Part of my brain screams the same kind of thing. I have never been too brand conscious myself. My first electric was a beat up second hand ibanez but after that I got a fabulous Spear guitar which is a company that might not exist anymore. I will have to check. It's great and my Spanish style acoustic is one of those odd budget brands you can get on Amazon. Although I think I lucked out with that one as it's awesome.

I am thinking of going for a proper brand again but decided definitely not to Gibson!