R & M

Early start to the guitar-ing day, just my two Strats. Both Japanese, both based on Fender's late '60s iteration (hence truss rod access at the neck heel, not headstock). Slight differences; the maple fretboard version is a hybrid model featuring a 2-point bridge + medium jumbo frets. 

Maple vs rosewood fretboard - do I hear a difference in tone? More apparent in clean mode. Once intense drive / distortion kicks in, difference is barely audible. The rosewood version has this warmer tone, like it's keeping the excessive treble in check, most apparent in the neck pickup position. The maple version, I prefer to play solos with this one. 

There's something about the Japanese pickups that convinced me to keep them in tact. They are simply wonderful clean & distorted.