Yamaha Pacifica has excellent reputation; Cornell Dupree, one of my favourite guitarists, had a signature model; the 112V model is probably a good choice for starting.

what matters most to me about a guitar is how it feels in my hands, is it comfortable to hold, does it say “play me”

I have 2 Pacificas. A fat strat style, and a tele with humbuckers. The tele is the less expensive version of the Mike Stern model and it sounds and plays great. I don’t like the strat as much, but it’s still a great guitar for the money. As a classical player as well, I find 2 pickups are better. That middle pickup gets in my way. I don’t think you can go wrong with a Yamaha. I think it’s super important to find a guitar that feels right, but my first impression is always visual. If you think red is an ugly color for a guitar, don’t even play it. Having said that, black was never my favorite color for a guitar, and I now own 2 black guitars. As cheesy as it sounds, I think guitars speak to you. You bond or you don’t.

I started with one of those and it was fine. When I was done with it, I could hardly give it away. I ended up donating it to a children’s music program through a co-worker.

I picked up a used Sunburst Strat Pacifica for around $70 off of eBay I’ve been very pleased with it. It sounds pretty Strat like, the neck doesn’t feel strat-like.. but I think you made a nice choice