So, it arrived today
First up, many thanks to Mark at BD for getting it to me on the day I asked it to get to me, the hardest part of buying anything these days is the courier stress. Great comms and great service guys, thanks
Second, wow, this is a very very well engineered instrument, the neck pocket is more what I associate with EBMM (in fact the neck itself is very EBMM in terms of profile and playability, both the fretwork and the lovely oiled finish on the back remind me of the lovely BFR 'Ray I had a whole back). The finish really is NOS with some very discrete checking and rubbing, and the bridge in the flesh is nothing like as noticeable as in the photos. It's pretty light and the action is absolutely spot on.
So how does it sound? I don't have an amp at present so will have to run run it through my desk and monitors tomorrow to get a sense. But even unplugged I can tell it's very responsive and resonant, and I doubt the Fralins are going to make things worse somehow 👍