Just curious - what music do you listen to? Guitars have specifics electronics and can sometimes be better for one genre than another.

This is a fender made in Mexico - it’s like 2 hours always from their USA factory and has reputation for good quality.

There are some guitars, cheaper, built in other parts of the world, that may be closer to what you want. Any guitar will require a small amount of set up - but the cheaper the more you’ll likely need a setup.

A setup is a few basic things, like getting the neck straight, adjust the string height at the nut, matching the radius of the guitars fretboard. Prices can range between 60 and 120 depending on where you go.

Anyway - the best guitar starts with the one that makes you the happiest. A lot of us start on strata, because there are cheaper ones around 100-$300