Am thinking (?) of hot-rodding a hardtail body w/HH configuration...would a trem body w/ the internals removed give as much tone or would the empty cavity be an issue? Low-buck buildup w/ large style headstock and HOT p/ups for mostly Southern Rock/Outlaw Country music. All feedback welcome...no pun intended!

hardtail strat bodies have a different tone then a strat body with a standard trem route. Not better or worse, just different, I find them to resemble a telecaster body tone. I have a great '99 hardtail ("Smoky") with buckers, that started out as an HH or maybe a "Big Apple" model, as they were called for a short time in the '90s. Love it, it's my "go to" guitar for rock/metal.

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"Walls" video from Zero in the Sun by Villains of Yesterday

Going from Hardtail to Trem requires a lot of precision routing and the right tools to do it. It would be more cost effective to purchase another body routed for a tremolo for under $200, and keep the hard tail body and/or sell it and use the hardware and neck to mount on the new body.

If you are going to an H H configuration, and will be looking for rock and metal tones, go with the hardtail. You are right in thinking the hollow in the trem model's body will affect tone. More wood = more vibrating mass.

I did a full trem to hardtail conversion and it was pretty easy. I didn't really have to do any routing; I just fit the cavities with matching pieces of alder cut to size then sanded to perfection. I created a small "trough" around the filler blocks and used a wood epoxy to fill and feather - can't see the blocks under the primer, paint, or clear. Drilling the new string holes wasn't bad, even though it would have been easier with a drill press (just using what I had for tools - table saw, miter saw, and various sanders. You could avoid the string holes with a top-loader but I wanted a string-through. altogether it was an easy and satisfying job. If you look around, lots o' people just say to block off the trem (à la EC), but I felt that it's a halfway answer to the matter. Sure, there's some painting (I was doing that anyway: black to surf green), but that makes it even more gratifying.

Riding with springs under the tail makes for a softer ride, less bumps.
Keep Jammin! Enjoy Life!

Doesn't it ever!

BIG THANX everyone for the input...this project's currently 4th in line...plenty of time to mull(et) it over !!!