Are the fininshes as problematic as I keep hearing?

It depends on what you are looking for.If you want a guitar to have that reliced look in a short time, then the hw1 is all good.If you want a guitar to retain the shiny finish as long as possible, you probably wont appreciate a guitar that has a finish that flakes off before your very eyes.

It's gonna take a bit of abuse, but I don't care if it takes a little damage.

So I got an awesome deal on a 2008 G&L Legacy and looks like I'm not getting either of these guitars it seems.

Funny, I was gonna get a standard MIM, then the Deluxe Player's tempted me, then the Highway-1, now the G&L has taken their spot. GAS spreads like a wildfire.