So I had written the above post, but not actually hit "post" yet. I did hit post just now, to wrap up the thought.
But, while the post lingered as a draft, I thought, hey let's look to see if any available to play locally. Nope. Oh well.
Then I thought, what's on Reverb? Ooh, a listing at Dave's for a T50E - I wonder if that would be an option - the lack of cutway should help a tiny bit too...
Hmm, but I don't want to buy without comparing...let me call, maybe they can play them and compare relative loudness? oooh, they will! OK, compare T50E to A40E (no A50E in store...) - kinda the same, but T50E is a bit "brighter", better for lead work, though the A40E had a nice sound for rhythm stuff. Hmm, OK, how about compare to a used SE Angelus Custom SE? Oh, much different - the T50E is much louder, and much more audible for leads!
So...incoming T50E!