When I learned to play, it was on a '53 Blackguard... doesn't everyone get to do that :)
At the time it was just my dad's old guitar.
My Ibanez is a 2015 made in Indonesia and the quality is fine. Of course (1) it is a $1500 guitar, not a sub $1000 one, and (2) it was one of Paul Gilbert's personal guitars so I am certain it spent time in Ibanez's LA custom shop (the case still has a hand-written note with Paul's name on green masking tape that looks like it came from there rather than Paul's publicist who shipped me the guitar).
My Strat is a 2015 Standard, so it is made in Mexico. It is a great guitar, but definitely had single coil hum outside of positions 2 & 4, so I went between getting a DiMarzio loaded pickguard and a Fishman Fluence one with active pickups. Ended up with the Fluence one when Sweetwater threw in a battery pack that replaced the tremolo cavity cover and the pickups are now noiseless. The trem block and bridge isn't as nice as the Wilkinson on the Ibanez, but otherwise the guitar quality is pretty good as you said.
My favorite guitar to play is probably my Telecaster. It's a '52 American Vintage Reissue that I got as a premium over the appraisal value of the '53 when I sold it. It's a lot easier for me to play than the original was. Then the Strat and Ibanez depending on if I want single coil or humbucker sound. Last is my Les Paul. You're probably right about Gibsons and their price, but I had just sold my Blackguard so I wanted something higher-end to replace it. If I were doing it over today, I'd probably get a good PRS instead.
I don't have any experience with the Fluence pickups, but I know they are super popular right now. I have tried Paul Gilbert's signature Dimarzio Injector neck pickup in a strat I ended up giving my son. I think it its absolutely awesome. I've got a variety or different Dimarzio humbuckers in my other guitars that I am very happy with.
I like them. The original MIM ones were pretty noisy outside position 2 & 4, so I wanted something new. Since the Ibanez already had DiMarzio PAF Masters at the bridge and neck and a PGM single coil middle pickup, I was leaning towards the Fluence if I could get them for the same price. The free battery pack did that. There is also a high-output Texas Special mode using the tone pot push-pull switch, which helps with my current project learning some Stevie Ray Vaughan.
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