Well the wild card was most definitely the dogs dingly dangley doodahs! From GAS to reality. A little bit heavier than i would have liked, 8.8lbs on my scale but it's doable.
Quality wise, i'd say on par with Laklands i have owned, frets and finish are superb - my kids are convinced it is orange in colour - it's really different and i like it lot. No dead spots, low action out of the box although i think it will go lower. assume these get a setup too as it was still in tune and the intonation is spot on.
Sound wise, really good - a lot of owners speak of the pickups being quite hot so i was expecting 'Quarter pounder' ish territory but it retains a great vintage tone that is most welcome - excellent range with the tone control giving me 4 distinguishable tones of the typical bright P, top end off a little but upper mids present, to motown before full wound then phat dub all the way!
I'm pleased i took the gamble. Thank you for the help B/Cer's