Most definitely an ever-present aftershock of the early days of the electric guitar industry. There’s a mentality that builders “get it right” when they first create their instrument, and then it gets watered down by necessary compromises made for mass production, new OSHA regs, unavailability of original hardware, and lack of human touch.
Personally, give me a new PRS model, any day. There’s some legitimacy to the claims of superiority for 50’s and 60’s Gibson guitars and Fender guitars and amps, on a case by case basis for each instrument, there was lots of inconsistency, but the methods of PRS production have clearly aimed to increase consistency and overall quality, tone, etc.
The pre-whatever stuff only has added value as a historical specimen, IMO, if you’re after a superior instrument, there’s no reason you can’t get it from a brand new guitar.