I agree. Our lead guitarist is constantly flicking me crap about my Les Paul. He keeps insisting I need a strat. I keep telling him that two strats would sound like one muddy guitar. IMHO, a gibson rythym coupled with a strat lead sounds way better then two strats, especially if one is covering classic rock songs.
No doubt. I also like the sound two Gibsons -- Duane Allman and Dicky Betts come to mind.
The best album for comparing the sound Gibsons and Fenders is Layla (Derek and the Dominos). Clapton's Strat sounds thin and wimpy alongside Duane's Les Paul, even though it was mixed slightly louder.
But Strats definitely cut through the mix better than Les Pauls, and you can get a nice twang out of them with an ash body (although not nearly as twangy or as bell-like as a Tele), and they're a lot more comfortably to play (especially when the gigs run long).
I completely agree with you on the strat gibson combo, seems together they cover a wider sound spectrum. Our band uses many combos, Strat - Les Paul / Tele - Strat / Heritage - Strat / SG - Strat / Strat - Pedal Steel
I'm also partial to the P-90 pickups