What could be the difference ba? If most Ibby guitars are made of basswood, ano diff niya sa basswood na ibang brand? Honestly, I used to be a BIG fan of Ibby guitars but then it got redundant in my head. I realized that I only needed one, because they sound limited. lol
It all boils down to the intentions of the manufacturer. Ibanez is a profit-now, quality-later manufacturer. If they weren't, then they wouldn't have invested a lot of their resources on guitar factories in China, Indonesia, etc. and instead, they would have focused on investing more on R&D (e.g. further luthier training, etc.), better equipment (e.g. PLEK machines, etc.). That being said, I'm sure that even their sourcing of wood is highly compromised. People will still buy lower quality guitars for these reasons: 1) if the price is right; 2) if they don't see the perks of having better sounding guitars as a need (this also has something to do with the consumers' knowledge on guitar construction, etc.); and 3) if they employ the right marketing strategies that will convince their target consumer base that their guitars will bring them aurally closer to being like the guitar heroes that use Ibanez guitars.
In the end, manufacturing guitars is still a business. Different manufacturers have different visions, missions, objectives, core values and philosophies.
