Update:
I took all the loose stuff off and gave her a good look over. After making careful measurements, I find the neck angle is in fact just a tad off, and I can see where it moved at the heel. So one day there will be a neck reset. But with the lower bridge everything is pretty much in proper relative place, and although the action is still a little higher than I would like (about .100), she plays great. Polished all the green stuff off the frets, cleaned up and remounted the tailpiece, etc... had to pour boiling water over the pick guard (off the guitar!!) to get it back flat... intonation is excellent (I always chew my nails a bit when compensating a straight saddle but I got this one dead on).
The .010 strings are about as light as you would want to put on this guitar. She still has a bit of bite, and with the round wound strings the bass seems to be in better balance than with the flats. Nice rhythm crunch. Interestingly, I get a drastically different voice playing fingerstyle than flatpicking, when using the pickup. Not as drastic acoustically.
I'm going to have a lot of fun with the old girl, but I have to re-learn how to keep from making extraneous noises around the neck and body (of the guitar I mean) because she really picks them up.
Cheers and thanks for the tips
-Glenn
BTW the date 11.5.53 is pencilled inside the body. Presumably May 11, 1953. Older than me!