Stringbender

I really like the feel and tone of DR's - I usually go with 9's on my Les Paul and 10's on my Charvel (because I want a little extra on the guitars I abuse the whammy on!) These are usually the normal "Tite Fit" strings- although I've really liked the all-nickel strings on the Les Paul..gives a fantastic warmth to the tone- perfect for jazz and blues-rock type of stuff.
I remember finding a 9.5 gauge SOMEWHERE.. think it might have been DR.. but have also seen some D'Addario 9.5 gauge.. seems to work rather well because you have all the benefits of the lighter gauge for ultra-fast playing and brightness of tone- yet still get a good mid-range sound out of them.
I've YET to find a coated string that sounds good.. seems that I can't have coated strings and Low action at the same time... winds up sounding like a banjo.
I see a lot of odd stuff come out every now and then- Markley's making some sorta "California strings"?? -Looks like it's in a shoe polish can...what's THAT all about?