Cheap guitars these days are way better than the cheap alternatives of the past, thanks to computerized reverse engineering coupled with cheap Asian labor. As long as a company does a decent job selecting ther woods from which they fabricate their instruments, their products can be really pretty decent.

Washburns, for example, are a great deal for the money; the company is a longtime well-established American firm currently doing all their manufacturing in China. I'm sure there are several other brand names doing the same thing, and I'm also sure that all their products are similarly OK.