I've owned about 40 guitars since the early 80s (the brands and models you've heard of and likely some you haven't) and while many were tremendous players they fell short in some area or another. One thing keepers have in common is ease of playability.
A lot of factors determine the playability of a guitar including technique, neck geometry, fret profile and material, fretboard material, neck finish, scale length, string-spacing at the nut and bridge, nut height, string gauge, string material, and bridge style. And while there are some steps one can take to improve the playability of a guitar, sometimes a guitar is just the wrong one.
You want a guitar with a comfortable neck geometry and finish: the neck carve or profile should be neither too wide (greater than 1 and 11/16ths) or too narrow (less than 1 and 5/8ths) and the depth of the neck should not be too deep nor too thin. Too tight a radius (e.g., vintage 7.5") makes playing up the neck more difficult and sticky poly finishes make moving around a chore. An example of guitars with bad neck geometry are many from Carvin which are known to be too thin along with being too wide. Some players can get along with them while others despise them. You seldom see or hear people whining about Strat or Tele neck profiles but you see a lot of complains regarding the odd profile of many Carvin guitars.
I also want guitars that facilitate flat picking, finger picking, and hybrid picking. No one-trick ponies for me. So string-spacing at the nut and bridge are important aspects. The traditional Fender string spacing at the bridge (F-spacing) is great for everything. The Gibson Tune-O-Matic bridge string spacing is a bit narrow for me but offers a nice experience at the nut. Specs on neck and nut width are helpful but not every 1 and 5/8ths, for example, are the same because while the nut may be that width the nut may be slotted in such a way that the strings are crammed in closer to one another and not taking advantage of the whole nut. For example, I had a Yairi and a Martin with the same nut width specs but felt totally different because the Martin spread the string slots out a bit more.
Frets should be tall and not too wide and those made from stainless steel offer a much smoother surface to bend on and will never wear out meaning that all your notes will sound better over the years instead of fretting out or buzzing excessively. I suggest medium jumbo stainless fretwear. Some companies offer frets dressed on a Plek machine. I think Pleking is good for some companies who have struggled for years to deliver decent fretwork (e.g., G&L) while others, e.g., PRS, do fabulous work without needing a Plek.
Guitars with short scales lengths tend to be easier to play as there is less tension on the strings and, speaking of strings, the smaller the gauge the easier it is to play. And pure nickel strings are easier to bend than nickel wound. The PRS SC245 or SC58 is a good example of a guitar with a short scale (24.5") making for an easier ride. Strats and other F-style guitars have a longer 25.5" scale length and will, as a result, increase string tension. Use lighter strings for easier playing.
Generally, pure nickel strings are a bit easier to play on than nickel wound versions (and sound better in some contexts as well). A Good brand for pure nickel is Curt Mangan). The heavier the gauge the greater the tension and the smaller the gauge the lower the tension. On a short scale guitar, a set of 9s will play very easily, maybe too easy. On a long scale guitar a set of 11s will be too stiff for most players.
Guitars with double locking vibrato bridges tend to be easier to play because the string is cut at the saddle and does not extend any further, decreasing the length of the overall string making for easier bends. Likewise, the locking nut means the portion of the strings running to the traditional tuners are taken out of the equation.
Anyway, of all the guitars I've played, on the short scale side, I'd have to give it up to PRS. The easiest to play is my CU 24 with a satin maple Pattern Thin neck but all of them are very smooth rides:
For Fender-scale guitars, the best playing I've ever had my hands on are a couple of EBMM JP models.
A lot of factors determine the playability of a guitar including technique, neck geometry, fret profile and material, fretboard material, neck finish, scale length, string-spacing at the nut and bridge, nut height, string gauge, string material, and bridge style. And while there are some steps one can take to improve the playability of a guitar, sometimes a guitar is just the wrong one.
You want a guitar with a comfortable neck geometry and finish: the neck carve or profile should be neither too wide (greater than 1 and 11/16ths) or too narrow (less than 1 and 5/8ths) and the depth of the neck should not be too deep nor too thin. Too tight a radius (e.g., vintage 7.5") makes playing up the neck more difficult and sticky poly finishes make moving around a chore. An example of guitars with bad neck geometry are many from Carvin which are known to be too thin along with being too wide. Some players can get along with them while others despise them. You seldom see or hear people whining about Strat or Tele neck profiles but you see a lot of complains regarding the odd profile of many Carvin guitars.
I also want guitars that facilitate flat picking, finger picking, and hybrid picking. No one-trick ponies for me. So string-spacing at the nut and bridge are important aspects. The traditional Fender string spacing at the bridge (F-spacing) is great for everything. The Gibson Tune-O-Matic bridge string spacing is a bit narrow for me but offers a nice experience at the nut. Specs on neck and nut width are helpful but not every 1 and 5/8ths, for example, are the same because while the nut may be that width the nut may be slotted in such a way that the strings are crammed in closer to one another and not taking advantage of the whole nut. For example, I had a Yairi and a Martin with the same nut width specs but felt totally different because the Martin spread the string slots out a bit more.
Frets should be tall and not too wide and those made from stainless steel offer a much smoother surface to bend on and will never wear out meaning that all your notes will sound better over the years instead of fretting out or buzzing excessively. I suggest medium jumbo stainless fretwear. Some companies offer frets dressed on a Plek machine. I think Pleking is good for some companies who have struggled for years to deliver decent fretwork (e.g., G&L) while others, e.g., PRS, do fabulous work without needing a Plek.
Guitars with short scales lengths tend to be easier to play as there is less tension on the strings and, speaking of strings, the smaller the gauge the easier it is to play. And pure nickel strings are easier to bend than nickel wound. The PRS SC245 or SC58 is a good example of a guitar with a short scale (24.5") making for an easier ride. Strats and other F-style guitars have a longer 25.5" scale length and will, as a result, increase string tension. Use lighter strings for easier playing.
Generally, pure nickel strings are a bit easier to play on than nickel wound versions (and sound better in some contexts as well). A Good brand for pure nickel is Curt Mangan). The heavier the gauge the greater the tension and the smaller the gauge the lower the tension. On a short scale guitar, a set of 9s will play very easily, maybe too easy. On a long scale guitar a set of 11s will be too stiff for most players.
Guitars with double locking vibrato bridges tend to be easier to play because the string is cut at the saddle and does not extend any further, decreasing the length of the overall string making for easier bends. Likewise, the locking nut means the portion of the strings running to the traditional tuners are taken out of the equation.
Anyway, of all the guitars I've played, on the short scale side, I'd have to give it up to PRS. The easiest to play is my CU 24 with a satin maple Pattern Thin neck but all of them are very smooth rides:
For Fender-scale guitars, the best playing I've ever had my hands on are a couple of EBMM JP models.
The EBMM JP15
EBMM Majesty with flamed koa shield
When properly set up these guitars virtually play themselves.