Unless you have experience building a hollow body or semi-hollow body w/ kerfs, and hand planing the top, not to mentioned the tooling to do that, that's pretty much a chore for those with years of experiences.
Gosh, I don't know what to say about channel away the body. I read in some forums, some luthiers don't really like the "Swiss Cheese" hollowing out (ala Warmoth). They claimed you rather hollow out as much as you can instead of getting a forstner bit and drill out some wood.
Wood lamination neck: That depends. Are you planning to have a pitch at the headstock? If you are using maple, no problem with one piece neck. Now if you are planning to use mahogany, or korina (limba) you may have to do a laminated neck or a Spanish Luthier joint. I don't care how many guitarists claims that you will lose some of the mojo with a Spanish Luthier joint, I've seen too many times Gibson neck breaks at the pitch because how short the mahogany or limba grain is at the pitch. And there not that much "meat" at that point either. I seen a side cut of a mahogany Gibson neck and its is very thin there.
Single Cutaway or Double Cutaway:
As your member name suggested, some of the Les Paul mojo comes from the way the body attach to the neck. The shoulder (opposite the cutaway) attached something like the 12, 13th, 14th fret of the neck. That contribute to the Les Paul mojo.
PRS McCarthys, Yamaha's SG2000 are two of non-Les Pauls shaped guitars that I've experienced that sounds a bit Les Pauly.
Well that's my two cents, now you owe me! :wink:
