re: PRS Guitars

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OK, here's a real dumb question.

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Not really. Most folks don't shop for/buy a lot of guitars.

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. Why is there such a huge price discrepancy between the entry-level SE series to higher-end McCarty or PRS Studio? Is it really that much better hardware; or more esthetics?

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I'm mainly talking about solid-body electrics here, because that is where this huge variance of options is, whether it be tuners, pups, etc.

Nation of origin is huge. A virtually identical guitar to a U.S. made could be made for a fraction in Asia, even in Japan (although that is less true as we go along). Korea, Mexico, Indonesia and Japan all have a guitar manufacturing industry and you can find excellent examples of guitars from those nations.

However, most manufacturers reserve their best woods, best electronics, best finishes for their premium line (whether that be higher end Japanese guitars or U.S. made or whatever), because there is also a higher profit margin in the premium such guitars are able to fetch.

So, you can take a MIM Fender and, effectively, upgrade it to near U.S. specs electronically, and if it is otherwise solid, you can shave some dollars off what you're out to get it there, but it will never fetch U.S. made prices in the secondary market because of subjective impression. (Using Fender as the classic example, I would then defer to The Fret Shack's experience with handling actual examples of PRS foreign models.)

If you are a collector or a purist, that might make a difference. If your budget constricts you to non-U.S., then it many cases a very good player can be put together for less than a premium U.S. made guitar would cost. The ultimate arbiter of what is "better" is you.