As a forward, I say “cheap guitars” and “crappy stuff” knowing that they are neither synonymous nor mutually exclusive. Most guitars with higher price tags that I play these days suffer from the same issues as affordable ones. Having been alive to witness the onset of the existing market of new, ‘vintage’, and custom instruments, I can say that new big name instruments are prey to mass production pitfalls, and changes certainly went into vintage guitars that don’t show in the pedigree. Finally, there are so many custom guitar shops now that I couldn’t begin to guess the pro’s or con’s of each beyond my own chosen methods of construction and material/hardware selection.