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I think of quality as absolute. However, is is relative to specifications. And whether the specifications or the quality matters to a given consumer is relative to that consumer's needs.
Guitar pickup specifications may call for wax potting in order to eliminate feedback squeal under high volume and high gain application.
One pickup maker may have researched and settled on materials for wax potting (types of wax and their proportions, e.g. beesway and paraffin) that have been found to be more stable over a long period of time, or that seep into the crevices better and do a more thorough job of filling all the gaps. A second pickup maker may put less effort into research or just use whatever material are cheapest, and so his pickups may [often] turn out more microphonic than those of the first maker, or their wax may dry up quicker and the pickup becomes microphonic over a shorter period of time.
One consumer may use his guitar in high volume and high gain situations regularly, and finds that the specifications and quality of the pickups made by pickup maker number one are absolutely essential for his needs.
But a second consumer may want the pickup to be a little microphonic. So this consumer figures out that the pickups made by the first pickup maker don't meed his needs (because the specifications were "wrong" for him). He might consult with a third pickup maker to have some made to different specification (no wax potting or minimal wax potting). Or he may figure out that the pickups made by the second pickup maker usually turn out just right for his needs (because the "lower" quality was actually better).
A third consumer never uses his guitar in high volume or high gain situations, or does not plan on keeping the guitar for long enough for the wax to dry out. So the specifications or quality of the wax potting may not matter to him. The lower cost of the pickups (or a complete guitar that came with stock pickups) made by the second pickup maker better meets this consumer's needs.
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