New pickguard & series switch work complete--take a look at the first two photos in my original post in this thread to see the guitar as it looks now.
Hmm, that's pretty strange. The higher end Fender Strats have used the 2-point trem system for many years now--much better tuning stability than the old vintage 6-screw trem. The two point trem uses the same kind of knife-edge-in-a-pivot-slot system that a FR trem uses, just without any of the string-locking stuff. And I assure you, this guitar sounds exactly like a Strat should!