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Thinking that I ought to have a hollow bodied guitar for jazz I bought a Streamliner and have indeed given that Bigsby a wobble from time to time despite it being considered inappropriate within the genre.

What rhythm guitar players would you consider to be influential?

Ooh, you’ve asked the wrong question for me as I’m a Gretsch fanboy. Worst thing I ever did was let my old customised Streamliner. If it were me, I’d get a Electromatic 5420, with a Bigsby (well set up, they’re pretty stable and definitely add something to the sound of the guitar) you don’t have to use it, but it’ll be there if you fancy a wobble.

If you can afford it and it will make you happy then do it. I personally am a tight arse and even if I could afford a Gibson (I can't) I'd never buy one because I'm a klutz and it would be an expensive thing for me to damage, same goes for a Ferarri, I'd have door pockets full of crisp packets and I'd no doubt kerb the wheels parking it.

It's worth exploring 2 widely used open tunings: DADF#AD - basically an E Maj open tuning but a whole tone down. I think Joni Mitchell used that quite a bit. The other obvious is DADGAD and Tony McManus is an exponent - he has some vids on Youtube and explains the whole thing very well. I've personally found some care in choice of strings / gauges is important as dropping a whole tone on the low E (for example) it can easily become sloppy. I suspect the devotees have guitars set aside and set-up for the above tunings. I recommend Tony McManus 'Introduction to DADGAD' on YT (YT prevents me from embedding that vid here, but it's easy to find). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl9q6dFOpA4