Hit a pawn shop and see if anything tickles your fancy. The first one just needs to look cool enough that you'll keep picking it up after you realize what you've gotten yourself into. Worry more about how it sounds while unplugged. Play each fret, on the fret, and listen for buzzing/rattling. Look at curviture of the neck from the side, and straightness from the head stock down. When people try to make their own truss rod adjustments, they tend to be impatient and overcorrect, which can screw up the action. You want the relief (distance from neck to string) to be uniform all the way down.