Hey Gerry,
Yes, the construction of the Fenders is different from the Squires. I can faintly see where the glue joint is on the H-H guitars, and I see it more clearly with the S-S-S guitars. Even though they were advertised with Basswood bodies, I can clearly see on the single coil version that the body is Mahogany. I can faintly see the wood grain on the H-H guitars in strong sunlight, but you can tell by the weight, they are not Basswood.
Getting a balanced output from guitars can be a pain in the ass when you aren't buying a matched set of pups to put in it, so you have to try some experimentation. The Air Norton, although rated with a little less output than the Air Zone, seems to come through a lot stronger because it's in the neck position, and therefore, picking up a wider vibration range than it would if it were in the bridge position. The output of the Tone Zone was a pretty good match with the Air Norton, but I didn't like the sound of the Tone Zone, so it had to go. If the Norton can give me the kind of sound I'm getting from the Air Norton, but with enough output to balance it, I'd be happy with that.
Also, the woods used in a guitar does have an effect on the tone too. So what might work in my Showmaster, may not work so well in a Les Paul, (different variety of Mahogany).