agree, used to have some early 80s to 2005 usa strats, can tell the differences, i have a squire bullet japan 1983 that beat the crap out of a usa 1990 strat,
japanese small hands mah better qc hehehe.The sound is not define by the country that make, a japanese making a fender is not a fender? only a american making it is a real fender?
anyone tried G&L, then a real fender quality should be the one made by leo fender isn't it.
made in USA doesnt mean its good and made in japan doesnt mean its bad,
The reason why they change to basswood is because of the rising cost of alder, not all are basswood
they had tried from book matching alder bodies for alternative but to cut cost in the end basswood is used not all bodies are bass wood even now some special models are still alder,