Does the shape of the body effect the tone?
Yes, but it's very hard to say whether one body shape makes a good or bad tone, it's subjective.
Do active pickups change the signal to digital?
No, active pickups are entirely analogue, they usually either boost the signal or boost particular frequencies of the signal. Usually guitars come with passive tone control (the tone knobs on the guitar). These are just frequency cut controls, as you can't boost a frequency without a power source to get the neccessary energy to boost from. Active pickups have active tone control that allows frequencies to be boosted as well as cut, but it requires power (a 9V battery usually). I think usually it also boosts the entire output level, basically acting like a pre-amp to just give you more signal level to play with.
and also what bridge, nobs, switches, and pickups to get (and whatever i missed)
Entirely depends on taste. Each different bridge etc. has pros and cons, but in the end it depends on what you like.
Getting custom work done can be very stresful, but it's worth it if you approach it in the right mindset. At some point, something will go wrong trying to get everything built, but that's part of the point of making a custom guitar - dealing with things when they go wrong to learn about the instrument. Probably it'll be something small like needing to adjust the output jack routing or something to fit the jack you want so don't worry, just bare in mind it's usually more work than you think it is. Definantly do it though, it really helps you understand how your instrument works and can be very rewarding.
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