Have to disagree on the strings front. I saw a great interview with Nile on, I think, a Top Ten of Disco (hosted by Huggy Bear I think!) programme which I recall very clearly as I watched it over and over again.
Nile said it was in an interview with both of them for Guitar Player magazine where: ‘the interviewer asked “Bernard, you have that fantastic sound - like, what kind of strings do you use?”, to which Bernard replied “I dunno? What kind of strings come on a Stingray?” - he hadn’t changed the strings since he bought, he didn’t even care what they were!’.