You should be able to see how thick the top is by looking at the body side on. Fender's claim is that its a 'top', which would indicate a cap, but by the looks of the pics its probably quite thin, so maybe more of a veneer. ShreddySmurf is right, being maple it might add a bit of brightness - but mainly to the attack of the note. It is said that in a capped guitar the attack will be mainly affected by the cap wood and the resonance and trails of the note would take on the characteristics of the main body wood. For more reference info, see here:
http://www.jemsite.com/jem/wood.htm, but take it with a pinch of salt.
Because that top appears to be very thin, given an exact replica of that alder body w/out top with the same neck and hardware in a blind test you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Anyway, there is a lot of snake talk about the bodies of Strats, Teles and other solid body guitars, but I think that the differences in tone of the different body materials aren't HUGE. It is said that the neck and pickups have a far greater impact on tone. Regardless, its the overall package that makes a good sounding instrument, that looks like a great one. ?
