The quality is really better than
the Korean Epiphones but is definitly below
my MIJ Tokai Goldtop and faaaaaar away from my MIJ Orville.
Interesting - I'd say my Edwards guitars are at least as good as the Japanese
Tokai Goldtop I owned, which had a couple of dodgy frets.
It was quite a new one though, not from the great days of Japanese copies. :)
Tokai is also know for the unequal quality of theirs recents axes
(they apparently have a hard time keeping the production
up to request's speed) so what you're saying about you're Goldtop
make perfect sense.
Also, the only thing i find really cheap about the Edwards is really the finish.
Just doesn't feel good... like on all those medium-priced guitars where
'you can't feel the wood' if you know what i mean
(sorry english is not my primary language)....
Ok, back to topic :)