Help setting up my strat

Hey hey folks =]

Well I've just been asked to be lead guitarist in a metalcore band (Parkway Drive, Slipknot, I Killed The Prom Queen; Style), I've decided to use my good ol' stratocaster.

I've fiddled with the action, tightened up the tremolo-claw as much as it will go but my strings are still extrememly flexable in Drop-B tuning what can I do to help would changing to a high gauge string like .12 work?
Also what would you recommend to replace my pickups with to handle the gain better (looking at going H/S/H loaded pickguard).

cheers people =]

Thicker strings will help get rid of the flimsy string problem. I would recommend 11's or 12's, your strings will feel as though they were tuned to E standard. if you really want to use a strat for that style metal...well, you definitely need to ditch the single coil pickups. My preference is EMG 85 in the bridge EMG 60 in the neck.

I'm not really such a fan of active pickups myself, is there any passive pickups which will do it?
If not EMG's it'll be :)

How much would it roughly cost to replace the parts with Actives, inc.pots and such?

go for emgs or blackouts. and the purple ernie ball .11s

emg 81 and 85 are 200 for the set and i dont think u want a single coil. i think itll be 50 for each pickup but i could be wrong

Whoa sounds like you're building a Superstrat or Charvel.

I'd recommend some Seymour Duncan JB4 (HB4) or Dimarzio used, because new will cost you. Might wanna think about installing them yourself.

EMG has HZ passive pickups but they are not cheap. You could always buy some cheap nameless humbuckers.

With all those mods professionally installed you're looking at $200 easy
You can get yourself a Charvel in a pawnshop for about $250
Sorry can't convert to pounds (suck at math)

(At the moment £1=$1.60, so its roughly the same price)

Thanks guys :)
Yeah I can already install this stuff myself to a professional level, I don't have a job so I've had to learn to maintain all my own stuff^^

At the moment I'm quite happy with my Strat and Les Paul copies, a Jackson/Chavel will come later on (So want a n RR series guitar)

I'll look into the EMG/Blackouts (So hard to decided between the blackouts and EMGs hah), now just need to source the parts and money for it all =( the life of a student guitarist ahahah.

Pickup Choice:
EMG 60 (Neck)
EMG SV (Middle)
EMG 85 (Bridge)

Yes I do want H/S/H setup.

if youre playing metalcore i think you could survive with just a bridge pickup, which would cut the costs

I switch between all positions myself.

Sourced the 60 and 85 for £152.45 with postage :) new pickguard say +£10? for H/H just put a single in there where I get it.

thanks again guys, now to try and get the money of my parents, they owe me :P

yeah, every parent owes money to their siblings.
They owe me like 180 american bucks.. worst of all, me being their son, i dont feel like i can demand my money back-