They do react badly to too much spoke tension, especially if it is uneven.
I've built a load of wheels over the last 5 or 6 wheel for my bikes (road & mtb) and friends, but until last weekend didn't own a spoke tension meter. I bought one for a job at work and can't believe the difference it makes, especially with Stans rims. I had previously built up a pair of 355s and was not that happy with them. They pringled really badly on my first attempt when I over tightened them. They were fine the second time, but had gone more out of true than I would expect after the first 200 miles or so. Taking a tension meter to them this weekend I can see why, as the tensions between spokes was 15-20% in variation and the overall tension was higher than recommended. Taking the time do it properly with a meter made so much difference and they came up true with so little effort.The just riding along shop website has some good info and recommend no more than 5-10% variation between spoke tensions. Now having a tension meter I now realise how little that is – a lot less than a quarter turn of a nipple, and no noticeable difference in note when you pluck the spoke.
Another thing I would really recommend with Stans is to oil the spoke holes and nipples well before building up. They have no eyelets and I found without them being well oiled it was hard to destress the spokes as you build up the tension, resulting in a lot of creaking and cracking in the first couple of hundred yards of riding and the tensions going all over the place again.
