Those are some beautiful tops @Sol. What type of base wood did you use for the body? I was thinking of my next electric to be Alder for light weight.
It's important to let beginners and intermediate musicians know not to get caught up in the powerful advertising machine for gear. Focus on good sounding, durable, reliable, and easy to play guitars, and same with amps. Lean towards simple combo amps to start. Unless you have tons of discretionary income. Same with acoustic guitars. Take the time to learn about their specifics and buy to your level of playing ability without breaking the bank. I can make a crappy good guitar sound really great, but not a crappy bad guitar.
I have a sweet Martin HD28
And I also designed and built my own custom electric from a hunk of Honduran mahogany. Carved it out with much more sensual curves based on the Stratocaster shape. Even concave(d) the top to lower the weight. Had my buddy give it a very custom paint job in his auto body shop. Designed my own unique pick guard. Super custom shielded electronics with built in booster and splitters. Custom Seymour Duncan's. Original Floyd Rose aka Eddie Van Halen. Totally custom 'scalloped' fretboard. I even play with a copper pic exclusively. Got it signed on the back by Satriani, and one of my old teachers, Paul Gilbert. I played live professionally on a regular basis with this guitar for at least five years straight. This IMHO is how a guitar is suppose look... used and battle scared
Sorry for the crappy foggy morning pics