The bridge and pickup 'hole' problems are easily dealt with - Hipshot bridge and Pickguardian pickup surround (which Foxton had by the way on his black 4003) - and I didn't find the slab body a problem. Like I said on another thread, if I wasn't spent out I would be lobbing money the way of BCer Squire's beautiful fireglo 4001v63 thats FS.
To the re-phrased question, I suspect a lot depends on familiarity/cosiness for those that move from a Rick to a Fender, and the impact of trends cannot be overlooked- Geddy went from Rick to Fender but via Wal IIRC and his Wal phase was at a time when Wals were the hottest thing out. If you spend any time on the Rick forum, there's a huge pro-US bias there and Rick appear to be seen as more of a US-centric franchise than the global brand that is Fender