First, there were Epiphones some folks were flippin' their noses at, now there's "lower end" Gibsons. Never knew there was such a thing. Everybodys got to find something to differentiate with. I guess if you spend say....... $850 on a brand new Gibson or something, then someone that spends $1400 on a guitar will say yours is a low end Gibson, then someone else will have a $6000 guitar and look down on that person, then somebody else will have a $12,000 one so they can look down on the that person and so on. Raising the bar! Does it ever end? Example, you can go out today and treat yourself to your first American Strat and think you did yourself proud, only to have some other have themselves a American Deluxe Strat brag 'bout what they have, then enter the "Custom Shop" Strat guy braggin' 'bout what he got! Does it ever end? See it in the forums ALL the time. No end in sight.
I do not consider "low end" with low quality, but more in the sense of afford-ability. For the money, I think the best sounding Gibson Les Paul is the Faded Cherry or Brown Studio Les Paul. Sounds better than any other studio or standard I've played. I'd take that guitar in a heartbeat. I had a Faded Ebony model, but it had different pickups from the Cherry and didn't sound as good as my Epiphone Les Paul with Gibson Burstbucker Pro's. So I returned it in favor of a Chinese made Epiphone. If I had another chance at a Faded Cherry Studio LP, all I'd do would be to have the top painted in a Gold Top, then it would be perfect. I'd rather take a guitar and make it my own rather than spend the extra money on a "higher end" model. Since I can find the faded LP's used at around $500, I think its a real bargain for a USA made Les Paul. Spend another $200 for a professional refinish, and you have a guitar that is going to sound better than the Tribute Series or the Standard series, and look just as good.
As far as Stratocasters go, I've always wanted an American one, but I wasn't willing to shell out $1,000+ for one. I had a MIM Deluxe Lonestar and Roadhouse. Both were really well made guitars and had some higher quality stock appointments in electronics and neck finishing over the MIM Standard series. I also had a MIM Classic Player and a MIM Classic Series. All of those guitars were every bit as good as an American Standard or even an American Deluxe as far as workmanship quality and electronics go. But since I was able to sell my Classic Player for a profit and only spend $100 more out of pocket for some to purchase and upgrade an MIA Standard, I still have a guitar that looks great and sounds great with the appointments I really like.
The only guitars I frown upon are the bolt on neck Epiphones and Squier Affinity Series. There are a lot of quality control issues with them besides having poor quality hardware and electronics in them. My daughter had a Squier Affinity that almost every week, I had to keep adjusting the neck. I'd play a Squier Classic Vibe series Tele or Strat, just like I'd play an Epiphone Standard because they have better sounding electronics and they are really well made, no replacement parts or constant adjustments needed.
But I will not judge anyone for what they have. I'm sure a few guitarists that see me on stage think less of me because I play an Epiphone Dot Deluxe on stage and not a Gibson ES335. I even have a guy ask me about a Joyo Ultimate Drive pedal I was using. When I told him what it was, he kind of gave a disapproving look because I didn't have some $300 boutique overdrive pedal. I was proud that I spent $40 on a brand new OCD clone. I also used a tiny Blues Jr. for my stage amp. I didn't have a half stack like the last band or the Fender Deville the 2nd band's guitarist had. I knew mine had the volume and tone I like. If its not macho enough for them, oh well. I let my playing and the audience reaction speak for itself.
