Here's my answer to Lappa's question about the bridge saddles, which should answer your original question 2.

"ABR-1 T-O-M bridges normally have the screws facing forwards, Nashville T-O-M bridges normally facing backwards, but they work both ways round. on an ABR-1, the screws sit near the top of the saddle and can get in the way of the strings as they leave the saddle, so the screws generally get faced forwards as a result, On a Nashville, the screws are smaller and lower down, so dont get in the way and being lower, are easier to access if facing rearwards.

The main thing to consider is the saddle orientation when you come to intonate. Flat side facing forwards allows more forwards movement; the flat side facing backwards allows more rearwards movement. It used to be that T-O-Ms came with the 3 top saddles facing forwards and the bottom 3 facing backwards, but now they often all have them facing the same way. On ABR-1 bridges, its easy to remove a saddle and rotate it. On a Nashville style TOM, there's a very small circlip to remove to free the saddle which is almost impossible to do. There are YouTube videos on it, but whilst I've once managed to remove a clip, I've never managed to put one back on."

From the picture, you have a copy of a Gibson ABR-1 style Tune-O-Matic bridge, so screws pointing forwards is normal for that style.