My 0.02. You said your intent was to find a beater. If that's the case, why even bother with solid back and sides? Do you want to have to fret over humidity with a beater guitar? Seems to me that's the purpose of a beater in the first place.
If the thing sounds great, looks great, and plays great, and I can get it for 300 bucks, that qualifies as a beater to me.
If you're really dead set on an all solid axe, then just ignore my criticism. I just love my wife's big baby, with the fact that it sounds like a million bucks, i can leave it on the stand all the time and not worry about cracking, and it was cheap! What more can a guy want from a beater?