If your right handed, original 550s come and go frequently at decent prices. I'm a lefty so they are hard to find, but I still managed to get ahold of 3 of them.
I've got a road flare red from 87, a black from 88 and a black from 90.
I will probably be getting rid of the black from 88 now that I have the roadflare red.
In any case, I started on a rg370 when I was a lot younger. It lasted me over 10 years.
By the time I decided to let her go, frets were just about gone, pickups and electronics were ruined, and it had been dropped off my stand by my pets a few times.
But that guitar was a trouper. Played exceptionally well for me. At that time I was playing maybe 5 hours a day and it lasted through many outdoor highschool gigs in the parks.
It rained at a few of them hence the electronics eventually going bad.
Quality wise, looking back, the pickups are on the thin side for tone, body wood is just cheap light basswood, and neck was 1 piece maple. So they cut Alot of corners.
The edge iii that was on it held its own for me as a beginner/intermediate guitarist. But I would never go back to one now.
Either way. Used market prices on some Ibanez guitars is actually fantastic if your looking second hand.
*350/370s can be found around 200 to 300 bucks used
*450s can be found for like 300 to 400 used
*550s (what you really want) can be anywhere from 400 to around 600 used.
The 550 is a beast of a guitar is what their prestige line was born from.
Any that have survived till now proove they were built tough.
Here's a pic of mine from 90.
And my 550 from 87.
If your lucky, I've even seen new 2018 rg550s on reverb in the 500 to 600 range.
If however your sticking to your budget of around 500, I would recommend you go up in models.
The typical quality lines of the Ibanez guitars are something like this
100-200s models are made in China and labled Gio. Not great at all.
300s like the 370 your looking at I believe are still Korea.
400s are Indonesian, and are currently the better of the standard lines. My 370 was originally made in Indonesia so it would have been a modern 470.
I think their current 500 line is their premium or iron label models made in the higher end Indonesian factory.
Then the 1500s are prestige and made in Japan.
And their 2000s I think are j customs. Their top of the line stuff like the original Jem's and such.
The newer rg 550 Genisis models are prestige quality mij even though they do not label them as such.
So for about 500, I would say go for a 450/470 rg. Better quality.
Maybe even a Jem jr. I just got one and it's pretty fantastic. I don't even want to change the pickups or trem cause they work on this one pretty well.
I did however change the Ibanez infinity pickups on my 450 to a set of invaders, and the bridge to a Floyd.