Eric, cheap guitars may be made with cheaper wood and hardware but some cuts of wood turned out to be toneful that the guitar has the mojo. Maybe that particular cut of wood has less knots?
I have an Epi tele that turned out to be pretty good but it wasn't at first. The body is multi-plied wood and the neck pocket is poor fitting. The neck and the fretwork is quite good so I sanded the neck pocket to bare wood (paint overspray) and glued the neck. Now I can feel the guitar vibrate and it sounded better that I slapped on GFS Lil Punchers. The sound I got reminded me of Jimmy Page's tele in the early LZ days.
Does it sound as good as my better guitars? No but it's a beast on its own.
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GUITARS - Carvin DC127M - Carvin Bolt kit
AMPS - Bogner Alchemist 112 - Blackheart Handsome Devil half stack
FXs - Roger Linn Adrenalinn III - Boss GT-10
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