My immediate thought was Swamp Ash. See the PRS SwampAsh Special to see if you like the wood grain. I do. I also have two guitars in black walnut veneer, but that may be far more than you plan to bite off.
For the electrical, there is very little you need to know. if you can hold a soldering iron without burning yourself, you have 90% of what you need. I wrote a tutorial a while back you can review your current knowledge with.
Consider using measurements to get the neck in the right place. You will need to set the bridge-to-nut distance correctly for fretwork to be in the right location. This means the neck you select will be part of the design before you get too far into your decisions and certainly before you start cutting.
There are others likely to add their experience. Check out other build topics for stuff to read!
If I had the time, this would be a fun thing to do myself.