4.0 out of 5 stars
Hey, not bad., June 12, 2010
This review is from: First Act ME508 Moderator Single Cutaway Guitar with Humbucker (Electronics)
Picked up an ME508 at a yard sale for $[...] and have been having a blast with it. My other guitar is a Burny Rock'n Roll Model (a nice knock-off of a Gibson TV). The First Act Guitar is much less refined sounding but has a nice tone and is very playable. I have to admit, I'd looked down my nose at the First Act guitars until I saw the Westerberg model and read something where he was talking about how he ended up endorsing the brand.
Until then, I'd only seen the strat-like First Act guitars sold at Target next to the slide whistles. I just thought it was all crap. But some of the FA designs are darn inspired, like this one. Then I think about how desirable Danelectro/Silvertone guitars became for their handsome design and simplicity of construction and the First Act guitars seem like a comparable phenomenon. I wouldn't say any of this if the guitar didn't play well. If there's anything that makes me crazy, it's instruments marketed to beginners that are such junk that a virtuoso couldn't get a nice tone out them. This is not the case here. My ME 508 is a pleasure to play. I don't know what the quality control is like at First Act -- maybe I got lucky. It's lightweight and a little heavy toward the headstock and the knobs scrape the paint, but who cares. It has a decent tone, the neck and fretboard have a nice finish, the action is spot on, the frets are clean, it stays in tune, it's handsome in an unfussy way, and it was $[...]. And they're not much more than that new.
Hats off to First Act for making some distinctive looking guitars that are dirt cheap and actually play pretty well.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
