I too think strats are overrated. I hate the necks...HATE them. I ripped out the old neck and put in a nice Jackson styled one (You know the replacement kind you can order). I then ripped out the frets and put in Jumbo frets and had them sanded and crowned, scalloped the 15th fret to the 22nd, (The works). Then I ripped out the pickups too (Stock strat pickups are crap in my oppinion) and replaced them with an EMG 81 and an 89). Now it's a great guitar. It's now my second "Backup guitar" My Ibanez Sabre being my main backup. My custom built guitar is my main one. And of course all of my guitars have scalopped necks and sport EMG's (Except for my Acoustic).

Kramers are another nice guitar that are underated but were very popular in the 80's along with the B.C. Riches (The Rico's). One day I will own a B.C. Rich Bich (Rico of course, not those cheap immitations you see in musicians friend and other stores).

Parrker fly sounds really nice but are sorely overpriced.