Because of modern building techniques, and off-shore transfer of labor, there are many inexpensive guitars that you can get now that rival American made brand names. Fender and Gibson both offer Chinese made models, not to mention the many years of fine Japanese craftsmanship (the mid-90s Japanese reissue guitars are usually as good or better than the American ones). The one big difference is the quality of the electronics. We are in the golden age of boutique amplifiers, pedals, and guitar parts, especially hand-wound pickups. There are many very good pickup replacements (Lindy Fralin, Lace, Curtis Novak, Lollar, Lone Star, etc.) so you can make any guitar sound good. The thing is to pick up a guitar, find one you like playing, and that you like the look of (you won't want to play something you don't find asthetically plaeasing) and don't worry about resale and all that bull****. Buy a guitar to keep, not to sell. Vintage guitars have become a world of insanity, in which people pay $2000 for a 70s Strat, which in the day was considered (and still is if you try to play one) an overpriced piece of **** for the MSRP.
