Alan,
When you say:
"The DC looks like a Strat in the same way that a lot of companies' SCs look like Les Pauls. At a glance, yes, very similar at the very least, but when you look at it more closely, the differences become obvious. If you look more closely at a DC, the differences become more obvious. And if you pick one up, you never think "this is just like a Strat".",
Could you swap the words and say:
The SC looks like a Les Paul in the same way that a lot of companies' DC's look like Strats. At a glance, yes, very similar at the very least, but when you look at it more closely, the differences become obvious. If you look more closely at a SC, the differences become more obvious. And if you pick one up, you never think "this is just like a Les Paul"?