I don't have a DC3--I have a Brent Mason, almost the same thing. I use a Quilter MicroPro 200 amp--that's about all my back will handle; it's 20 lbs.--and the Brent Mason sounds great through it. The one time I tried a DC3 was through a PRS SE30 amp--very nice, but it was in a noisy music store and I didn't want to contribute to the volume wars! I've also played a 305 (same pickups as the DC3) through a Twin Reverb, and it was spectacular, but just about anything sounds great through a Twin. I can't lift one though...
Regarding the pickups in the DC3 or the 305, I'd say they're closer to Texas Specials than to vintage Strat pickups, but they still have plenty of spank and twang. I got to ask Paul himself about what Brent M. was playing, about eight months before the Brent Mason model came out, and he advised me to try a DC3 as the specs on Brent's guitar hadn't been finalized yet. I did, and it's a good thing I couldn't afford it at that time, or I wouldn't have been able to get my Brent Mason model this year. If you don't need the humbucker sounds, the DC3 is as good a Strat/Tele-sounding guitar as you'll find. I've already got a good Strat, otherwise I'd have gotten the DC3--I think it actually sounds a bit better than my Strat--but the Brent Mason gives me tones that I couldn't get out of either my Strat or a DC3. I've been hearing rumors that they might discontinue the DC3, and I really hope they don't.
Lloyd--I use Elixir Nanoweb .010"-.046" strings on my electrics.
