Southpa

Huh, sounds similar to what the CBS Corp. did to the Fender designs, happened around the same time too. Bigger headstock, 3-bolt neck a few other design discrepancies that made the guitar's playability a little less. Thats what happens when you let a company that big get their hands on a line of guitars. They sacrifice quality for quantity, maybe makes the guitars a little less expensive but thats the only thing going in the customer's favor.

Hard to tune? Check your intonation. Pluck an open string and then at the midpoint (12th fret), they should be the same note. Use an electronic tuner to be sure, sometimes you can't trust your own ears. If the 12th fret note is sharp then that upper half of the string is too short, if its flat then you need to shorten the distance between the 12th fret and the bridge.