I have a guitar hear that's got a U-route around the heel, so the acutall heel going into the neck pocket is only about 2/4 the size of a strat heel, or somewhere thereabouts.
18ga is mighty heavy for a guitar cavity, imho, but you can use it. I rewired my Telecaster and Teisco using 22 guage stranded wire, but I used 18 guage for the bridge-ground connections, because I'm voodoo like that.
Interesting note, the Gibson "Spirit" was also a guitar Gibson put out in the 80's. It was a DC LP Junior style guitar with a single humbucker in the bridge, as opposed to the single p90.
Oh and since when are low-end epiphones not good enough $150-$200 guitars for beginners?
Yeah, no symmetry. It's just that we're all so used to seeing right handed models and assuming that they are symmetrical, that when you flip it around into a lefty it looks way off.
Also, have you noticed that guitars that actually have symmetrical horns look like the upper horn is set too low?
WHats the difference between a crushed bass in the middle of the road and a crushed guitar in the middle of the road? The guitar has skid marks leading up to it!
Not the greatest idea. Neck pockets are normally given some slack because of the finish on the neck, but finish on the neck + finish in the pocket might be too much.