And I would like to say don't rule out single-coils. They are much brighter and cutting than humbuckers. And sometimes that's what you want.
My American Standard Tele has single coils and they are every bit as quiet as the humbuckers I have on my Strat. I love them. In fact, I think a quiet set of single coils sounds better than humbuckers, but that's just a personal preference. I wouldn't really buy a Tele with humbuckers, that really kinda defeats the purpose of buying a Tele. If you want the REAL Tele twang you have to have single coils.
But humbuckers do sound smoother with high gain.
I think the Tele makes a better Rock guitar than the Strat, while the Strat is better for Blues. Teles are bad to the bone. You can get real grind and dirty sounds out of a Tele you can never get with a Strat. And Teles are super tight. You get real definition on chords. No mush.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
