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== Tone ==
Build quality and setup clearly have an impact on tone. But even high quality guitars with perfect and identical setups can sound quite a bit different. The weight of the guitar; the type of wood used; the way the neck is connected to the body; and the hardware type, quality, and material all affect tone. This isn't necessarily a good-bad scale, although that should be your main consideration. Typically, some woods/materials provide a darker tone (less high-frequency overtones) than others.
Pickups play heavily into tone, which is covered below. They can offset some aspects of the guitar that can't be changed. For example, they may brighten up a dark tone. You should try to play the guitar while plugged in to get a realistic opinion of what it sounds like.
That said, cheaper stock guitars often have absolutely horrid pickups. Swapping the pickups for high-grade models is often the first modification to do on a guitar. This makes gauging the tone of a stock guitar rather difficult. Maybe it sounds too dark or bright, but is that because of the guitar or because of the stock pickups? This is where a little internet research comes in handy. Pickups cover a wide range, and I would expect most guitars can be made to sound how you like them given a carefully-thought-out pickup swap.
== Aesthetics ==
== Features ==
== Pickups ==
== Hardware ==