Don't know about the quality of the recent cheapo models. They used to be a great bang for the buck... I still recommend looking to a japanese made models. A used RG500
series guitar is really a good one. I've had three Ibanezes
myself. My first one was a cheap EX-series guitar made in Korea. Great bang for the buck... Recent GRX- series can be
compared to those. My second one was a pre-Satriani model 540R Pro which was an awesome axe. I have a RG770DX at the moment and it's a killer too, very much comparable to the 540R. All of them were late 80's or early 90's axes so I can't give you any better facts about the newer ones. From what I've heard is that their quality has lowered a little??? I played a new RG550 a little while ago and that one felt pretty nice though...