I have both of them in a '59 burst. A '01 Studio Custom with, I'm assuming, '59 PUps. I haven't changed the strings on it yet to see but I was told it was stock. My ME ('04) has the custom and custom custom. They sound way different because of the pups. I'm not going to swap the pups around to see if they sound the same sonically. But they play a bit different mainly because the studio seems about 10 lbs lighter than the ME and of course the double cutaway. Acoustically my ME sounds warmer. Congrats on the 40th. That was a very peaceful and rewarding time for me.