first act ME-448

Picked it up at a pawn shop for $50. Allright. so I bought this to harvest the neck and pickups for a little hobby project. Then I plugged it in to see what was working, what was not. Who makes these pickups? Good heavens, these things are strong! Clear, strong sounds, tons of sustain, rock, rock, rock! Jeez, did First Act accidently make something worthwhile? Internet ads say they are patent pending? Who makes these things? I'm still going to harvest the parts for another guitar I'm building, but these are some pickups, considering where they came from. Dislike is only one volume/tone. Doubles would have really made this thing shine.

Who gigs with a First Act from a big box store? It's a bedroom, practice, I'm 8 and this is my first guitar, so reliability is not even a concern. Oh, and it's neck heavy, although the strap buttons are in the right place. I'd be more worried about temperature change in my practice area than I would gigging with it.

This unit is still available for $179 from Amazon, or $129 from a couple of no-name retailers coat-tailing off Amazon. Either way, you are buying the pup humbuckers because the rest of the guitar is low-rent. You can have your pick of black, red or blue.

Stolen I'd get something else.

Love the pickups, hate the neck heavy, hate the single controls.

Love the bridge. Simple, strings go right through, tons of sustain.

I'm a gearhead, now working with guitars more than playing them. Expensive hobby. Own too many.

I chose it because the lady in the pawn shop did everything she could to sell it to me. So I got it for $50, which may or may not be a bargain. Once I got the dust off, I'd rate it mint condition, if you could ever rate a low-end First Act mint.