I agree with Walrus, of course, but I also think GM also helped them hone and arrange songs to make them even better, which taught them to become even better song writers.
There's a fairly decent article on Reverb about it: https://reverb.com/news/the-british-guitar-embargo-when-brits-were-banned-from-buying-american
It doesn't really get into the reasoning behind it, but I suspect it may have been to keep money on the East side of the pond to facilitate...
Which is a crappier instrument, this one, or the "Magic Alex" guitar?
I mean, it's cool that it's been found, and somebody is going to get a pile of dough from this, but outside of it's Beatle connection, it's not exactly 'tonal nirvana.'
Dickey was a great songwriter, and had great chops and tone, but the thing that made him rise above the rest was his melodicism. You could hum his solos in Blue Sky or Elizabeth Reed from memory, they're so tuneful.
Chrissie always played a tele, but James usually played humbuckers - Hamers, Les Pauls and a Zemaitis.
The first album, I believe was an Ibanez Destroyer