shop '69 pickups from Fender and they rock. I think that would give you your classic Strat tone and leave you with enough bite to play any type of music. I play hard rock, classic rock, and even metal... As for the other Strat... the Squire. I had a cheap Strat too... and it was also my first electric. After I lit on fire several times and drug it through gravel... and sanded it and then burned it several more times.... It was decommissioned for quite awhile. haha... I recently revived the little beauty with a whole custom setup. I bought a set of Bare Knuckle humbuckers from over in England and a double Fat pickguard... a three way les paul switch and 2 chrome knobs... one for tone and one for volume. I wired her up and she's screaming away. The total set-up cost about 250 dollars or so. You can do it for cheaper though. Have fun with it.