I think there is point where all you are paying for is prestige and for Americans, patriotism. For some reason the concept that nothing good can come from anywhere but the US is very common in lots of fields. Look at Harley, the Japanese make much better bikes on every level but people will pay out twice the price for a badge and swaggering rights.(And yes I've owned Harley's) I think the same applies with guitars. The Fender Mexico factory is not far from the US factory as the crow flies but for some reason they are looked down on. A factory worker is a factory worker, they have a quota of work to do whether they are in the US, Mexico, Korea or China. Custom shops are for people who can't do it themselves or want bragging rights. Personally I would prefer to pay an Aussie luthier to make me something from scratch rather than have someone sign off on something they probably had little input on from a factory..
Just my 2 cents having dealt with US manufacturers, Japanese manufacturers and Chinese manufacturers ( not in the music biz).
Edit to add: I watched a Youtube vid of Rob Chapman with his fav 10 guitars, his V had the jack socket hanging out by the wires and another axe he said the strings kept jumping out of the nut because he ran heavier strings.....Dude, you own a guitar company and can't fix something relatively basic?
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