Hey Space,
The Strat. Nice choice. Definetely a classic. Just remember, don't SETTLE on any guitar (unless there's a monetary issue). Make sure it's something that's gonna represent you and fit the music that you play.
If I had the money, I'd be a Gibson man. Something about the SG, ES & Les Paul sounds that really do it for me. Take the Live/Dead album where Jerry's rockin' the SG.
I couldn't afford $2K+ for a Gibson ES so for my price range I couldn't ask for anything more than an Ibanez AS73BS
http://www.ibanez.com/hollow/guitar.aspx?m=AS73
similar to cowboy special Bobby played in the '70's (not as flashy though), but I wouldn't trade it for the world.
There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.