alex.....
i never play with anything less then 8's and generally tune to Eb
..... when i first bought my original guitar, i was buying 11's since i didnt know one way vs. another... sure 12's and up offer much fatter tone... but since im not SRV, i know my 'lightning' needs some assistance from the strings, and 8's do sound great, and feel better... oh, and a Seamore duncann hotrail (dual single coil wired as one )also aids in such a crunch tone.
although my axes are all back in Kalamazoo...
sometime i'll record something, and post it.