Buy something from Rondo, you will get the same thing as you will in a cheap Squire/Epiphone but cheaper because it doesn't have the brand name on it. These generally require a full setup to play optimally - truss, intonation, action, and occasionally shimming the neck (while I haven't needed to do this, I have heard several people say they needed to do so on these) - if you know how to do this, then you can get a very cheap guitar that plays pretty well.
For the pickup(s), I recommend DiMarzio Super Distortion - a lot of players use(d) them, notably Kurt Cobain and Iron Maiden for two high profile ones. It is easy to find these used on eebay because there are so many out there, and they are also fairly inexpensive new (65 or so). It is a high output pickup, but not necessarily metal, as Cobain used it, as do The Offspring and Bad Religion among others.

Regarding buying on eebay and Craigslist - I recommend against it because there are a lot of people who misrepresent things, intentionally or unintentionally. There are a lot of people selling fakes, and while fake guitars are generally only higher end ones, there are some fake low-mid range ones. Related gear such as microphones, pedals, and accessories are highly counterfeited items - there are countless fake Shure SM57s out there, and the people selling them just bought them in bulk (without bad intentions, but a lot of sellers don't know much about what they sell). The other problem is that different people have different knowledge of guitars, even music stores that don't focus on guitars can overlook serious problems, or they can be dishonest. I would not buy another used guitar without carefully inspecting it in person, as the problems that I have seen in both eebay'd guitars and used gear even in large chains are huge.

Finally, ESP LTDs are amazing, and a few of the biggest online music stores (which are all owned by the same company) sell factory restock guitars with nothing wrong with them at discounted prices - I bought an MH-401 and it came setup professionally, packaged so securely from the factory that even UPS crushing the outside box and leaving it in the snow did not even leave it out of tune. The stock hardware on the mid-range LTDs is amazing, far better than any other comparable guitars - Grover tuners, Earvana nut, 2x EMG or Duncan humbuckers, and good quality hardware/electronics come stock on the 400 series, which run around 500-600 factory restocked. As a loyal BC Rich player for many years, I tried every major brand and a lot of others, and I was very impressed by every aspect of the LTD series.