Ray, don't mind if I jump in here, having just listened to V2.

I had the same reaction as others to V1, that the guitar soloing directly against the voice was competing for attention to the detriment of both fine parts. This is effectively addressed by V2. Thoughts on that:

1) The mixed-down guitar still commands attention as a lead instrument, even at a reduced volume (this struck me as particularly true for the very first mixed-down note.) There are times, I think, where silencing the guitar completely would really be the best way to support the vocal — but you don't want to sacrifice that guitar material.

2) The main guitar solo, now dramatically highlighted by increased volume, is fairly sparse, and not necessarily the best section of the overall instrumental piece. There are, I think, more interesting parts that are now subordinated to the voice that the listener might wish they could hear by themselves, at full volume.

3) A way to address both (1) and (2) would be to relocate some of the "background" soloing by moving it in time to play along with that main solo. Construct a virtual duet by overlaying passages from various points in the song onto the solo. The repeated chord progression should provide plenty of candidate material for "promotion" to "Virtual Second Lead Guitar".

This might be completely out of line with your approach to this project as a treatment of the original recording, but I would have fun experimenting with that kind of cut-n-paste editing of the solo onto itself.

Anyway, I'm enjoying following this work in progress and look forward to its next incarnation.