I'm not bashing on the quality of what they make. Vigier was doing that in 1989 and I'm sure they're not the first. They definitely did not pioneer carbon fiber rods either. Parker had stainless frets as standard in the 90s, don't know when Kiesel/Carvin started that but I've definitely played some 90's Carvins that did not have them. I have no idea what you mean by wood and finish innovation, the body bevel to show the laminations stuff had already been explored by Daion in the 80's and is a direct rip-off of what Knaggs was doing a few years ago.

Custom shop? It's legos for guitars, they put together what you want out of stuff that they've already made, I guess that depends upon your definition of 'custom shop' but IMO they're a just a mass produced guitar with a few options you can choose from. Please don't pretend they have innovated there at all. Kiesel is like three decades (minimum) late on multiscale (Novax?) and riding the Strandberg wave. Part of the value of a Kiesel/carvin guitar is that you get to pick the options and colors, which, if it's not pretty standard stuff, only has value to you when ordering and has a negative effect on resale the farther off course you go. Whether you like it or not, resale value is to some extent an indicator of actual (real) value. Yes, IMO Suhr is a copycat brand as well.

Kiesel guitars 7 string pale moon ebony