I can tell you any recent guitar will be a LOT more consistently made than anything from the 70's. (I went thru a 72 Tele Custom phase a few years ago, played every one I could find, and ended up buying a reissue 'cause they were 50% cheaper and ALL of them played better.) Lots of guitars from back then were hit&miss, 50% boat-anchor dogs, 25% "just OK" and the rest being the awesome "vintage" (seems silly calling something from "the dark ages" vintage, but there you go). Prices were all over the map, though-some dogs priced higher than the nice players. The 3-bolt thing was a good idea, but the neck pockets (and everything else, really) were so haphazardly made, that the parts didn't go together right, and gave the 70's stuff the bad reputation they have. Lots of them were fine, though so if you really want something old, by all means go search them out. I went thru a "birth year guitar" thing a while ago, so I had to find a 69-71 Strat, but again I was rejecting more than I liked, while pretty much every re-issue guitar I played seemed fine. And were all cheaper, too. Back then was the "heavier guitars sustain better" era, so they all seemed to be heavier than I like now, too.
