Mahogany goodness here

[fender3x]

.... actually I've quite enjoyed all the guesswork, trials and problem solving....... It is amusing though - what I come up with is both "original" but also "done before"!

Yeah, I think that sort of makes a build "organic." How you solve a problem can lead to everything else. On my hybrid bass, the decision I made about what pickup to use ended up determining (or at least informing) all the color choices, how I attached the neck, the bridge placement, etc.

I'd like to get such a letter..... I'd either frame it or transfer it onto the guitar top!

Speaking of organic... you seem to have had a case of convergent evolution. It's hard to improve on a Strat or Tele shape. They are comfortable, simple, cool looking and among the easiest to manufacture and customize. I suspect that PB was looking for a simpler LP/SG alternative...and it just sort of naturally began to push into Tele territory. Yours sort of went the other way, starting to look for an alternative to the Esquire, that started moving toward LP/Epi territory... and voila!

A lot of folks who come here want to build the guitar they grew up wanting, which is a great reason. There are a few who make things that are totally unique, which leads to some really cool builds (TD has a bunch of those!). There's also something in between, that I think of as tributes. As a case in point, I wanted a P-bass that would sound like my 70's Precision, but have a neck that was more like my G&L ASAT bass (like a Jazz Bass with a flatter radius), and would be the translucent dark red color with a batwing headstock like first bass (an Epi Newport). I also wanted it to be lighter than any of the three. Not like any of the three, but a tribute to all three. Building is about the only way you can get that.

Yours is an interesting mashup of LP Junior and Esquire with some unique bits. It's like some things, and also unlike everything else.