This wasn't my experience at all, and the vibrato can be adjusted so there's no reason it shouldn't work fine with different strings.
I love mine dearly, it isn't my main instrument so I can forgive it's eccentricities. I definitely play it more as a bass though, front two pickups with plenty of palm mute, instant Helter Skelter! Although the back two pickups with reverb is great for Jet Harris impersonations.
It's definitely bigger than you'd expect too 😄