First of all... Wow! That is a gorgeous top! I don't blame you a bit for not wanting to cover it. I don't think there should be any problems with leaving off the pickguard. Tru Oil should looks good on it.
If it were me, I'd probably not worry about the overhang. It's not that high, and it's on a par with what you'd expect with any archtop. It should make no difference to playability. And no one will even know it's there unless they are playing it. Even then, I never notice it on the one guitar I have that has an overhang. That said, if it bothers you, however, you could laminate a small piece of maple or basswood to the bottom of the overhang and sand it flush.
If the dimensions of the rout are the same, it looks like you could use a standard Tele control plate, or something similar.
I think you've got a good plan!
The only thing I can think of to be careful of is sanding the top. Those veneers are tissue thin and damage super easily.
Hope you'll start a build diary. Should be a very cool looking guitar!
BTW, you might ask Tim (PB owner) if he has any of the parts you need (control plate, for example). Not sure if it's still the case, but at one point Tim had some extra parts that he was making available to forum users for a song--particularly if you are in Australia.
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