I've always wondered how vintage instruments actually sounded with the strings of the day. As people have said, back in the 60s and early 70s what you could get (at least in the UK) was limited and, from memory, pretty awful. The main revelation came around 1974 when DAddario came on the scene and since this time others have followed.

I hate to admit it but I bought a second hand Santa Cruz about 12 months ago. It came with a set of nanowebs on it. Its been well played since I've had it but the original strings still sound fine.