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Well answering my own question here, I've been scouting around the web and found that the thinline tele is not just a telecaster with an f-hole it's a whole different guitar, very different sound and if the youtube clips I've being watching say anything beloved of jazzers for it's very flat mellow sound.

Telecaster's.. very tempting as there's so many good one's around and none of the rarity/price problems of Grestches. Keep me away from guitar shops...

Brawley was a short lived make but quality stuff. Big heavy strat shape guitar with a long wide neck, perfect for beginner fingers. Two big pairs of custom alnicos, no-nonsense old violin finish and a hardtail. Ticked all my boxes and still great fun.

First off STK have you gotten down to a guitar shop or begged your friends for a go on their electric guitars? There are so many things you can't feel and hear on the web. Fender is a good name if you're spending mid to upper price range but there's lots of other makes that offer more value. The strat 'double horn' shape is used by thousands of guitar makers.

If you've got your heart set on a Fender Strat because your favourite player uses them have a look at what sort he favours. As snail and doc said there single coils give a really wailing ethereal sound, perfect for screaming blues solos, but they pick up noise from computers, bar signs etc. so the end result can set teeth on edge. Humbuckers are quieter, beefier, ballsier but lack that  soaring edge. The HSS combination tries to give the best of both worlds. Bridge pickups of any kind sound warmer and fatter so this is a perfect task for a humbucker.

But do get out, pick up some guitars and play them. You'll be amazed how weight varies in the strat range and how the pickups you pay for change the overall sound. A cheap Squire strat may sound snarly and wimpy but this may be exactly what you want if you're after a garagepunk 'Green Day' sorta sound.

If you're playing high-gain there's not much in it. Rush's lead guitarist used to play PRS now it's mainly a Gibson 335 I think but the band's sound has changed not at all. I think the answer is in variety of sounds a good hollow body can do jazz, country, blues, rockabilly - it can't give a thin garagepunk or surf band sound. A solid body can do jazz (just), with coil tap it might manage a telecaster country sound but not the fat Gretsch tone that rockabilly wants.

British Indie bands like hollow bodies, I saw alot at Glastonbury this year. The rock acts had alot more up front in-yer-face sound but the indie acts had a far more sophisticated grasp of feedback, Cherry Ghost's guitarist could really control a storm of hazey growling.

Gibson is one of the biggest guitar makers and most instrument stores stock some but the range is huge. Gibson make every sort of guitar but tend to be more expensive, so you won't always find them amongst the affordable instruments. Beware Gibson's with retro touches like tuners that don't hold for very long by modern standards.

Thanks for that, I'll keep a look out for 5120s, for some reason all the Gretsch's I see are always the expensive ones...

Barre chords give you more sound options. Queen's 'fat bottomed girls' sounds fine electric and open but I've found that to really power up the chorus, barres are the thing. Now A-shape  C and D are finger killers (keep the E or Am shape but in one fret) but with a Brit hi-Gain amp setting they are worth it.

Thanks for that Phil, my impression was partly that the Les Pauls I was seeing appeared to be better than the eBay stratocasters which were often badly worn. Alot of the LP copies were quality instruments just not by Gibson.

I've tried a MelodyMaker (my very first post here was afterwards) and found the tuners don't hold long at all and the P-90 pickup really grates.