I listened to that Warmoth test clip and I could not hear a single shred of difference between the two. Just like I never hear one between tone woods. So for me it boils down to feel. What feels nicer to play. I've never given frets much thought, although I do prefer narrower ones, and even flat ones over jumbo frets. I once had a Gibson Explorer and it had flat frets and I really dug it.
What I look for in a guitar?
- 22 frets. 24? Meh. 21? Totally not interested. I want to be able to bend up to that high E with ease. There's no excuse for Fender to still build guitars with 21 frets.
- Thin neck. First thing I do when I appraise a new guitar is to grip the neck. Is it thick? Baseball bat? Burn it with fire! The thinner the better.
- Maple neck. Because I find it visually more pleasing. I hear zero difference whatsoever between maple or rosewood.
This is the only thing I like about Ibanez guitars. Which I otherwise shun like the proverbial plague.
- In the case of a Strat a large CBS style headstock. Purely cosmetic to me, but I just don't like the smaller standard Fender headstock.
And when I build my own guitars:
- Kill switches. A Les Paul style toggle switch for Tom Morello style kill switch action, and a push button kill switch for Jonny Greenwood style kill switch action. The latter is best used to interrupt your signal for a stutter effect, the former is best used to activate your signal only when you want it. Subtle but important difference.
- 2 stud tremelo as is on modern Strats. Or a Fender style hardtail bridge. Not of a fan of tunamatic bridges or the classic Tele bridge.
- No pickguards. I prefer to use a backrout for the electronics, as its SO much easier to adjust the electronics without having to remove the strings.
- Staggered locking tuners and only 1 string tree for the high E and B strings. I like to strum the strings behind the nut occasionally, and I prefer the sound I get when the D and G do not have a string tree.
- A neck that's fastened using neck bolt ferrules rather then a back plate. It allows me to better contour the heel. Not by much, but just enough to take the edge off already makes a world of difference in my experience.
- Single coil in the neck position. I might stick a humbucker in the bridge, or go the traditional SSS layout of a Strat, but I've always liked a single coil in the neck position. Although a P9 is also very nice there.