guitar strings

[percypineapple]

Hi all,
i have a squire strat that sounds just like hank marvins shadows guitar. i bought this second hand, and the man said they were proper fender strings. i need to buy a spare set, but want to keep the perfect Hank marvin sound.
Anyone know what strings I should buy?? I looked on E-Bay, but they were selling all sorts of Fender different gauge strings, such as 9, 11 etc. I bought some strings that were not Fender, and the bass string was too thick to fit into the nut groove. Also, do all strats ( including the cheap squires) start life sounding like the hank Marvin strat, or am I lucky? I have played many guitars, but this is the one that stays with me forever, only minor fault is the tremelo arm, a bit wishy washy, but I can live with that.
Thanks,
Percy.

[rojash]

This is what Hank says:

"On stage I use three of the Custom Shop Strats. the signature models - simply because they’re all strung with different gauge strings. I use heavy strings for the old Shads stuff, and I use 11 to 50’s for most of the stuff, that’s my kind of compromise string gauge. Then we do a rock medley where I attempt a little bit of country style playing on one number, where I use 10 to 46’s. I sort of prefer the sound of the heavier strings really. "

I always get my strings from strings direct. As you can see Fender makes loads of different types.

http://www.stringsdir...1?&&order=top-sellers

[ludwig]

I'd recommend strings direct too. Delivery is always prompt and reliable.

[MarkRae]

Strings Direct are very reliable. I don't have a a Fender electric but have a Fender 12-string acoustic on which I use Ernie Ball strings, as I do on my Les Paul...

[Richard1966]

I think its worth pointing out that it snot the make of the strings that give you the sound but the guitar / amp combination. A strat always sounds stratish and a telecaster will always sound like a tele regardless of the stings. The gauge and make of string is a personal preference.

A agree that Strings Direct are good, I have bought many from them over the years. If your relatively new to guitars I would suggest trying a few different makes of string to see if you find some you like. I used to love a Washburn made set but they stopped producing them so I now tend to have Ernie Ball 9's on all my guitars. Be aware that a change of string gauge may require a tweaking of the set up due to the change in tension on the neck.

My first start was a squire. Lovely guitar and gave me a taste for many more to come.

[percypineapple]

thanks for the replies.

So the strat sound is not so much the strings as the guitar/pick ups?
I have had a couple of genuine strats, and none sounded like this squire. could that be something to do with the model? i am going to buy a pucker Fender strat, but i don't want to finish up with a non hank marvin sound, so any ideas?
Thanks,
Percy