Update on this. I contacted Adam at Pitbull, and he very kindly offered to send me a new body out and told me to keep the old one. So this body has been shelved for now, but I'll come back to it at some point and paint it or use it for practice.
The new body is VERY different to the first. So much so that side by side I would almost swear it's a different wood, much darker and much more pitted (or grainy?) despite my sanding. So It's getting some grain filler for sure. But despite it having it's own issues, I am very happy to be able to move on.
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