It made it way more vintage sounding IMO. One thing though, I run a Clapton board in mine, which does use a .022. I'm not sure if a .022 might not be a touch bright for a normal Strat - they use a .047 I think?
But the Q is way, way nicer than the OD that came in the Fender kit.

You mentioned you put an .022 Vitamin Q in your strat. What has it done to the sound of the guitar for you?