Lots of interesting comments; obviously strings are a subject near and dear to lots of players' hearts. As a postscript, I decided to go from the stock 9-42 set on my nearly new American Tele to 10-46. And I took it in for professional setup just to make sure no intonation or nut problems (although I must say that in my very amateur opinion the Fender factory setup was spot-on...).
Cheers