I was just reading this other topic, and I think the first point relates a lot:
I thought, I agree with most of these, but there IS a difference between a $300 guitar and a $3000 guitar, sure a master can make the low end guitar sound good and there are also some really good guitars for $300, but build quality is an actual real thing.
Take Gibson/Epiphone for example, if you care about the headstock, then you may as well just get the Gibson, spend once and be “Happy” because you will certainly not be happy if you just want the Gibson name/headstock you will not be happy with the ‘imitation’. But the Epiphone line is actually quite broad. You can spend ~$200 and get the cheapest of the cheap and it will likely feel cheap and you will think “Oh Epiphone sucks, I should have gotten the Gibson”. But on there other hand, there are also some really well made Epiphones that are the exact same build quality as the Gibson for half the price. If you buy that one, you saved money and got a good instrument. Fender/Squire is likely the same issue, but I don’t have a lot of experience with those lines.
That said, I don’t think the manufacturer matters as much if you have a well made instrument with quality components. There is a reason Gibson/Fender are so successful, but there are a lot of other quality options. You can save a lot of money on a lower tier name, if you don’t care about that.
I personally am price sensitive, but I want the best sounding instrument I can afford. That usually drives me to a no frills, dot inlay, basic wood, no name guitar because I am not paying for the name and I am happy with that.