This has been my workhorse guitar for a few years now. Actually, until a few months ago it was the only electric in my arsenal. Once I'd settled on an American Fender I shopped around for one that I wanted. I like the burst finishes and I think that rosewood fretboards just look cool, so once I found this in a pawn shop it was on.
Being it was a pawn shop I find I took my gauges and made sure everything was in spec. I could make adjustments for the setup, but if the neck was bowed or the action was just wrong then that was going to have a significant impact on the price I was willing to pay. Everything was in spec, so I brought it home and started making it mine.
First up, I don't use a whammy bar. Never had one so never bothered to learn to use one effectively. So the first thing done on the guitar was to block the tremolo. This is literally just putting a block of wood in the cavity and tensioning the springs so the tremolo is fixed. I would have bought a hard tail Strat, but they're hard to find. Besides, a blocked trem is good enough for Clapton.
After that it's just a matter of making sure the neck has the correct relief, string height is correct, and the guitar intonates properly (which basically means that all notes are correct up the neck). I've thought a few times about putting in a little hotter pickups, maybe the Texas Specials that Stevie Ray Vaughn used, but for now the guitar remains stock as far as electronics go.