If you put the effort in with your picking, Apaches can sound great.
Mothersmilk have a bid more output but still got thet sort of woody crack that great strat singles have.
The tours help you out a bit, to me they sound like your hitting the hell out of teh strings, but without the effort. It's all down to the beefy midrange. It's a move away from the classic glassy strat tone, to a hotter bluesier/rockier sound.
Slowhands are in similar tone range, but not as bright as the ITs.