The 2550 has the dimarzio pickups of the bat and a pickguard. The 1570 has ibanez pickups and is routed from the rear. But, if you wanted to get the 1570 and change the pickups to nicer dimarzios that would cost only a little more than buying the guitar with the lesser dimarzios and you could get evos or something else that's better sounding than the Ibz/dimarzio pickups. Also, you need to take into acount that because the 2550 is more expensive, they will have put more time into playing really well, having all the fretwork neater and more precise, and having all set up in the factory, like for example, what's going to make a Jem nicer than an RG? It has the same basic parts, a different neck profile mind you, but the same trem and tuners and nut and body except the monkey grip and claw, the biggest difference is that it costs a thousand dollars more than the nicest RG so they put more time into all the detail work. The monkey grip sure as hell isn't worth another thousand dollars, it probably takes a router 20 seconds to cut one out. It's the improved detailed work, such as fretwork and setup, that facilitate the thousand dollar price jump. damn capitalism.
