Congratulations! I had a very brief opportunity to compare this model (used) vs. the Select Series Strat last year, but the EJ was gone when I returned so I bought the Select by default. There are a LOT of similarities between the two models, and I was torn. The used EJ had a couple of problems though, and I don't like ordering guitars on-line unless it's a specialty model that can't be had any other way. To this day, I consider it a bit of a coin toss-up between the EJ Maple and the Maple Select. The models aren't the same but are more similar than different, and more similar to each other than to any other Strats. I personally think the red EJ looks the best. :-)
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Eugenio Upright, 60th P-Bass, Select J-Bass, Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, Viking Bari
Select Strat, Select Tele, Am Pro JM, LP 57 Gold Top, RS520T, T486-RB, ES295, PM2, EXL1
WX5, XK1c, Voyager