I'm new to strats and I have perhaps a silly question. I blocked the trem and bridge is flat to the body, but the string holes on the back cover don't match up with the holes on the block. Is there any way to alleviate this? My friend has an Eric Clapton Blackie that does not have this problem. Thanks in advance.

My "normal" set-up on a Fender with a vintage trem is to deck it but not block it. I've owned 2 AV '62 Strats, a CS '69, and a CS '56 Strat over the years and on all of them the holes on the trem plate do not match up with the trem block once the trem is set flush on the body of the guitar. Fender designed the position of the 6 holes to match up to the trem block when the trem is set up to float per factory spec. You can move the plate so it matches up but you would have to drill new holes for the plate. Alternatively you could just remove the plate like so many people do, or just either widen the holes or make a cut out like a modern back plate with the single large rectangular hole (the mounting screw holes on the sides of an American Standard/American Deluxe back plate are in different postions from the position on the vintage-style back plate).

I don't think it's a special plate for the EC but it is moved down a couple of millimeters before they drill the holes to install the plate so it matches with the flush/blocked trem - mainly because you can't completly remove the plate on an EC since it also holds the battery in place.

Thanks John. I decided to drill new holes for the plate and it looks great now.