I would agree on Yamaha, just make sure you play it 1st and get a good setup or learn to do it on your own. I don’t own one but have handled a couple, I’d say they come in a bit nicer than the Ibanez Gio stuff and just under their lower main line of instruments. Depending on what price point the Epiphones are you can also get a great guitar cheap - their set neck models, pound for pound, are better built than their Gibson counterparts, mainly because Gibson still cuts the headstock along with the neck, creating a weak spot. Epiphones are done with a scarf joint which is much stronger if it happens to take a spill.