i had had a handful of mid-priced guitar over the years, but it kept on bugging me to find out what's the difference between those and an actual all-out guitar.
apparently, a lot and more! the quality of the instrument, its visual appeal, the depth of the figured top are all amazing. what's even greater is that people who are absolutely unfamiliar to guitar music also always comment on the richness of the sound when i play this gibson after my ec-1000 for example (mind you, this is 4x dearer than that).
if you really would like to treat yourself to something that looks, feels and sounds amazing, i would really recommend a gibson axcess.
ps - the modern features (heel joint, belly cut) are superb as well. I am just waiting for my set of locking tuners and this bad boy will be the bee's knees!