Koubayashi said:
I spent half a day trying a 58 and a 59. The 59 was dead. It was a horrible guitar that any simple Greco EG500 would beat.
I have some ObG reissues and some ObG Std's (that is funny if think about it) and they are more or like the same in the quality. I have scrutinized in various pragmatic ways without finding any major differences in the quality.
It's the same with the Squier and Fender JV's. A friend of mine has a fully original 1961 Strat but his work guitar is a beaten up JV Strat.
There is no general truth that A is better than B. In the end of the day it all comes to each guitar, no matter name or country of origin.
Though, in my personal opinion the Japanese tend to be more consistent. If I buy a ObG I know what to expect but when I buy a Gibson LP Std I never know.
A 'dead' electric guitar is dead because of the physics of the lumber, just as one that is 'alive' is alive because of the physics of the lumber.
Many people seem not to understand, or even refuse to accept the fact (some here on this forum even) that LUMBER and its' inherit characteristics, play the greatest role in the construction of any given solid body instrument (namely guitars) as it relates to the instruments' ability to produce vibration aka sound.
In a thread from another forum I posted the below reply, in response to a question about Fender style solid body guitars but the last statement of my reply is true for Gibson style solid bodies as well.
IMO, everything depends on the physics of the individual lumber
"of all of the Strat bodies I have personally owned, between ash & alder, ash IMO is the winner hands down
I prefer two piece/center seam with tighter growth ring structure on the bass side & wider GRS on the treble side ........................
I don't see why pine would not be a good choice; IMO, everything depends on the physics of the individual lumber"