I saw something at my local guitar store today that I thought seemed like a bargain as well. I found an old Ibanez 7 string (made in Japan, 99 model) with a Lo-
Pro Edge trem. I forget the exact model because it's not made anymore but it did play quite well despite having really thick strings on it and being tuned to like G#. The bridge seemed pretty stable and the action wasn't terrible at all. The guitar was going for $400 with an Ibanez case and it seemed like a good bargain since the guitar was in pretty good shape aside from the normal body scratches which are inherent to any guitar that old that's been played.