>>126736400
I’d say yes absolutely other than their electronics. They use cheap pots, cheap wiring, and depending on the model the pickups can be decent or cheap. I don’t think it’s an entirely necessary upgrade to replace the electronics as the factory ones are mostly “good enough” but it is definitely an upgrade and the first thing I’d do if I had one I really liked and wanted to keep. With Japanese Fenders generally the older the better, they’ve cheaped out more over the years but that doesn’t mean newer ones are bad at all, just better candidates to gut the electronics. Japanese Fenders also use a lot of basswood bodies which turns some people off because it’s a softer wood and will ding easier but that’s something I genuinely don’t even think about or care

>>126736457
I mean if you really want to pay someone reputable to do it right go for it. I’d prefer some milled out wood and splints glued in like these rather than just glueing it and clamping it but that’s probably just because I’d be paranoid